One of the most essential parts of starting a luxury travel business (or any business, for that matter) is creating a unique and professional logo to represent your brand.

To ensure your logo is strong, original, and something you won’t have to worry about rebranding in a year or two, we have provided several important do’s and don'ts to keep in mind:

Do:

Use a designer. This will represent your business and needs to look professional and polished. Even though programs like Canva have logo templates that make it easy, there are many, many people using these same templates, and your logo will not end up being unique.

‍Know your message and your “why” before creating a logo. Give this information to your designer before they start so that they can make sure the design represents YOUR brand.

Ask for feedback from peers and mentors before committing to the final design. Fresh eyes can help you make any tweaks that could improve your design and help avoid any potential problems. You wouldn’t want to launch your business with a logo and realize later that it’s too similar to a different company or includes something that could be interpreted as inappropriate or offensive in the design.

Don’t:

Use a design that is trendy or “cute.” If you want to be a luxury travel advisor, your logo should reflect that. And while it’s always a good idea to stay up-to-date on popular trends, they won’t necessarily represent a high-end business. Plus, choosing a design based on trends will likely be similar to many other company logos and can go out of style.

Create a travel business logo with elements like airplanes, palm trees, etc. These are generic and don’t tell a story to set your brand apart. Often times when professional designers include these icons in logo mock-ups, it’s because they don’t fully understand your message and can’t see the big picture.

Only have one version of your logo. It’s OK to have a colorful logo with gradients and unique design elements (as long as they represent you as a luxury travel agent and match your branding) but think about all the places where your logo will be used. Do you have versions that will look good against different color backgrounds? Do you have a condensed version of your logo, such as an icon that can be used on its own or an abbreviation of the name that is easily readable as a tiny social media profile photo? Do you have a version that is one solid color with minimal fancy embellishments in case you want to have it engraved or embroidered on something?

Be afraid to rebrand when the time comes. Even the best brands go through updates and redesigns. Gifted Travel Network went through an extensive rebrand last year because even though we loved our previous logo, and it took us a long way over the last 10 years, it needed to be more congruent with an elevated hosting experience for luxury travel advisors.

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What are your thoughts? We would love to hear from you in the comments section below!