Esports competitions and non-stop streaming shine bright lights on professional gamers everywhere. If you are starting up a gaming team or aspire to go pro, you want to get recognized on streaming channels and gaming tournaments. You need to have a memorable team and a brand that connects with fans and followers. An essential tool to express your brand is your logo.
Are you looking for an easy way to create a gaming logo for your esports team? Want to level up your profile on Steam, Twitch, or YouTube? If so, you’re in the right place. This guide has all the information you need to create an outstanding logo to help propel your gaming and esports brands into the spotlight.
By following the steps in this guide you can grow beyond streaming and competitions and expand into merchandising speaking events, and more.
Make a standout gaming logo – the complete guide
Why you need an eye-catching gaming Logo
As a competitive team or individual streaming gamer, your personality and professionalism are the foundation of your brand and business. If you have an esports team, you need a logo no matter what. Competitions and communities display team logos in directories, leaderboards, and promotional content.
Since you need a gaming logo no matter what, you might as well make the most of it. There are three main reasons why a gaming logo is essential: recognition, memorability, and loyalty. Let’s take a closer look.
Brand recognition
Research has shown that increased exposure to a logo boosts brand recognition. Your logo makes a visual appearance in all digital spaces where you’re streaming or competing, and it helps build a digital, social presence.
You can use a gaming logo either as an individual or a team. For example, if you’re playing as part of a team on PUBG, only the team logo appears. Each player usually has a profile photo instead of a logo. As an individual gamer, you’ll need a logo design for Twitch, where you stream your own content.
Having a logo that looks the same or similar on all platforms helps your fans and followers recognize you when they see you somewhere else. They can watch your stream on Twitch or YouTube and be sure that it’s you.
Brand memorability
What comes after recognition? Memory. As followers recognize you more and more, your logo and image become memorable. A great way to help improve brand recognition is to create merch with your logo. Wear a shirt with your logo while streaming, or hang a poster on the wall behind you.
Create a small merchandising store with lots of products that have your logo on them. You can sell all sorts of things, like stickers, mouse pads, t-shirts, and caps. When you go to competitions, you can wear some of your merch and give it away.
Brand loyalty
After memorability, the next step is loyalty. People who follow your streams or competitions will recognize and remember your logo. They’ll be on the lookout for you in leaderboards and championship announcements.
They’ll wear your merch on their streams and talk about you, expanding the web of awareness of your brand. Brand loyalty isn’t just for big brands; as a gamer or team, you can also grow loyalty over time. As your followers grow in numbers, so will their loyalty.
Gaming logo size requirements per platform
Each gaming platform has its own size requirements for profile and banner images. The best way to cover all platforms is to create one main logo design that you can then adapt to each channel. Your best bet is always to use a square canvas and design a logo that fits inside a circle, especially if you’ll be playing different games and using a variety of platforms like Discord, Riot Games, or Apex Legend.
Also, remember that in some cases, the logo may appear very small. Make sure that the shapes and design are understandable even at smaller sizes. On the flip side, your logo needs to look good at larger sizes too. And keep in mind that printing companies ask for logos in a high resolution or vector file format for merchandising like caps, shirts, or hoodies.
Here’s a quick rundown of recommended sizing per streaming and gaming platforms online.
Twitch
On Twitch, you need a profile image and a banner graphic. The banner is displayed on your profile only while you’re not streaming.
The Twitch profile picture is called the avatar and must be a square at 256 X 256 pixels minimum. The image is cropped into a circle. That’s why it’s essential to always design logos that fit inside circles.
The banner must be 1200 pixels wide minimum, but Twitch recommends 1920 X 480, an aspect ratio of 4:1. You can upload a JPG or PNG, not larger than 10 MB.
PUBG
PUBG is a battle royale game played in teams and a huge section of the global esports circle. That’s why all the logos you see displayed on their site are team logos. A team logo in PUBG appears in several areas. For example, in the opening credits for live stream competitions, on leaderboards, the Teams page, and your team profile.
For teams, PUBG uses your logo to create a banner for your profile. These banners are standard throughout the platform, so you don’t need to do anything for them. While there are no specific team logo size requirements, your best bet is to be safe and create a square at 1500 X 1500 pixels. For players, PUBG pulls a profile picture from one of your social channels or gaming platform profiles, like Steam or PS4.
Steam
On Steam, the profile photo is your avatar. You can use a logo or illustrated avatar, but remember to make the design recognizable. Avatar sizes on Steam are 184 X 184 pixels.
YouTube
Whether you post videos or stream on YouTube, you’ll need a profile photo and a channel banner, plus a thumbnail for every video. You can use your logo on all three, any way you like.
These are their recommended measurements:
- Channel Icon: 80 X 80 pixels
- Channel Banner: 2048 X 1152
- Custom Thumbnail: 1280 X 720
What makes a gaming logo stand out?
Most gaming logos share a unifying personality trait. They’re bright and eye-catching. So how do you make a logo stand out in a sea of so many attractive logos? The secret is in the details. Instead of using a generic visual, tap into some storytelling techniques and develop an interesting visual combination or composition.
Here are some tips on how to make your gaming logo stand out.
Bright colors and high contrast
You’re definitely going to need a bright color scheme to stand out from the surrounding logos on websites and leaderboards. Use color combinations with high contrast—for example, black and bright neon green or dark blue and sunny yellow. Use layering or shading techniques to add depth but don’t overcomplicate.
Unique characters and personalities
When choosing or designing a mascot, animal, or avatar, look for ways to make yours unique. What can you add to it or change, so it better represents your story? Try accessories, special features, or bionic body parts, for example.
Unconventional shapes
Gamer logos have to fit inside circles, but they don’t need to circle themselves. Try unique shapes that stand out against both black and white backgrounds. Generally, the background in leaderboards and competitions are dark. But it’s better to be sure your logo looks good on both black and white backgrounds.
How to create your own custom-made gaming logo
Now that you’re up-to-date on the trends, it’s time to create a memorable gaming logo for your esports team or professional streaming channel. To create a logo that you’re proud to share on all your channels, you need to follow a few steps with a trusted logo maker. Choose a logo maker with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that offer numerous logo options just from the information you give it.
Online tools such as the Logo maker can empower you to create a logo in a few easy steps:
- Input your brand name in the space provided on the first page.
- Doublecheck your brand name and add a slogan.
- Select your industry and choose visual elements for your logo.
- Define your brand’s personality.
- Choose your favorite logo and customize the colors and fonts.
- Buy and download or ask the designer to customize it further.
Define your brand vibe and style
Do some quick strategizing for your gaming logo. Start by answering these questions:
- How would you describe yourself as a gamer?
- What type of games do you stream or compete in?
- Do you have a favorite character in a game?
- What is your most unique quality as a gamer or team?
- Who are your favorite gamers to follow or be inspired by?
The answers to these questions give you insight into the personality of your brand.
Most logos include a visual—an icon, animal, mascot, character, or shape—and the name of the brand. This is called a combination mark logo. Even though this is the most common, you can also have a brand mark with only a visual and no words. The favorite type of logo in the gaming world is the emblem, which is a combination mark inside a shape or badge type outline.
Finally, you should know that a lettermark—words and no visuals—is also an option, but you’ll see this more at higher-level gaming names like Sega and Minecraft. The thing about lettermark logos is that the letters themselves need to be visual. Any regular font won’t work as a lettermark.
Choose the right font
Choose the font for your logo according to the visual style you’re building. Do you associate with a classic and elegant serif font or a simple sans serif in a clean straight line? A popular font like Helvetica may look OK, but it won’t stand out from the pack. If you choose a font with a personality, it’ll be better for telling a visual story.
Also, consider how much manipulation you’ll be adding to the letters, from thick outlines to curved bottoms. Fonts that are too complicated are tough to add things to without making the words illegible. Select between serif and sans serif fonts to test out the depth and overall feel.
Select the right color combinations
Select colors that match the personality traits and descriptive words about your gaming brand. Colors, especially combinations of colors, carry cultural and memory cues for people. For example, people often perceive the combination of red, orange, and yellow as fire. Cold blues and sparkling whites can represent ice or cold. Consider these common color perceptions when selecting your colors.
The color combination needs to be attractive and noticeable without being an eyesore. Some colors don’t go well together, while others do. Try out several combinations to decide on the one that works best for you.
When finalizing your gaming logo design, it’s the perfect time to consider your future marketing needs. If you’re an individual, do you plan on starting a team later on? Are you going to make merchandise with your logo and visual style? All of these factors can influence your final logo selection.
Pro-Tip: Remember what we said earlier—even if you want to stick to the trends, add a personal touch to differentiate yourself or your team from others.
Trends in gaming logos
Knowing the trends is a good idea when creating a gaming logo. If your logo looks like a gaming logo at first glance, you’re one step closer to recognition, memorability, and loyalty. If a gaming logo looks corporate or soft and delicate, you may not make as big of an impact.
Let’s take a look at some trends we’ve seen that can inspire your gaming logo.
3D Mascots and Emblems
Gaming logos with mascots like cyber animals or custom characters are supper trendy. Emblem style logos are like stamps or stickers, unique shapes that stand out from the background. For more unique emblems, mascots, or mascots in emblems, add small touches of color to create shading and highlights. Small visual tricks can make a 2D design look 3D.
Thick outlines
Another outstanding trend in gaming logos is thick outlining. Regardless of the visual nature of the logo, add a thick outline to its shape. Use contrasting colors so that the outline is noticeable from the logo itself and the background it’s on. On most occasions, the best color for the outside outline is white, but try other combinations if they make sense with your style.
Neon / Gradients
Neon colors make any design stand out. But to make them most noticeable, pair them with dark complementary colors and highlights in white. Don’t overdo it with too many neon colors in one design. Balance is key so that the neon truly stands out. If it makes sense, include a neon gradient behind the logo’s character to add more dimension to the design.
Curved text
Pair the thick outlines and neon colors with a curve in your text, and you’ve hit the trendy jackpot. If the main visual is on the top and the text below, add a curve that pushes up the bottoms of the letters creating an attractive visual shape. In some cases, you can even make the curve look 3D.
Avatars
For individual gamers or streamers, you can choose a logo that looks like an illustrated version of yourself or your favorite character in a game. Do make sure to check the copyright laws about using specific characters or visuals from a game itself. To turn yourself into an illustrated avatar, look for an online artificial intelligence (AI) tool or hire an illustrator to make it for you.
Stand out from the competition with an awesome gaming logo
Are you feeling ready to create your outstanding gaming logo for your team or your streaming channel? The right logo can help you stand out in a sea of competitors and help you vault your gaming career to the next level.
The helps you create a logo that represents the personality of your gaming brand. With just a bit of information, you get a varied selection of logo drafts in different styles. Choose your favorite logo and hire a designer to give it that extra special touch.
