If you’re an avid reader of Back2Gaming you have most likely heard of Twitch. Twitch is a popular live streaming video platform owned by Amazon with almost 4 million unique streamers. If you are one of those streamers it begs the question, how can you stand out? Producing amazing content, of course, is the obvious answer. However, making sure your branding is on point is another important consideration. In this article will highlight several options on how to go about creating a professional brand for your channel.
Put on Your Creative Hat and Design Your Own
If you have a design background or feel particularly creative today you can design your own. Get a pen and paper or and sketch out some ideas. With a concept in mind turn to a program like Photoshop and get started. If you don’t have access to a sophisticated design program like that you can use a free option like Gimp, Paint or even Microsoft Word. Those latter options are a bit limited but you can still come up with some nice text based logos and even use some of the available free clipart graphics. One of the major pros for choosing to design your own logo is that it doesn’t cost you anything.
Use a Logo Maker Application
If you can’t draw a stick figure or just don’t feel inspired you can use a gaming logo maker application like GraphicSprings. Using a logo maker application is a good middle ground between designing your own and hiring a professional designer. The onboarding process is simple, you enter your channel name, choose a graphic and then customize. You can edit the graphic and text to make it truly yours. For a fee as low as $19.99 you can download your logo in high-resolution format.
Find and Hire a Professional Freelance Graphic Designer
If you are looking to rebrand an already successful Twitch channel or don’t mind spending a bit more money you can hire a graphic designer who specializes in branding. Quality and price vary greatly so it’s important to do your homework first. Fiverr is a great option if you are looking for quick turnaround and very affordable rates, as low as $10 for a logo. Upwork is an alternative if you are looking for more established freelancers in the graphic design field. Whichever platform you use make sure to check reviews and ask for gaming specific portfolio examples. You can also reach-out to our friend, GENZ0 for freelance work.
Use Crowdsourcing to Land the Perfect Logo
If you want to see lots of logo concepts without being limited to one designer try a service like 99designs. You post your design brief and within hours you’ll receive countless designs from various artists. There is a posting fee but no commitment to choose a winning design. If you do decide on a logo you’ll then award a predetermined price to the winning designer. Price ranges among platforms but it’s generally $300+.
Here are some things to keep in mind once you decide on how you want to go about getting a logo for your Twitch channel.
Keep it Simple
A logo should be memorable and timeless. Logos generally tend to be too busy, in particular in the gaming industry. Stick to these basic logo design rules and your brand will look more professional that most other streamers:
- Limit your color choices to three, ideally only two
- Don’t overdo visual effects like gradient
- Choose a simple graphic
- Don’t use more than two different fonts
Gather Feedback
It’s important that you love your logo, after all it’s your channel and you’re representing yourself. Having said that make sure you gather feedback on the design before you finalize and publish it. You don’t want to spend time and resources and then launch your brand just to have users hate your new gaming logo design. Get feedback from friends and family and ideally even a small sample group of Twitch users.
Now that you know where and how to design your logo it’s time to do it. If you are ambitious about your Twitch Channel you should get your branding in order as soon as possible.