You have the exceptional culinary skills, tenacity and poise under pressure. All you need to take your catering business to the next level is some exceptional branding.
A strong logo is the first step. It’s the foundation of a strong branding strategy and is considered to be the most important branding investment a business can make. Your logo will be the face of your amazing catering business, where how things look is as important as how they taste.
Current food service buzzwords include technology, sustainability and convenience. If any of these speak to you and the way you run things, then it’s a good idea to weave them into the visual language of your business. It’s essential to figure out who and what your business is all about before creating a logo or any other elements of branding. Your logo is the anchor to all of your branding initiatives.
Whether logo design has already been on your mind, or this is just the beginning, we’re here to share some amazing catering logo inspiration with you.
What makes a good caterer or catering logo?
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The most important aspect of developing your branding and your logo is to understand your niche. Do you focus on a particular type of cuisine? Is your company known for serving the most addictive homemade barbeque? Is your menu strictly vegan or does it provide a wide range of options for international corporate events? Look directly to the type of cuisine and events you specialize in for inspiration. This will set you apart from companies who lean on obvious industry symbols like utensils, a chef’s hat or an apron.
Amazing ideas for catering and caterer logos
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Romantic logos for wedding caterers
Not only is your focus on food, but you have the amazing task of creating an ideal atmosphere for one of the most important days of a couple’s life. The right visuals can show prospective clients that you understand how important it is to be detail-oriented and patient on this most important of days.
Modern catering logos for corporate events
Corporate events range from catering for startups and smaller offices all the way up to massive international events. If your catering business specializes in providing delicious food in a business setting, a professional and efficient presentation is essential. Choose a logo that’s classy or modern, with a style that speaks to the type of business you’re targeting.
Friendly catering logos for social events
As this category is much more down to earth, so should your logo be. Whether your clients include parents throwing birthday parties, or older folks celebrating anniversaries, there should be an immediate human touch to your branding.
Elegant logos for sit-down events
For the more elegant ambience where guests are served and dishes are typically more expensive, choosing the right logo is determined by connecting with this audience. If that’s the type of catering you focus on, go for a stylish, hand-crafted and luxurious look.
Unique logos for unique caterers
Catering can look a lot of ways these days from biodynamic food trucks, gourmet slow food event producers and traveling craft cocktailers. If your catering business is unique and different, make sure your logos conveys how special you are.
The fundamentals of logo design
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If you’re coming into logo design without any experience, it can be intimidating. Here we’ll give you a crash course in logo design.
Logo design is a nuanced specialization of graphic design that encompasses aesthetics, branding & marketing, composition, color theory, typography and artistic skill. We give a fuller introduction to the craft in our free online guide How to design a logo, but here we’ll summarize some key points to provide a little background.
Design for your brand. There’s not one “best type of logo”—the most successful logos are the ones that best represent their brand. The aggressive red and garish typography of the Coca Cola logo suit the brand well, but those same design choices wouldn’t be fitting for a catering company who specialize in baked goods for princess parties.
So before anything else, you have to consider what kind of brand you want to be—your “brand identity.” Are you a more serious brand, focused on corporate events? Are you fun and focused on providing a playful atmosphere in your events? That will guide your design choices, in particular colors, shapes and letters.
Colors, shapes and letters. Each different color and shape represents different emotions—for example, logos with excessive black seem more sophisticated, logos with a lot of circles seem friendlier etc. Likewise, that extends to font choice, such a formal serifs vs. casual sans-serif. Every design decision reflects on your brand, so build your brand identity from the ground up with strategic choices.
How to get a logo
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As we explained in a previous guide How to create a logo: Comparing the best ways to get a logo designed, a company has four main options for getting a logo. Let’s briefly review them now:
- Logo maker (DIY). With the help of a logo maker or other entry-level design software, you essentially make your logo yourself from scratch.
- Hire a design agency. You hand off all logo design duties to a design agency and their suite of specialists, but the extra talent comes at an extra cost.
- Work with a freelancer. You can find a freelance designer to design your logo for you. This gives you the benefit of a professional at less cost than an agency.
- Commission a design contest. In a design contest, you explain what you want in a briefing, including visual preferences and business goals. Multiple designers from all over the world then submit samples based on your briefing. From there, you simply pick the one you like best and start revisions. You only pay for the one sample you choose.
For starters, DIY and logo makers are only advisable under extreme circumstances, like if you have next to nothing in your budget. Your logo is an asset too important to skimp on, and considering how complicated logo design is, if it’s not designed by a professional, it may not be as effective as it could be.
From there, it’s a decision of both cost and preference. If your only concern is price, check out our Logo design cost guide for more detailed distinctions.
The strongest advantage of logo design contests—and the reason they’re so popular—is that it leverages the creativity of multiple designers, who come up with different ideas of logos designs you can choose from. If you’re still unsure what style and look is right for you, a contest has the benefit of experimentation—you may not know what logo design best suits you until you see some creative drafts from several designers.
If you already know what style and look you’re going for, your best bet is going to be working directly with a freelancer. You can browse designer portfolios to find the perfect match in terms of style and then work with the freelancer to get exactly what you’re looking for.
Are you ready to get a tasty-looking catering logo?
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The right logo can help you book more clients, transform your business into a brick and mortar shop or expand your professional reach to new locations. Now that we’ve got your creative juices flowing, what are you waiting for?
