Using shadows to create 3D logos

What is a 3D logo?

A 3D logo is a visual brand identity that creates the illusion of depth by using shadows or other visual effects like gradients. A 3D logo usually has a lot of visual impact because of high contrast between light and dark colors. 3D Logos are not suitable for every brand, but you can create a very powerful brand identity when applying shadow effects correctly.

3D logo examples

Here are some examples of logos with shadow effects. They're all created with My Brand New Logo and you can click on them to customize them with your own brand name.

How to create a 3D logo

The easiest way to create the illusion of depth is to add a shadow effect. In the logo editor of My Brand New Logo, you can click on the name of your logo to adjust the shadow attribute. There are multiple types of shadows ("2D shadows", "3D shadows" and "striped shadows"), just try them out to see what suits your brand. Here are some examples of shadow types:

What fonts work best with shadows?

Shadows work best on bold fonts. Thin fonts or script fonts often contain thin lines or tiny shapes that become visually chaotic when you apply a shadow on it. On the other hand, when you use a bold font in all caps, and apply a shadow on it, the name and its letters almost become graphical symbols by itself. Whatever you do, always be sure that your logo is easily legible. You don't want your customers to squint their eyes to read your brand.

Tips and tricks for creating logos with shadows

The shadow of the name element has a size and an offset attribute. The size controls the stroke around the letters, and the offset controls the distance between the shadow and the name. You can combine these two attributes to create a wide range of good-looking shadows.

It's important to pay attention to the white space or negative space of your logo. The white space is the space in between your letters. It's often a good idea to avoid small whitespace between either the letters itself or the shadows. This makes your logo visually cleaner and easier to read. You can do this by adjusting the letter-spacing of the name and the shadow size and offset controls.