You know who this is. I know you know.

All DJs have their own personal logo that represents them as an artist. It can be a creatively daunting task deciding on a logo that you're happy with but let's start from the very beginning. When should I get a logo?

It's about the music

Skills pay the bills, not logos

Before you start, let's be honest - don't start creating a logo when you don't know how to mix yet. I see so many DJs who have a full press pack but haven't devoted that same amount of attention and professionalism to their music. I'm not saying don't get a logo until you've had a great deal of experience but make sure once you put your brand out there you have something behind it you can be proud of. It's takes some time to know what your sound is and what design elements you want to include in the logo so that it accurately reflects you as a DJ. Before beginning to design your logo, consider these points:

• What sound will this logo represent? For example, if you were a dubstep DJ you might want it to look 'aggressive' and perhaps contain some mechanical elements that represent the industrial sound of the genre. On the flipside, you may want a neutral logo with no references to any genre if you know you'll be playing a diverse range of music and don't want it to be tied down to a genre.
• What is my DJ personality? Do you take yourself seriously or is there an element of humour in everything you do? Is your music light and fun or is it dark and mysterious?
• Do I want the logo to be used on all types of media? If so, you may want different versions produced for different situations. For example you could create a text logo and then as symbol to represent your logo on a smaller scale.
• Will I be happy with this logo in 5 years? In this case, it's quite like a tattoo. Once it's there, it's there. Once you label your music with, people learn to become familiar with and recognise it. It's fairly common for DJs to change their logo at some point but it can be confusing for their existing fan base. For this reason, it's best not to base a logo on current trends. I've seen DJs create their logo and even their name based on a popular meme at the time, only to change it a year later to something more sophisticated.

Vision

Once you have a clear vision of what you want your logo to say about you as a DJ, it's a good idea to check out other DJ logos for inspiration and to identify elements that really stand out to you. One way of checking out a bunch of logos in the one place is SoundCloud. Go to your 'Following' page and you can see all the logos of the DJs your following.

DIY or Make someone else do it?

Now it's time to start creating! You have several options you can choose to take to realise your design. Make it yourself, hire a professional designer or use a website. We will explore these options below:

Make it yourself: If you want 100% ease of communication and control, this is your best option. Photoshop or Illustrator would be the best software to use. Make sure the image you create is fairly large in case you ever need a large version of your logo. Create a few different versions in different colours and make sure the background is transparent so it can be used on any colour poster. Of course, if you aren't a designer you'll want to make sure your logo looks professional before you put it out there - make sure you get feedback first.

Hire a Designer: For peace of mind in terms of getting the most effective and professional logo, a designer is the way to go. Do some research, get some recommendations and check out the designers portfolio before you hire them to make sure their style suits you. This can be the most expensive option but if your logo is important to you, it's money well spent. Make sure you communicate clearly with the designer from the start as you may be paying hourly rates. Any revisions caused by insufficient information supplied to the designer, could be costly.

Use a Design Website: Fiverr.com is a website offering all kinds of design services for a low price. Search the site for DJ logos and you will find a few designers offering this specific service. They will have reviews and pictures of their past work that you can check out. Prices are clearly listed, it's cheap and easy to use if you're after something fairly simple. Make sure you get a copy of your logo with a transparent background and we recommend purchasing the vector files which will be required if you need to edit your logo in future. We have had good experience using this website.

Got any logo tips or would like to recommend a designer? Please share in the comments below.