How To Make A Logo Stamp

Make your art stand out with a logo stamp

I had a lovely time coming up with a little stamp for my mailers. My hands were getting tired and I needed a way to add ease into my packaging process. This is a fun way to add a handmade touch to your outgoing mail. It makes me feel more connected to my work and is a lovely way to show intention in your packaging. 

Here are the supplies you will need to complete your own linocut logo stamp: carving tool of your choice, linoleum, paper, pencil, ruler, ink pad, self healing mat and xacto knife. The supplies can also be found lower in this post with quick links of where to get them.

Decide where you will use your stamp

Knowing where you will put your logo stamp helps you consider what size would be best. You need to consider visibility and usability. You don’t want your text to be so small that your viewers cannot read it. Also, small text is difficult to carve, so consider the difficulty in your process. For example, I like to use my stamp to add a personal touch on my mailers. It is also a perfect size for adding my logo on the back of art prints, packaging stickers and customer memos.

Pick a size for your stamp

First, you need to know the dimensions of the space you want to use your stamp. Because I want my logo stamp to be used on multiple surfaces like mailers, packaging tape, art prints, a hand held size is best. When I was creating my linocut stamp I first made sure to measure how much space I wanted my stamp to take up on the envelope. I used an older stamp to measure and decided the dimensions 1.5inches by 4 inches was a good size.

Print out a template to trace

Now that you have your size, you need to print out a copy of your logo to match that size. You can do a quick screenshot of your logo from your computer. Or if you have your original files you can print from those too. Why do we print our logo? This printed copy of your logo becomes a template for you to trace onto your linoleum block. When making a logo stamp, you want the design to be as precise as possible so that it matches your original logo design. If you can freehand the design of your logo, that is a great skill. Most people cannot freehand their design, so a printed copy is more accessible.

Trace your template & transfer your image

Get our your self healing mat and place your paper and linoleum block upon it. Now begin tracing your design with a writing pencil. Be sure to press down firmly with your blunt pencil tip to transfer as much of the graphite residue from the pencil onto the paper. After you have finished tracing your image, place the image face down onto your pre-cut linoleum. Make sure to line up the edges of your paper to your linoleum block and hold it down tightly. While placing one hand on the side of the paper to hold it in place, use your other hand to press down on the back of the traced image. Slide your hand across the paper surface to press the image down. After a few passes, lift a corner of the paper to see how much has transferred. If you still need to transfer more graphite from the paper, try using a credit card to press against the back of the paper for a consistent and even pressure.

Optional to outline your transferred image

After your graphite traced outline of your logo is transferred onto the linoleum block you have two options. You can choose to begin carving now if the graphite doesn’t smudge, or you can choose to begin tracing your graphic pattern with a black permanent marker. I chose to outline my graphite drawing with a permanent marker because I have curious little kids that come in and out of my studio. Being able to leave my work in my studio without worrying about smudges is great for me.

Begin carving your logo in your linoleum

When it is time to begin carving you need to select a carving tool. I like to start with my small carving tool to carve out an outline around my logo. This initial carved out section helps me to create a buffer around my design. While working on carving out the rest of the linoleum block if my hand gets tired and over carves it will stop at the buffer by my logo. The easiest way to carve out the rest of your logo stamp in linoleum is to carve left to right in a horizontal manner with your standard sized carving tool. The last part is to carve out the empty negative space in your logo. After carving away the linoleum you should have only the logo design left.

Add ink to your logo stamp

There are two different types of ink you can use in this situation: stamp ink or roller ink. In my experience I have preferred the ease of using stamp ink for my stamps. There is less set up and less clean up. Take out your ink stamp, and do a test print on a sheet of printmaking paper. Use this demo to see what your logo looks like and if you need to make any carving adjustments. Now, that you’ve done that time to print on your first mailer. Set your mailer onto your mat and next to the ink pad. Then get your carved logo stamp out. Now hold your logo stamp by the edges with the logo side up, and hold it over the ink pad and turn it over so it is now logo side down. Then place the logo stamp onto the ink pad and press the back of the stamp to ensure ink coverage. Do not press the entire block of linoleum, as you may get stray ink onto the blank corners of your stamp. Now carefully lift up your logo stamp by the edges, and hold it over the corner of your mailer. Then place it carefully onto your mailer and press down firmly. Time to lift the stamp up from the mailer and you should have a nicely stamped logo left behind.