Brainstorm ideas and concepts that describe your band. Consider what sub-genre of metal your band falls under, such as metalcore, nu metal, death metal, thrash metal, etc. Identify your target audience, such as mainstream, underground, specific age, specific location, etc. Also identify what your lyrics are about, such as relationships, politics, religion, anarchy, etc.
Gather images, fonts, clipart and other logos that represent the concepts of your band. Be careful not to steal others' ideas, but instead, use this collection as inspiration for your own logo. Inspiration can come from a variety of sources including band websites, metal magazines, gig posters, or clipart and stock photography sites like istockphoto.com (see Resources).
Sketch your ideas on paper and experiment with different fonts and imagery. Do not spend a lot of time perfecting the details. The main focus is getting your ideas on paper and coming up with at least five sketches you are happy with for your logo. Experiment with different size letters and fonts for your band name.
Experiment with different tips or points for the letters, and consider using more complicated letters as templates for easier ones. Also consider using backward letters to make your logo symmetrical. Once you have several logo ideas on paper, consult with the band to see which one they like best before moving forward and perfecting the design.
Scan your sketch into Adobe Photoshop. Activate the rulers and drag them onto your sketch to help you line things up. Place them where you would like straight lines and where you would like things level.
Create a new layer. Working on the first half of the logo, use the ellipse tool to draw circles wherever there are curves in the logo.
Create a new layer underneath the previous one. Still working on the first half of the logo, use the pen tool to draw in the shapes of your logo. Use the guides and circles you created to help do this.
Ensure that the first half of your logo is symmetrical, and the way you want it. Create a new layer. Copy and paste the letters from the first half of your logo onto the new layer. Flip them horizontally, so they are symmetrical to the first half. Edit out the appropriate parts of the second half to create the other letters. You should now have a perfectly symmetrical logo.
Experiment with different gradients, colors, shadings and backgrounds for your logo with the layer options.