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Creating a Logo

Overview

Having a logo adds a measure of professionalism. And that's good for business.

Online Resources

Vistaprint

Vistaprint is a very low-cost printer, offers a simple online logo building capability.

http://www.vistaprint.com/logo-design/choose-icon.aspx?xnav=TsrItem

It's quick and easy, and might be good enough. This costs $19.99.

LogoMaker

LogoMaker is another online logo building application that offers more variety and features, but is a bit more expensive at $49.

http://www.logomaker.com/

Online Logomaker

http://www.onlinelogomaker.com/applet/ offers a very easy online interface, and best of all, it's free. The downside is that the number of shape objects you can add is somewhat limited. But it's really easy and free. One nice feature is that you can import images from your hard drive. So if you find some clipart you like, you can incorporate it into your logo.

Cool Text

http://cooltext.com/ is free and easy, but it doesn't offer shapes to add to your logo. Nevertheless, it does have some very nice looking templates on which you can base your logo.

Downloadable Resources

There is a inexpensive, downloadable software package that makes designing a logo very quick and easy. It's $35. This software is very easy to use, and you can have a professional looking logo in minutes.

http://www.sothink.com/product/logo-maker/

Free Resources

http://inkscape.org/ is free software that can be used to draw logos. It's comparable to Adobe Illustrator, but it's open source. (FREE)

Nearly Free Resources

www.fiverr.com is a web site where everything sells for $5. I searched for logo and got over a thousand results. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Sometimes you save a bundle. But at $5, there's not much risk.

Local Resources, Hire a Graphic Artist

You can also hire a local graphic artist. Shop around and review the graphic artist's portfolio before committing. You will pay by the hour, so try to have a clear idea of what you're looking for before you begin this route. You can find graphic artists in the local yellow pages, www.craigslist.com, or by word of mouth.

Here are some tips for working with a graphic artist. The more clearly you can communicate what you want, the faster the graphic artist can do it. And that means cheaper for you.

If you want to use photos, visit http://www.istockphoto.com/ and pick out photos yourself. Just provide the graphic artist with the ID number of the image.
Point to some other logos you like the look of. Play Mr. Potato Head. By that I mean, you can point to a few different logos. Maybe you like the color of one logo, but you like the layout of another logo, and you like the graphics surrounding yet a third logo. By pointing to a variety of other logos, you can communicate exactly what you want.
Provide all text electronically--via email, text file, or Word document. Copying & pasting is quick. Typing is slow.
Sketch out a few variations, no matter how crude your drawing skills.