Small business logo resources
When creating logos for small businesses, options are available for all budgets, and generally, you get what you pay for.
Option one: Do it yourself. You might be a design rockstar. So go for it!
Several years ago, Adobe began using a subscription-based model. For less than your monthly phone bill, you can have access to all the best industry software for print, digital, video, sound, and more. As of this writing, it’s about $53/month for the entire suite. Or, you can pay around $21/month per application and get only the apps you need. But before jumping in, be aware that the learning curve can be steep, and tools are not a substitute for skill or training. However, some people learn fast and have a natural eye for design with zero training. You could be one of them.
Option two: Use a site like Canva, Fiverr, and Wix.
After experimenting with these sites out of curiosity, I was underwhelmed. Occasionally, above-average logos come out of these platforms, but that seems to be the exception, not the norm. It’s similar to the delicious-looking fast food in the ad, verse what you are served at the drive-through.
However, if you have nothing and need something on a non-existent budget to get started, this could be a solution for you. Most of these sites have a free or near-free option. They also offer up-sells that include working with a designer. Most of these up-sells are better than the free version, but not by much. The designer you’re working with has to crank through stacks of logos just to make a living. Ultimately, they are not vested in your long term success, and the results show. If you go this route and decide to upgrade to a more professional logo in the future, you could lose some brand equity. Your logo is probably the single most important visual indicator of your brand, especially in a digital environment, so consider getting your logo right the first time.
Option three: Work with a design student or new graduate.
Junior designers that are hungry for an opportunity will frequently do work at a reduced cost to build a portfolio. I did, but the only time I did free jobs were for non-profits. If you are for-profit and expect to be paid for your products and services, you should be paying your designer and not asking for freebies or bartering.
Option four: Hire a graphic designer to handle aesthetics with minimal foundational research.
Most freelancers operate in this manner, and there are some great creatives out there who can whip up a logo for you with relative speed and reduced cost. I also offer this as a service to my clients, but I do advise completing an in-depth discovery beforehand. Without well-reasoned design decisions, you’re just decorating, not designing to reach goals and objectives. Check out our pricing here.
Option five: Hire a creative and base your design on solid foundational research.
Laying a strong strategic foundation is the most effective method for design and allows for design with purpose. Adding a discovery and research phase to your design projects will help you understand yourself, your competition, and your market. This understanding will validate or challenge previous perceptions and assumptions about your business. It’s in these details where we will discover what makes you unique as well as the true essence of your brand. The additional cost will benefit more than your logo and can provide a strategic advantage in your other branding and marketing efforts as well as defining and building company culture. Check out our pricing here.
Don’t let preconceived notions of style limit your options.
Brainstorming and generating creative ideas:
For most people, this is not a linear process. You’re likely to find yourself jumping around between research, letting your subconscious work, brainstorming, and actively generating ideas.
But to start, it’s generally a good idea to gather as much information as you can on your design challenge and start thinking in terms of business goals and objectives. It’s natural to start thinking about solutions once you get all that info into your head. But don’t force it. Know when to walk away. This is harder than it sounds and requires some discipline. The idea is to be thinking casually and letting your subconscious do the heavy lifting. You will be surprised by the ideas you generate when you aren’t forcing it.
Don’t stop at your first idea. If it was your first idea, chances are, it would be the first idea of others given the same information. Unoriginal and uninspired. You deserve better. The best way to a single great idea is to generate lots of ideas. That’s where brainstorming comes in. Everyone has a different approach. Some are very organized, and others are a messy whirlwind of creativity. Find a method that works for you and get started.
- Keep it light and playful. You’re working a puzzle; it should be fun.
- No ideas are wrong; do not self-edit. In fact, I deliberately think of all the cliche ideas I can and write them all down. Once they are out of my head, my brain is free to get to the real work. If I do not clear those uninspired ideas from my mind, they serve as a permanent roadblock to good ideas.
- Taking it further, the idea you think is too bad to share is the seed of the big idea.
- Collect words and images related to your challenge. Use search engines, magazines, a thesaurus, etc.
- Words and images can be descriptive, emotive, address the problem, audience, product, pros, or cons.
- Look to completely unrelated industries for inspiration.
- The wider the net you cast, the better.
When you think you’ve exhausted every word and image that relates to your business and then some, keep brainstorming. You’ve only scratched the surface. When you’re convinced you’ve gone as deep as you can, it’s time to put you brainstorm to work and generate some ideas.
- Combine words and images from your brainstorming that seem unrelated but combine in unique ways.
- Change your perspective: birds eye vs. worms eye. How would a fictional character address the challenge? How would the challenge look if you were in a different industry?
- How might nature develop a solution?
- Consider extremes and opposites. If something should be white, try it black. If it demands to be small, remove it altogether.
- Apply human characteristics to inanimate objects.
- Experimentation and play can lead to undiscovered possibilities.
- Don’t let preconceived notions of style limit your options.
- Know a happy accident when you see it and embrace it. My best work is created when I see an unintended opportunity.
Legal considerations for logos
When creating a logo, it’s essential to avoid knowingly or unknowingly treading on the intellectual property of others. I’m not a lawyer, so talk to yours.
You can hire legal specialists to make sure your creative is in the clear at the local, national, and international levels and go as far as registering it to protect your intellectual property. However, most small to midsize businesses don’t enlist the help of lawyers when it comes to their logo, and rarely is that an issue.
At a minimum, make sure you aren’t creating a similar logo to someone else. Start with Google searches to make sure your concept and visuals are not similar to others. If the logo passes that test, continue the search with your Secretary of State, Industry Associations, and United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Types of logos
For the sake of this conversation, let’s classify visual logos into eight types.
Logotype or wordmark
Examples: Coca-Cola® and Google.
- Best for use with shorter and unique names.
- Appropriate for businesses trying to build name recognition.
- Font choice is vital, as it’s the focus of the logo.
- It can be challenging to create a unique look that captures the essence of the brand due to its simplicity.
Monogram logos
Examples: HBO or IBM
- Great for businesses with long names.
- Font choice is also essential, as it’s the focus of the logo.
- This direction requires extra effort to make it uniquely yours.
Emblems, badges, seals, and crests
Examples: Harley-Davidson® and Harvard.
- Great for universities, Government, or anyone wanting to convey a sense of longevity, trust, security, or authority.
- Go easy on the details, or you may need to create alternate versions for special use situations such as embroidery, etching, or limited space.
Letterforms
Examples: McDonalds “Golden Arches” and the Netflix “N”
- Simple.
- Easy to reproduce.
- Requires previous brand recognition, or it needs to be accompanied by the business name until brand recognition is established.
Symbol, brand mark, or icon
Examples: Apple and Target
- Apple uses an apple, and Target uses a target.
- Great for international brands when the business name doesn’t translate well.
- However, as with any international business, consider how that symbol will be interpreted in local cultures where you will operate.
- This direction generally requires a strong existing brand awareness.
- It helps to use the name with the icon until brand awareness is established.
- Use caution when selecting a symbol that may be too limiting if your business begins offering additional services in the future. For example, if Amazon had used a book as its first logo, it would have been limiting as they expanded beyond books.
Abstract logos
Examples: Nike and CBS
- An abstract logo is an expansion on the idea of a symbol or brandmark logo. As previously mentioned, Apple uses an apple, and Target uses a target. But what about the Nike swoosh, it’s used as a symbol or icon, but it’s not directly illustrative of what a Nike is. However, it conveys speed and performance.
- Easier to own because it is an abstract concept
- Going abstract requires an even higher degree of brand recognition.
Mascots
Examples: Tony the Tiger® and Mr. Peanut.
- Mascots create a fun, colorful spokesperson for a brand as well as marketing and photo opportunities.
- Typically, but not always, they build a wholesome fun vibe. But be careful not to go the Joe Camel route and generate a spokesperson for children to sell products for adults.
- It can be done with stock art on a budget. But, you will eventually see a similar logo used by someone else, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
- Hiring a professional illustrator is preferred but can be costly.
Combination logos
Examples: Amazon and adidas®.
- Probably the most common.
- Generally, easier to trademark.
- Careful not to overdo it and throw too much detail into it.
Know a happy accident when you see it and embrace it.
Logo technical specifications
Regardless of the resources you choose to create your logo, be aware of industry standards. If you’re not in a position to oversee these considerations, make sure whoever is creating your logo is looking out for your interests.
Vector files
- Ideally, most logos should be in a vector format, not a raster format.
- AI, EPS, and SVG are the primary file formats that support vector.
- A vector file is resolution independent and uses mathematical equations to draw lines, color fills, gradients, transparency, etc.
- The result is a logo that can be scaled infinitely without degrading the image. For example, take a vector logo and scale it from the size of a business card to the size of a billboard, and the final image would be just as crisp and clear as the logo on the business card. Plus, the resulting file size will remain small.
Raster files
- A raster file has a fixed resolution and is not ideal for a logo — for example, a photograph in a PNG, JPG, or GIF format.
- In printing, the standard resolution for a raster image is 300 dpi.
- Take a raster logo on a business card that is 300 dpi at 2 inches by 1 inch, and enlarge it to 4 inches by 2 inches to fit on a poster and the new resolution will only be 150 dpi. That’s half the industry standard, and you might notice it’s getting blurry or jaggy edges.
- Logos can be created in a raster format when the situation calls for it, but make sure your source file has a high enough resolution to account for future needs.
- An additional downside is raster logos can be memory intensive because of the large file size.
- Some raster file types do not support transparency, so when placing the logo on a color background, you end up with a white box around the logo.
Digital color profiles and resolutions
- Files for digital deliverables should be RGB or Hexidecimal.
- You may be able to use another color profile in a digital environment. However, they can occasionally appear muddy or unintentionally neon.
- As previously mentioned, vector is the preferred format for logos. However, vector support within browsers is still somewhat limited. So even if your logo is vector, you may still need to output raster versions for digital use. In that case, PNG is generally used for transparency, GIF for animation, and JPG for photorealism.
- Raster images in a digital environment should be a minimum of 72 pixels per inch. If you are designing for high-resolution displays such as Retina, you should have a minimum resolution of 326 ppi.
Print color profiles and resolutions
- Print files should be CMYK. This rule is broken all the time. Sometimes you get away with it; other times, you have a costly printing mistake on your hands.
- Do not except a print logo that contains RGB or Pantone colors in it. That is, of course, unless you are using a Pantone plate during printing. Keep in mind that specialty inks and printing are not budget-friendly.
- For print, also try to stick to vector logos. But, if you need to use a raster format, keep it at or above 300 dpi when at 100% size.
- I use one set of greens and blues within my logo for print and another for digital to get optimal performance. While the color builds are technically different, they appear similar to the human eye. Visual consistency is what we are after, not mathematical accuracy.