If you are starting a new business you might have considered getting a logo. In this post I will show you how to create a logo for free. A logo will become part of your business and your brand so you want it to be right. If you are starting out without a lot of spare cash you might consider designing your own logo.
In this post I am going to review some of the options available based on my experience with them. I will recommend what I think is the best option for businesses starting out. I will review three logo creation tools available on the web: www.freelogodesign.org, www.logomakr.com and www.canva.com.
Some of these tools will allow you to create a simple logo for free but I will give you the limitations that come with this. My favorite tool so far for designing a logo is from Logomakr and it costs just €19.
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Logo Tool 1:
Canva
Some of the categories and templates to choose from using Canva. You can also create your own from scratch.
Canva (www.canva.com) is probably the most well known tool in my selection. It is a great tool for businesses who want to make graphics. You can create leaflets, business cards, social media content, pictures and lots more for free.
Price: Subscription based. Free option or premium for €11.19 per month (paid monthly).
Pros
- There is a lot you can do with Canva’s free version (social media posts, FB Cover photos, logo’s etc)
- Large range of templates even in free version
- Create and download your new logo for free
- Colors modifiable to your brand
- 30 Day free trial
Cons
- You must pay for premium version to get transparent background
- You must use credit card details when signing up for free trial and remember to cancel before charged
Final Thoughts
Canva is a great tool for you and your business. Especially if you post to social media a lot.
You can create a good looking logo with Canva but having to pay the subscription fee for a transparent background makes it a no go for me. I would go as far as to say having a transparent background is essential for your logo. It will enable you to use it on many backgrounds without the white (or other color square) around it.
FINAL TIP: Canva is a great, affordable tool to create and print your business cards!
Business cards that I created, printed and delivered from Canva. I paid just €19 for 100 cards delivered!
Logo Tool 2:
Free Logo Design
Here is a screenshot of Free Logo Design’s categories and templates
Free Logo Design (www.freelogodesign.org) is the only tool on my list that can give you, in my opinion, a great looking logo totally free. I have personally done this for use on a simple website for a local business which you can view at www.handslivestock.com.
I created this simple logo in minutes using Free Logo Design.
There are many templates available to you for free and you are able to customise your colours to suit your brand using the Hex code. This is a really fun, easy to use tool that can help you keep start up costs to a minimum.
Price: Free for low resolution logo. €34 (at the time of writing) for high resolution, JPEG and PDF files.
Pros
- Create beautiful logo’s for free
- Transparent background comes with the free option
- Simple, easy to use interface
- Colors modifiable to your brand or you can experiment with colors to decide on a color scheme
Cons
- When you download your logo it is a square image which can be awkward depending on where you want to put it on your website.
- Free downloaded image is only 200×200 pixels in size
- Free downloaded image is only in low resolution. Might be fine for your website but may not be good enough for printed marketing materials such as leaflets and business cards.
Final Thoughts
I really love this tool and I’v used it myself to produce simple logo’s for clients. If you need to keep costs low then this might be a good option.
If you are thinking ahead to the future, where you may want to put your logo on printed paper then you might want to consider the next option.
Logo Tool 3:
LogoMakr
Some of the categories and templates available from LogoMakr
LogoMakr (www.logomakr.com) is currently my go to logo tool. I have used it to create many logo’s including the one you can see on my website www.harveywebsitedesign.com. It does have a free option where, as above, you can download your logo in low resolution for free, but the paid option is only €19!
Price: Free for low resolution or €19 for high resolution and all the files you need.
Pros
- Short tutorials showing you how to use the software
- Transparent background comes with the free option
- Simple, easy to use interface
- Colors modifiable to your brand or you can experiment with colors to decide on a color scheme
- Make a logo in just minutes!
- Social icon creator*
- Good support if you run into issues
Cons
- Easy to use but can take a little getting used to
- Free downloaded image is only 200×200 pixels in size
- Free downloaded image is only in low resolution.
- Logo’s cannot be trademarked or copyrighted as they are designed by a third party
Final Thoughts
This tool uses a one time fee approach which I feel is great because most small businesses only want to create one logo.
I had a small issue creating the social icon* creator tool and had to contact their support for help. I had a response in a few days and it turned out it was a caching issue on my computer. They went to the liberty of creating the social icon for me too!
*The social icon creator separates an icon from the whole logo so you can use this as your social media profile picture. It’s the little icon that also appears on the tab when you, or anyone else opens your website.
To Sum Up
When you are starting a business you can waste so much time and money on the little things that don’t ultimately grow your business. I’m not saying that a logo is insignificant or that you can’t spend a lot on it. If you would rather hire a graphic designer then that’s a perfectly viable option too.
This post is designed to get your business off the ground quickly, professionally and affordably.
What logo creating software have you used in the passed, and would you recommend it to others? I would love to hear your experiences with these or other tools that are available. Please leave your comments below.
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