Marketing Communication Ink
Tips on Marketing, Business, Careers & Life. Advertising on this site is placed by WordPress – I have NO control over it.
Logo Design Tips and Resources – Particularly for Entrepreneurs & Small Business
Talk about American ingenuity. The other day I learned about a company selling an exceptionally easy-to-use Do It Yourself Logo service, online. The basic premise is that you pick from any number of pre-loaded icons. You type in your company name, select color or colors, easily drag and drop the elements around, resize or crop as desired, and Voila! New logo!
It’s designed so that anyone, with or without graphics background, can create their own customized logo, from scratch. The service is through a company called Logo Garden, and they put it better than I can. They say their logo service, designed for entrepreneurs, “enables you to create a professional-looking logo in minutes, even if you can’t draw a straight line or feel you can’t even describe what you’re looking for.”
I think the idea is amazing! Now – I’m not suggesting this service as a way for mid- and large-sized corporations to skimp on the resources of a real design firm. Many, many thought processes should go into logo design – as it represents you, your brand, the message and statement you want to make about yourself, your product or company. There’s an entire art and science to selecting colors, designing images for logos, and so on.
Logo design through traditional resources can cost anywhere from $500 to many thousands of dollars, depending on which agency you select to create it, and whether it’s just a modification to your existing logo or an entirely new design. Logo Garden’s service, including matching art for business card and website, is just $299. And, judging by their samples, shown above, the results are pretty great.
For a new business start-up that can’t afford a logo — and is probably best off putting their limited cash resources somewhere else anyway — the idea, to my mind, is BRILLIANT. Plus, you can create the design, play with it, change it repeatedly, for free. No upfront fees or credit card numbers need ever be exchanged. If you don’t like the results, no charge. You only pay if you choose to download your finished logo design.
Logo Garden offers a video to show just how it’s done, and you can try creating your own logo here. (And, let me just add that I’m not in any way affiliated with them, nor receive compensation for writing about them, or any other vendor listed in this article.)
More About Logo Design – Tips and Advice
I first heard about this DIY logo service when Entrepreneur writer, Jason Fell (@jwfell), blogged about Microsoft’s new logo in a really interesting article that you can read here. (Microsoft’s new logo, incidentally, is awful, IMHO.) That article included comments by Logo Garden’s creator, John Williams, about how to avoid making similar mistakes, which led to my telling you about it today. (As a further side note – I heard about Jason’s article through another get resource, a digest-format enewsletter, SmartBrief on Entrerpreneurs. The SmartBrief link provided here goes right to their subscription page, in case you’d like to sign up.)
If you’d like to learn still more about logos, there is an interesting 2009 article explaining secret concepts behind 25 very famous and lesser known logos, including FedEx, Amazon, Big Ten Conference and Toblerone chocolates. You’ll be amazed at what you never knew was embedded in some of these designs. Read that here.
Regarding do-it-yourself logo design, I can’t actually say I’ve tried Logo Garden’s service. But what I’m so impressed by is this…it’s all about innovation…recognizing the problem that small businesses and entrepreneurs don’t have the resources to invest in creating expensive logo designs, nor the experience or tools to do it themselves, and then finding a novel way to solve the problem.
Some Other Logo Design Resources
Lastly, for anyone who prefers the truly professional logo design that only a real marketing or design firm can offer, there are many resources, ad agencies and so on to choose from. I’ll mention just two:
- Paul Kiesche Design, LLC.
Paul Kiesche Design LLC logos samples, clockwise from top left: NJ MarCom Summer Networking Event, a contemporary furniture manufacturer, attorney’s office and UK-based clothing firm.
I never used this firm, but they produced the innovative and fun logo for the 2012 NJ MarCom Summer Networking Event, and I was subsequently very impressed by the clean design of the many sample logos shown on their website. Logos start as low as $1,000 and you can view numerous examples of their work, as well as read insights behind the design, by clicking the above link, or contact paul@paulkiesche.com for further info.
- Mariconda Marketing Solutions.
Mariconda Marketing logos and sample letterhead, business cards, ads and collateral.
Run by Christine Mariconda, a former MarComm Manager herself, with many years in the B2B industry. I hired Christine’s agency for a recent multi-faceted marketing campaign, and am happy to tell you, she is one of the truly remarkable creative marketing people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. “Thorough” does not begin to describe how she works. And the ads and literature she created for us were unique, attractive, eye-catching, and right for our audience and message. She offers a full range of services, consulting, marketing and advertising, not just logos. She’s very reasonably priced – especially as she keeps her overhead low by hiring resources as needed. If you work with her, I’m sure you’ll be as happy with your results as I was. Both she and Paul are East-Coast based, but I don’t think it matters, as it’s easy to work with anyone these days without meeting in person. Christine’s email is christinemariconda@yahoo.com.
So…that’s my advice on logo design. Hope it was helpful. Let me know what you think! Feel free to share the article: http://wp.me/p2EWMT-aa
10 Secrets to Powerful Public Speaking … Even If You’re Deathly Afraid of Being the Center of Attention
Available at Kindle Ebooks - Click image to grab a copy today!
Marketing Communication Ink 