Text editor logos. Which program is best to make a corporate logo?

Hello regular readers and guests of my blog! Today I propose to talk about a small symbol, which is one of the most important attributes of any company, website and blog. The creators of these drawings and emblems set themselves the task of displaying in one discreet label what the company or firm does. As a rule, this logo reflects the direction of the company and the type of its main activity. How to create a company logo yourself, or a beautiful logo for a website?

Logo is one important details appearance of the site. This is the company’s brand, and at the same time its business card. To the extent that your logo looks solid and unique, visitors to any resource evaluate your company.

By the appearance of this symbolic drawing, the quality and usefulness of any page on the Internet is perceived. Even if you use one of the free WordPress themes, you should still definitely change the logo - this is an important task in optimizing your resource.

But many of you, friends, will have a legitimate question: “How can I change the logo if I don’t really know how to draw?” I hasten to reassure you: it is not at all necessary to be an artist yourself. The sketch can be ordered from design studios or freelance exchanges.

And if you want to do it yourself, then know that a logo can also be made in free online Internet services. Of course, your first sketch for a website or company will not turn out to be a masterpiece of web design, but you can enjoy your own creation, and you can simply save a small amount. For some of the most persistent of you, this process may unexpectedly become an additional source of earnings on the Internet. After this argument, I think you will want to read this article to the end?

Now let's talk about each of these services in more detail.

Leading the list of the most popular services Logaster.ru– a convenient and easy way to create a logo online.

This service supports the Cyrillic alphabet, and another advantage is the fact that here you can automatically generate any number of ready-made projects on any topic. You can then edit them at your discretion, and then download them in the desired format to your computer.

Here you can create mailing envelopes with logos, letterheads of any organizations, as well as beautiful and stylish business cards.

I would recommend Logaster, but there are a bunch of other services where you can make yourself a logo for the first time. When creating a logo, start with an idea. First, think about everything and most importantly, don’t do the following:

Logo Creator

Try and this site. It is interesting because sketches are created here in the web 2.0 style. This service is absolutely free, and another interesting feature of this resource is that here you can create elegant, modern buttons for any thematic blogs.

Free Logo Maker

This service kindly provides the opportunity to choose from a huge personal gallery an icon that will best suit the thematic focus of your resource. Right there on the website you can add the desired thematic text to the image. Such online services very useful for those who do not want to pay for expensive specialist services; and save some money.

Web 2.0 Free Logo Generator

On this service, as its name implies, you can draw web 2.0 type sketches as much as you like, in which you need to add text insertion.

Cool Text

This site may surprise you with the largest catalog of typing text in drawings, and another interesting feature its ability to create luxurious animated logos. For example: you want your text to blink or be illuminated by flames. No problem! You can do it here. Unfortunately, this function is only possible for the Latin alphabet.

Sketching software for free

If you don’t want to search for online services on the Internet, you can download free program to create your own drawing. I would like to add that mastering such a program is much easier than poking around in Photoshop, and understanding it will be quite simple. Three programs stand out in this niche, I will show them and consider one in detail, the other two are similar, look for yourself - everything is intuitive.

Portable AAA Logo

You shouldn’t start drawing a logo in expensive and paid programs used by professionals. You are still beginners, and some inexpensive service will suit you. You can try your hand at it and decide whether you like this activity. So, first, let's get acquainted with the simple and free Portable AAA Logo program, which is very convenient for creating an individual logo. Moreover, this can be a project of any complexity. The program does everything quickly and professionally. In just a few minutes you can see concrete results. To do this, you don’t need to be a designer or even read specialized literature. The result is guaranteed. You can choose about a hundred templates to your liking. Therefore, you will not need to think about the design and sketch. The program is easy to download on the Internet here.

How to work with Portable AAA Logo

To start the program, simply click its shortcut and next window We see a simple interface. First, choose a topic and then the logo development begins.
In the top row there is a toolbar where you can choose any style that suits you. You can experiment with styles:

  • Remove and change elements and inscriptions;
  • Add icons from the gallery;
  • Change colors and locations of objects;
  • Change the length of sentences;
  • Compress drawings and inscriptions;
  • Move in any direction;
  • Add your own objects for processing to the program;
  • And much more...

As we can see on the top panel there are as many as six buttons in which you can see a hint for creating own project. There are many of the most different styles, which will give you ideas for creating a unique style.

The end result is quite professional drawings that look no worse than branded logos that you would pay a lot of money for.

You can upload ready-made drawings into the program and then modify them. This is done like this:


You can select a ready-made sketch from the website gallery. You just need to get creative and remove something from it: for example, replace the inscription or some details of the picture, or add new icons to the image: arrows, stars, men, inscriptions, and so on.

Using these techniques, you can create a new image that will be identified by search engines as absolutely unique. It is enough to change the shape a little or add a few unimportant elements. For a search robot, this is quite enough so that it does not recognize it.

Look here: every element can be changed.

But if you are determined, then try to create something of your own. It's not nearly as difficult as it seems. For a new project, enter the program and click the “File” button, and then “New Project Form”.

A blank checkered sheet will open in front of you. The cells play the role of a vertical-horizontal ruler in the program. To have a place to select sizes; place objects on the same line; and, in general, navigate the sketch.

As you can see, under the drop-down menu there is a large collection of icons that may be useful to you for drawing. Each element of the selected pattern can be changed.
If their number seems insufficient, they can be downloaded on the Internet. Fortunately there are enough drawings there.

Let's move on to the next step, creating a composition from one or several pictures and inserting text.

Let's say we selected the icon of a man at a computer. It can be increased or decreased, changed color. To do this, select the Image button. If you don’t like the color of these scales, then click on them and go to the Colors button. In this field you can select the color of the object or text. You can expand it vertically or horizontally. Or drag it to any place in our picture.

Creating a new object

The program has one drawback. It is not entirely clear how new objects can be added. When you select some interesting icon to complement the sketch with a new character, for some reason the old icon is deleted.

At first I had problems with this. And then I realized some tricks and adapted to do everything without difficulty. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I liked it.

This is the technique. Go to the toolbar, click “Object”, In the submenu select “Duplicate object”, after which a copy of this picture pops up. Then you click any icon you need - and please, it has replaced the duplicate.

That is, you can change any object by creating a duplicate of the picture. Then click “Image”: after which you can rotate the object in a circle, enlarge, reduce the icon or change the color. In general, you can do whatever you want with the image. After the goal is achieved, delete the extra icon, or by clicking another picture, replace the old one with a new one. Delete – “Object”, then “Delete object”. And this can be done ad infinitum. This way, you create entire compositions from pictures and can supplement them with text.

How to add text

To add text, go to the top panel, click "Object", then select "New Text". A window will pop up containing the letters “New Text”; remove them; choose the font, font color and stroke.

By the way, it looks good when red or orange letters are outlined with a black border. You can also experiment successfully with letter length, spacing, and size. The inscription can be easily extended and reduced in length and height. This also changes the spacing between letters.

Composition background

After the project is created, you can add a background. Or create a background right away and then add images to it. It is important not to make it too dark, and if you really want to make it brighter. Let's say, make the background richly colored, but then the letters should be in the same or contrasting colors, very dark.

A good combination is an orange background with dark blue letters. Or a yellow background with dark purple letters. But, in order to make the letters better readable, make the background paler and the inscriptions very dark.

How to change labels

To change the inscriptions, click the “Transform” button, and a window will appear in front of you in which you will be asked to change the angle of rotation, the bend of the inscription, and the bend radius. The rotation angle can be changed to the left or right side. The bending radius of the inscription can be from small to a real circle. The bend can be either external or internal.

Object Gradient

This concept means that an object can change color depending on light colors until the darkest. Let's say it might look like the picture. As you can see, there is a transition from yellow color to blue. But gradients can consist of solid colors. For example: from a pale gray tone to completely black.

The result will be an ashy color with tints. It turns out very beautiful and prestigious. As you can see in the picture, I first selected the black icon and pressed the key labeled "Gradient". After the window appeared, the “Gradient overlay” checkbox was checked, then by clicking on the gradient color window, I called up the next window in which the color scheme appears. For gradient color #1 I chose dark blue, and for gradient #2 I chose yellow.

As a result of mixing, a greenish-blue color appeared with a tonal transition from dark to light. Thus, knowing the basic colors, you can achieve mixing of different colors. Let's say you wanted to get the color purple.

Take bright red and dark blue gradients and get a red-violet inscription. If desired, it can be enhanced by the effect of a cast shadow. You can add a shadow to the letters, and make it dense or translucent. Change the shadow angle and distance. If you make a shadow, then do not forget that it should not be dull and black. It's better to make it bluish-gray.
Program features

For fun, let’s look at what kind of picture you can create in this program. The picture is, of course, a joke, but it shows the possibilities of curved inscriptions on the phrase “Law and Order”; gradient transitions on the scales of justice; the circled letters in the phrase “Saving Drowning People” and the shadow cast by this phrase. The number of icons can be any.

Just remember that overloading the sketch with pictures is also not welcome. To understand the essence of logos, you can look at samples in this program itself, or on the Internet. Pictures are drawn simplified, in the form of silhouettes, often on a white background. Based on the images on road signs. Therefore, when creating your drawings, be guided by the same signs, trying not to overload your symbol with unnecessary signs and inscriptions.

Mirror effect

The program has interesting effect. You can add a gradient shadow to images of objects from below, as if they are reflected on a mirror surface.

It also creates the illusion that objects are on the same surface. To get this opportunity, you need to go to the toolbar in “Object” and in the submenu that appears, check the box “Reflection. After this, it will be much easier to adjust the placement of objects on the same line.

Saving drawings

When you are completely satisfied with the created image, you need to save it and do what you need with it further. It can be sent over the Internet, printed on a printer, or simply saved on a computer. To do this, click on the “File” inscription on the toolbar and select the desired action.

  • save logo – for transferring to a computer in different formats;
  • save the project as - only in program format for subsequent processing;
  • Export logo for Web - forwarding via e-mail(different formats);
  • Export logo for printing – saving in many formats for printing on a printer;
  • Import images – in different formats for any purpose.

GreenBox Logo Maker

This program is paid, but its functionality justifies the price. Even professionals can use it. It provides the opportunity to design and create not only amateur symbols for your website, but also professional custom signs and any logos for commercial firms and various brands.

The trial version provides users with incomplete features that limit their experience. And her big disadvantage is that she does not want to work with the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Logo Creator

The next option will be a little more complicated than the samples described above. But it is better than them in that there are more than five hundred templates that will help you create a truly original drawing.

Many of the online services and programs that I have listed will give you the opportunity to professionally design logos and branding for customers or for the personal needs of your blog. And I looked at 11 more services for creating a logo.

If you still doubt where it is better to create a logo, then look at this service - logaster.ru. This site has Russian-language support and a huge collection of variations of various logo images on any topic, so you can easily make a logo online.

And this is totally kick-ass:

How to make a logo for a website yourself if you don’t have the skills and appropriate programs? Fortunately, in our time this is a completely solvable task. You don’t need any specialized software; you can create a logo for your blog yourself online, using special services. They will be discussed in this article, but besides this, you will learn how to make a logo in the form of an inscription or button, a graphic element or just text, using Photoshop or online services, as well as how to install it on a wordpress blog.

A logo is a trademark of a blog that distinguishes it from others. This essential element, which should be present on every website, almost all successful websites have their own unique logo! It can be either a regular inscription (url address or site name) or a graphic element (animal, plant or any object).

If you have serious plans for a blog, you want to promote it and make it highly visited, then you simply need to create your own logo, because without it your resource is unlikely to be taken seriously.

In the beginning, a logo was a trademark of a company, usually one that produced a product. With its help, the organization stood out among competitors and remained in the memory of consumers. The logo was the face of the company.

With the advent of the Internet, the logo began to appear on many sites. This is how webmasters tried to stand out. But now the situation has changed dramatically: the popularity of the logo has increased so much that it has become an integral part of any website. And now the logo is needed in order to “not stand out from the crowd”- in the bad sense of the phrase.

Yes, the lack of a logo will not help with search engines, but its task is different - to attract the attention of visitors and make them return.

Logos can be divided into three types:

  • text;
  • graphic;
  • both text and symbolic.

The logo is presented big number requirements:

  • should be easy to remember; a logo that is too complex will not help the blog develop;
  • must be original, otherwise visitors will not pay attention to it;
  • must be unique, otherwise it will not be able to stand out;
  • must be associative, i.e. reflecting the nature of the blog and its author.

2. How to make a text logo (online)

Text logos are very easy to make using an online service. There are plenty of them now, so there is plenty to choose from. I will list the ones that seem most useful to me.

2.1 Logaster.ru

Russian starts our list online generator Logaster logos
This service allows you to quickly create free logos.

The process of creating a logo is very simple. All you need to do is enter the name of the company and select the topic of the business.
Next, the constructor itself will generate a set various options, and all you have to do is choose the one you like best.
If desired, the logo can be edited by clicking on “Edit Logo”.
The main advantages of the service are its simplicity, Russian interface, Cyrillic support and a huge database of high-quality icons and fonts.

For an additional fee, the logo can be downloaded in raster (PNG, JPEG) and vector (SVG, PDF)

2.2 Creatr.cc

A convenient and simple logo generator, perfect for those who want to quickly create a logo without going into all the intricacies of this matter. You can make yourself a logo in less than a minute - you just need to enter the inscription that you want to see in the logo, select the appropriate style and click on the button . In other words, creating a logo takes place in 3 steps:

  • step 1: select the style you like and click on it;
  • step 2: enter the desired inscription, change some style settings if necessary;
  • Step 3: click on the button and download the logo.

As a result, you will get a simple logo small size(about 50 kilobytes). Extension – png. Here's how I did it:

2.3 Cooltext.com

A little more complex, but an excellent multifunctional generator that helps you make a logo for your website.

When you go to the main page of the site, you will see many different templates in front of you. Select the one you like best and left-click on it.

This will take you to the style options page where you can configure:

  • font;
  • font color;
  • background color (if any);
  • background gradient;
  • gradient parameters;
  • logo extension.

If you decide to change the text font or the background on which it is located, click on them and select the more suitable ones.

It is best to save the logo in gif format (worse quality, smaller size) or png ( better quality, But larger size).

After setting the parameters, click on . After this, you will be taken to a page with an image of your logo. Download it using the link Download Image.

This is the logo I made for my website using this generator:


2.4. Simwebsol.com

This generator is a little less functional than the previous two, but it is easy to use. All you need to do is set up a window with the parameters of the future logo:

– inscription on the logo.

Check mark - fatty, – italics, – underlined.

– background color, to the right of it there is a palette. By clicking on it, you can select the appropriate one. Similarly for the fields and - these are other colors of the logo.

– type of font.

- font size.

– this field can be skipped; it is responsible for the transparency of the logo.

– here you can choose a beautiful symbol and add it to the logo.

– symbol location: – left; - on right.

– resolution, the higher it is, the larger the file size and the higher the quality. I'm using the standard value.

Configure the settings and click on the button, after a few seconds the page will reload and you will see your logo at the top of the page. To download it, right-click on it and select "Save picture to computer" or something similar.

3. How to make a text logo in the form of a button

In addition to regular generators, there are also button designers. In this case, your logo can appear on the background of the button. Such logos are original and beautiful, so it makes sense to use them.

3.1 Web20badges.com

A good button designer. You can make your own logo in a minute by going to this site.

So you will see three fields:

The first field contains button templates. Choose any one you like and left-click on it. After a few seconds, the third field will update the image. By the way, please note that template color cannot be changed!

The second field contains the caption parameters. Field – inscription on the logo. Button – apply changes.

[ Font] – font type; - font size; – font color. Below is a palette, with its help you can change the color of the inscription.

– coordinates of the inscription (by default – center). If you want to move the label, change these values.

– rotation of the inscription in degrees (counterclockwise).

The third field reflects the appearance of the logo. You can download it at any time, to do this, right-click on it and save the image to your computer.

3.2 Dabuttonfactory.com

This button designer contains more settings than the previous one. But its main advantage is that it creates the button style css code. You can save this style in the appropriate theme file and use it without returning to the site. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The button generator consists of three areas. Here the buttons are created in the form of rectangles.

The first field contains the parameters for the logo image inscription:

– inscription logo.

- font size.

Checkmarks and - fatty And italics.

– size of the inscription.

– color of the inscription.

– shadow of the inscription.

– distance of the shadow from the inscription.

– shadow color.

– output type (select css background to get css code).

– image format.

The second field contains the button settings:

– type of angles.

– fill style.

– presence of a frame.

– the presence of a shadow from the frame.

– button size (either fixed or rubber).

The third field displays the logo itself. You can save it to your computer at any time.

4. How to create a logo in Photoshop

It is not necessary to use online services to create a logo. You can also use Photoshop, the program allows you to create very beautiful options logo pictures and . Let's try to make a mini logo in the form of a button.

Launch Photoshop and select File—>New, here select the width and height of the new document. Choose their sizes the way you want the button to look. For example, I took them equal to 250 pixels. Now we select the shape of the button: it can be a rectangle with regular or sharp corners, a circle, an oval, a rhombus, etc. I chose the circle. The arrows show where you can find the forms (first click where the number “1” points, and then select the form where the number “2” points in the picture below):

By the way, if you want to make a circle, then select an oval (as in the picture), hold it down and draw. Also don't forget to indicate suitable color buttons.

Now you need to slightly decorate the resulting oval. Select Layers—>Layer Style—>Inner Shadow. Here you need to set the offset and size of the shadow. I chose an offset of 5 pixels (standard) and a shadow size of 50 pixels. You can experiment with these numbers, try adding contraction as well.

Now I'll deform the button a little so it looks jagged. To do this, I select Filter—>Distort—>Warp and adjust it. I'm trying to make sure the button doesn't look too crooked. By the way, you can try some other effect.

Now let's add a ray of light to the button, go to Filter->Rendering->Blink, select the place where it will be:

Almost everything, all that remains is to add the inscription. I chose my blog url. That's all, for example, I got the following (I didn't add a ray):

You can also watch an online video that will teach you how to create beautiful logos in Photoshop:

5. How to make a graphic logo

The logo can contain not only an inscription, but also some graphic element. An excellent designer located at onlinelogomaker.com is suitable for this task. Go to this site, find the link online logo maker, you need to click on it in order to get into the logo generator.

Once the designer is loaded, you can start working. It is quite powerful, there are many functions, so take your time - figure it out little by little. The generator has 5 fields (click on the image to enlarge):

The first field contains logo objects in the form of a list (in English).

The second field contains buttons for creating new elements, both graphic and text (but, unfortunately, Russian letters are not supported), as well as buttons for loading a logo image.

The fourth field contains parameters such as rotation, shading, element position, etc. You can use the options in this field, but all this can be done with the mouse.

Fifth field - appearance the resulting logo, working panel.

6. Where to order a good logo

Unfortunately, such generators have a significant drawback - you get a logo of average quality. If you want to create a really high-quality logo for your website, then you better turn to professionals and order logo development from them. You can find such specialists on freelance exchanges:

7. How to add a logo to a WordPress blog

After the logo is made by you or the artist, it will need to be added to the WordPress blog. The adding process will depend on your theme:

  • The theme supports replacing the logo in its settings;
  • The theme does not support logo replacement, but has a standard logo logo.png;
  • The theme does not support replacement and does not have a logo.

First case the simplest one: go to the theme settings and replace the standard logo with your own.

Second case more difficult. Here you will need to open the theme folder (using an ftp manager or through hosting) and find the file that is the logo. Most likely your topic will be located at:

/wp-content/themes/your_theme_name/images/

In this folder, look for the logo, most likely it will be a logo.png or logo.jpg file. Copy it to your computer, then use any image processing program to determine the dimensions of the downloaded logo (in pixels). Set the same dimensions for your logo (which you want to add), rename the file the same way as the base logo was named - logo.png or logo.jpg, and upload to the hosting.

Third case most difficult. You will have to “force” the theme to accept the logo. To do this, go to the theme editor (via the WordPress admin) and edit the Header (header.php). Paste in the right place (inside tags

) this line:

/images/logo.jpg

/images/logo.jpg

Now do all the steps described in second case. If you complete everything, the picture will appear.

And now you know how to make a logo for the site yourself and add it to your WordPress blog. Go for it!

Jeta logo designer is a simple, convenient program for creating logos, and most importantly, completely free.

In order to create a logo, you first need to download a zip archive with the program, unpack the archive and install the program. The installation process is standard.

After launching the program, you will see free logo templates:

You can choose one of them and create a logo based on it, but you can choose not to use a template. You have two options

  1. choose finished projectLoad Save Project(this method is suitable for you if you have created a logo in this program previously and saved the intermediate version in the Jeta format.
  2. create a new empty document – New Blank Project. Next, I will describe the steps you need to follow in the program to draw a logo from scratch.

So you've created new project(document).

    1. A window immediately appears in front of you with the dimensions and general information about the document:


      Check the Fixed Canvas checkbox to specify the width (widht) and height (height) of the future logo in pixels (you can change this unit of measurement to inches or centimeters).

      Select resolution, default is 72 dpi. If your goal is to develop a “light” (in size) logo, and you want your logo not to load the site, then leave the resolution at 72 dpi. If quality is important to you, then choose a resolution of 150 or even 300 dpi.

      The background parameter will help you choose a background for your logo. Background options:
      • Solid Color - solid color
      • Transparent - transparent
      • White - white,
      • Black - black.
    2. Now that the new document has been created, pay attention to the windows on the left - Object Library and on the right - Styles. The program has more than 200 ready-made styles and more than 300 vector objects. Look at the diagram below and a lot will become clear to you.


    3. Click on a vector element from the gallery, and it will immediately appear on your “ clean slate" Move it with the mouse. If you need to remove a shape, right-click and select Remove.


    4. Select a style for our object. To do this, let's turn to the style library on the right.




      If you do not want to create a logo yourself, then you can

What to do if you want to make a cool logo for your project, but don’t have the money for it? I've been designing for the last ten years, so I could always make a logo for my projects myself. How can you make a cool logo if you are not a designer?


Most turn to the nephew of a distant relative, who seems to know how to use Photoshop or is simply good at drawing. But I advise you to take this issue into your own hands, and even if this is your first and perhaps last logo, it will be on a par with Sony and Facebook! You will be proud to put it on your website, and no one on the Internet will guess that you are not a designer.

Here are two simple rules, which I came up with. They will help you make a million-dollar logo yourself:

1. Start your path to success with font logo
2. Focus on corporate style, especially on color combinations

Let's go in order. What is a font logo? This means that only the font part is used in the logo, without an emblem or symbol. Like Google:

Why a font logo? What about the icon? It looks a little poor, won’t they laugh at me? Maybe add some squiggle?

Don't panic! Using a font logo is like putting on a shirt and jacket on business meeting. You can, of course, try to match a sweater with jeans or come in a polo and moccasins, but you need to have impeccable taste, otherwise you will look like a clown. It’s the same with the logo - if you don’t have a professional identity designer at hand, it’s better not to try to jump over your head. Just look at these pretty serious guys - they all use logos based on the same font, Helvetica:

Maybe only large companies that already know everything can afford this? I don’t think so - in my opinion, the main thing in a logo is high-quality graphics and the overall impression. For example, Jeep and Lufthansa have emblems, but the font version of the logo also looks solid. I sincerely believe in this and I myself used this approach at the start of my project. This is the logo we started with and it didn’t stop us from getting our first orders:

How to choose the right font? You can go to wordmark.it and write the name of your project in the field - the site will show it in all the fonts that are on your computer. If that's not enough, fontfabric.com has many free typefaces, including ones with Cyrillic support. What's wrong with free fonts? Nothing, use it for your health.

Which font is better to choose? Here I also advise you to adhere to the rule “modesty is decorative.” Look at all the options and try to get a feel for which one best captures the spirit and style of your project. Don't look towards unusual display fonts - they stand out from the rest, but most often look out of place, like feathers from the Rio carnival on your morning jog.

Resist the temptation to write the project name in CAPITAL. At first glance, this writing looks neater than lowercase, like a stable rectangle. But in reality, capital letters are perceived worse. If you still want to use only capital letters, increase the letter spacing - this will increase the readability of your logo, especially in a small format.

I named the second important point for the design of any project form style . I’ll tell you next time what it is and how it will help your project become noticeable and recognizable. I will only say that the logo is not the main thing and by itself it will give little. No matter what marketers say, the formula for a successful logo that will attract a crowd of customers by its very appearance has not yet been invented.

I described a simple approach that will help you make a solid and neat logo and avoid vulgarity. Of course, to make a high-quality font logo, you also need a designer, but at the start of the project you can do without one - then you can play with fonts and come up with an emblem. And if you think that the font logo is somehow poor and the kids from the neighborhood won’t understand, look at the logo of the Accenture company, which invests millions of dollars in its corporate identity:

Good luck with your design projects and don’t forget to subscribe to Logomachine - there’s a lot of interesting things ahead!

Typical situation: the product is excellent, but there are problems with branding: there is no designer on staff and no budget to order a design. What to do?

This article is about how to create a logo online. We will present several designers, your task is to choose the right one.

Note. This is an option for low-budget startups where time is of the essence and every penny counts.

Principles of logo creation

  • 95% of them use 1 or 2 colors.
  • 41% of brands use a stylized initial letter as a logo.
  • 93% of logos are easy to recognize at reduced sizes.

Statistics are good, but what are the practical conclusions from this?

  • When starting out, use two colors, black and white. Focus on a shape that will provide recognition and the logo will look good in any case. Color is an additional dimension secondary to form and composition.
  • Come up with a key idea for your startup and express it in a simple sign. You can combine a pictogram and one letter of the brand name.
  • If something is lost when reducing the logo, simplify it. A good pictogram is easy to read on a small piece of paper.

Design requirements:

  • Simplicity. The simpler the better. This is key to effectiveness because a simple logo usually meets the other requirements.
  • Relevance - the logo is relevant to the business it symbolizes.
  • Traditionality. Don't chase ephemeral trends. Focus on the classic approach. Such logos never become obsolete.
  • Recognition - a brand name is associated with your product, and only with it.
  • Memorability. Otherwise, the logo does not fulfill its purpose.
  • Minimalism. Don't overload the design with additional meanings.

To get started, study the logos of industry leaders to understand where to start and what you want to get as a result.

And now that the theory is in order, let’s get to work! To choose the right tool, let’s look at the path to creating a logo using the example of the virtual startup “Horns and Hooves”.

Let's say he buys horns and hooves from the rural population, and then sells them as material for creative work to hipster craftsmen. Unique selling proposition - instant order delivery.

Visual embodiment - a running bull. This image contains horns, hooves, strength, and movement. What else is needed for a good start?

Shopify

In general, Shopify is an e-commerce platform, but it also contains a simple builder. There are few options: enter the company name, select an icon, font typeface, color, position of the icon relative to the inscription.

The first tragic minus: there are 13 fonts in the set, and only three of them are Cyrillic.

Icons are no better: there are several dozen of them, and there is no way to upload your own. You can choose the size of the icon from the three offered, but as you can see from the screenshot, you cannot change the size of the letters.

And yes: nothing resembling a bull or cow could be found. We stylize it with a “victory!” gesture, in which two fingers up will indicate horns.

The service clearly does not qualify as a full-fledged logo designer. Very limited capabilities, it is impossible to upload your own icon, a limited number of fonts (they could at least integrate free GoogleFonts), no editing capabilities and finer settings.

Spaces

There are practically no differences from Shopify. Even the icons in the set are the same, although there are more of them.

There are also few options in the service. Enter a name trademark. Choose a font. A suitable icon. A frame. The logo is ready, you can download it.

Plus: the included fonts are different, including several Windows system fonts (Times New Roman, Tahoma, Verdana). However, with such a set it is impossible to create an interesting logo.

Ucraft

A tool for those who do not have a trademark, but urgently need it.

Unlike the previous ones, Ucraft is a full-fledged designer.

Here are its advantages:

  • The number of icons is greater than in Shopify and Spaces. By default, a modest set is displayed, use the “Search” window. The request “Bull” produces several dozen icons.
  • You can change the font size, style (bold, italic, etc.), but not the distance between letters.
  • In addition to frames, there are “shapes” (geometric primitives), among which there is an ordinary line that can be stretched as desired.

Minus: there are also few fonts.

The editor is simple, you don’t need to spend a lot of time understanding it. You are unlikely to create a unique logo, but the service still copes with the task.

Graphic Springs

One of the powerful tools in our review. The amount of customization is huge. In terms of capabilities, the online service differs little from image editors on a computer.

All that remains is to adjust the sizes, colors, and choose the appropriate font typeface. Fonts are downloaded from GoogleFonts, so there are plenty to choose from.

You can hire an expert from the support service to create a completely custom logo for you if you are not satisfied with the results of the work in the designer.

Canva

Registration is required to work, but you can also log in through Facebook or Google. You will be asked how you plan to use Canva. Choose “For yourself”, it’s a free plan.

The interface is Russified.

By default, it offers ready-made free layouts. There are many of them, and they are well made. Logos dominate classic look, but there are also so-called “hipster” ones.

Choose a layout and, if necessary, customize it: replace the icon, inscription, colors. You can use your own fonts, but this is a paid option.

A huge selection of clipart and pictograms, but there are paid ones. Their price is much lower than the cost of clipart in the same Shutterstock. And if you choose the right icon, it will only cost you $1.

Full-fledged editor: you can fix almost everything.

Finished designs are automatically saved in account user, you can return to them at any time.

Two tariffs (and a third, corporate, is expected). The basic plan is free, but has a number of restrictions. For work - $12.5 per month.

Logoshi

A non-standard creative designer with his own concept. If you want your logo to look unique yet professional, this is your choice.

Simple editor. Enter a name, slogan, select a capital letter for the logo, color - and the service will generate a pack of logos for you.

Big plus: Logoshi is the only designer that offers a logo in the form of a stylized initial letter.

Big minus: the initial letter is non-Cyrillic. Otherwise, the designer produces empty sketches.

Choose the one you like - and you can move on to fine-tuning and edits. Here you will be offered a full-fledged editor where you can change almost everything.

Designimo

The editor works according to the same scheme: select the company’s field of activity (or the object that you want to see on the logo), enter the company name and, optionally, a slogan.

The service offers many template options, and it is possible that you will have to scroll through for a long time. There is no sorting by keywords - this is a big minus.

Choose the one that suits you, click on it - and you will be taken to the customization page. Here you can move elements, select a font (there are few Cyrillic ones, mostly display, decorative ones), etc.

Cons: there are few cliparts, you cannot upload your own. You can only add clipart images and a text field, no additional elements.

Conclusion: the service is suitable for an unpretentious logo.

The service is free, but you will be charged $29.95 for using high-resolution clipart.

Working with this constructor evokes very conflicting feelings.

Minuses. Few ready-made cliparts. There are practically no Cyrillic fonts. There are no text formatting tools.

Pros. You can upload your own files.

It’s not a full-fledged editor, but if you have your own clipart and replace the fonts in another editor, you can try it.

The paid version allows you to use higher resolution files, vector clipart, and technical support. Costs 699 rubles. Is the game worth the candle? You decide.

Logomakr

Inconvenient interface. Toolbars are scattered all over the field with no way to organize them ergonomically - the mouse range is quite large.

A good selection of fonts and clipart from Flaticon, but limited editing options. It resembles a primitive vector editor, where you can move and rotate objects, use fill, and change the font.

The biggest drawback: no alignment, uniform scaling, no grid. Everything has to be done by eye. However, it is good for creating sketches that can be shown as a brief to the designer.

Design Mantic

The service prompts you to enter the company name and type of activity. After this it generates sketches.

Unlike other services, the thumbnails are built automatically using a single template: an icon and the company name below it. There is no point in talking about composition, balance, combination of graphic elements and font (the font is always the same).

In our case, neither a bull nor a cow was found in the sketches; searching by keyword also did not help. The minimally appropriate logo resembles an angry monkey with horns. But there is nothing to do - click on the sketch and get into the editing window.

The interface offers you to change the font, add clipart, rotate and transform elements.

The Russian-language interface allows you to count on the fact that the product is adapted for the Cyrillic alphabet. No matter how it is: there are only a couple of Cyrillic fonts. And in general there are very few fonts.

Click on the “shapes” button and - lo and behold! - in the “Animals” section we find the head of a bull. Remove the horned monkey and insert the bull. Let's move on to the next stage: here they offer options for business cards with the selected logo. Choose the one you like.

Oops! The service suddenly takes us to step 2, and into an empty editor. We go back and click on “No, thanks.” And again a surprise: we are asked to log in or register in order to save the design. You can log in via social networks.

Despite the usability issues, your thumbnail does not disappear after logging in. An offer to purchase a sketch means that you can download it for free.

How do you like the result? Perhaps we'll look for more.

Logaster

Enough old instrument, but fit for work. It's nice that the service is Russian.

Enter your brand name and select your industry. Oh miracle! The clue to the company's name is "Horns and Hooves." This is a good sign)

In the second step you choose suitable option from ready-made samples. Then you can change the icon, location and size, font of the inscription and edit the text itself. Optionally, you can add a slogan (there is none by default).

Big plus: there are a lot of fonts, all in Cyrillic.

To create a logo of printing quality you will have to pay from $10. Basic service is free.

Instead of a conclusion

Most of the designers work on the principle: choose a workpiece and make changes.

General disadvantages: small number of fonts to work with. Free low-resolution layouts are suitable for a website, but for printed quality you need to pay.

It's another matter if you have experience working in graphic editors. You create a general layout for which you are offered clipart. The font can be selected later.

And most importantly: with the help of the designer, you create a logo that you are not ashamed to show to clients and business partners. The quality of such work is in no way inferior to the offers of designers from freelance exchanges for 500 rubles.