When designing a logo

These days, it seems like it ought to be easy to make your own logo. Find some clip art, pick a font, mess around with word art in Microsoft Word, and call it a day.

But there’s a difference between making a logo and designing a logo. And there are good reasons to hire a professional to design it for you. Here are some things you may want to think about with regard to designing a logo:

Let’s start with this: What are you going to use it for?

  • You’ll want it on your website and e-mail headers.
  • And you’ll need to print it on business cards, brochures, flyer, and forms.
  • How about banners?
  • Do you need a big ol’ sign in front of your shop?
  • How about shirts? Will they be screen printed, vinyl printed or embroidered?
  • Will you want to give away promotional products at your grand opening? Pens? Mugs? Flash drives? Bottle cozies? Laptop cases?

So?

What’s the difference? A logo is a logo isn’t it?

First of all, what looks good on a website in vivid color with a gradient behind it is probably not going to work on a pen or a shirt. You’ll probably need a one-color design for the pen. And, depending on how the shirt is being created, you may not be able to use a gradient. Or, you may be able to use a gradient if you want to spend a lot more money.

How will you know exactly what color the logo is? It may look gray on your desktop monitor and blue on your phone.

And how do you make sure it’s the right resolution — how big it needs to be? And what file format will you create?

The reason you want to work with a designer is this: Designing a logo is more than just an art assignment. Designing a logo is a project, and a good designer is a project manager. A good designer takes all of these issues into consideration while designing a logo.

A good designer can create a design that can be adapted to any medium. See the samples above.

The designer will show you exactly what color it’s going to be. And the designer will produce the logo so that it will be able to be used at any size. The designer will be able to provide you with formats for your web developer, your embroiderer, and the little league team that you want to sponsor.

A good designer will not only create a unique logo that you’ll love, but also save you heartache and hassle every time you use it. Trust me when I tell you, this is one place you don’t want to skimp!