Is a Do-It-Yourself Logo Right for You?

Thanks to our do-it-yourself logo design tool, it’s pretty darn easy to create a new logo for your business. Not only is it easy, it’s fast and very reasonably priced.

But lots of so-called experts would say designing your own logo is foolish, and you should hire a professional logo designer (for several hundred or even thousands of dollars).

And here’s the thing: they may be right.

A do-it-yourself logo is a great option, but it’s not for everybody.

So here are a few things to think about as you decide whether designing a logo yourself is a good idea:

#1. What is your budget for logo design?

If you’ve got lots of money to spend on logo development, then by all means, hire a professional logo designer. A good logo designer can help you choose colors and forms that represent your business and brand. And it can be a very good investment. Is this you? If so, a do-it-yourself logo is probably not the right choice. Hire a designer.

Unfortunately most people starting a new business don’t have piles of money sitting around. In fact, as we’ve talked to hundreds of entrepreneurs and other small business people, we’ve found that most of them had less than $500 budgeted for all of their marketing for the entire year. Spending the entire marketing budget (or more) on a logo doesn’t seem like a good idea, especially when you still need a custom website, business cards, and other materials to get up and running. If you’re just getting started, need to prove your business works before you make a big marketing investment, or simply want to save some money on your marketing, then a DIY logo is a good choice.

2. Do you need complex brand guidelines that others will follow to develop marketing materials, the look and feel of stores, or brand extensions?

When you use a do-it-yourself logo service like Logomaker, you won’t get these. But the truth is, very few small businesses need them. They can be very expensive. In fact, when you read a news report about a company paying $40,000 for a business logo, the truth is the logo is just a small part of what they buy—most of the money goes to develop brand standards, guidelines for use, and stuff like environmental graphics. If you need these kinds of resources, a DIY logo is wrong for you.

Most big business owners develop these kinds of resources long after the business begins to grow and succeed (and they have the money to pay for it). For everyone else, it makes a lot of sense to see what you can do on your own first.

3. Is your business design- or arts-focused?

Are your customers designers? Photographers? Artists? These customers tend to pay a lot of attention to the way you present your trade dress (meaning your logo, the colors, and design of your marketing, your interior design, etc.). While you can certainly create a great looking do-it-yourself logo that translates well into your other marketing efforts, you ‘ll have to do that work. If you’d rather focus on your business, you may want to spend some money and involve a logo designer in developing the look and feel of your brand.

For most businesses, these professions are a very small part of the total customer base. If that’s the case with your customers, a DIY logo is a great option.

4. Have you tried designing a do-it-yourself logo?

Warning: Shameless plug ahead. If you haven’t tried our do-it-yourself logo tool before, why not give it a go before you make up your mind? The logo design tool at Logomaker is free to try (you can even save an unlimited number of logo designs). With a little searching around, you’ll find dozens of unique icons and you can play with hundreds of fonts and thousands of colors to create a logo design that is just right for your company. If you like what you create, buying the files is easy (and very inexpensive for just $49). And if you don’t like them, just delete the file and start again. It’s totally free. With a little practice, just about anyone can create a great new do-it-yourself logo with Logomaker.

And if you’ve answered the questions above and decided you’re in the position to work with a designer, let us know and we’ll refer you to a couple we think are pretty darn good.