Entrepreneur's Journal: Putting together a fancy logo for your business

Posted Sep 27th 2009 6:10PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE), Small Business

Nike's (NYSE: NKE) "swoosh" logo is incredibly powerful and captures the essense of the company. Interestingly enough, back in 1971 Carolyn Davidson designed the logo for a mere $35 (for more stories about logos, check out the LogoBlog).

So of course, your company's logo is critical -- in terms of branding, getting customers, and presenting the right image. And, the good news is that there are many affordable options to get a top-notch one.

Let's take a look:

Online Providers: There are a variety of easy web-based tools that help to create logos. One is from VistaPrint (NYSE: VPRT). It goes through a step-by-step process, providing many choices for fonts, icons, and color schemes.

Now, if you want some more help, you can check out some advanced options. One choice is Logoworks. The company has top designers who will customize your logo. The packages start from $299 (keep in mind that a professional designer can easily charge $2,000 to $10,000).

Crowdsourcing: Yes, you can use the power of community to develop your logo. This is possible at a site called crowdSPRING. Basically, you post your project and offer an award (say $500 to $1,000). Then, designers will submit their ideas.

It's a great way to get new ideas and allow competition to work its magic. In fact, it's not uncommon to get more than 100 submissions.

Design Tools: While there are many great graphics software packages, they are usually expensive and complicated (that is, you need to be a professional designer to use them). But there is one geared for the needs of business owners: PagePlus X4.

The software allows for PDF conversions and easy manipulations of graphics, as well as has a huge library of images/icons/fonts. And, there is a special section for logos.

What's more, the software has helpful templates and tutorial videos. The price tag? Only $99.99.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook.

Tags: branding, Carolyn Davidson, Crowdsourcing, crowdSPRING, featured, LogoBlog, logos, LogoWorks, Nike logo, Nike swoosh, NKE, PagePlus X4, small business, VistaPrint, VPRT

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-27-2009 @ 7:24PM

Ross Kimbarovsky said...

Tom - much thanks for including crowdSPRING in your list of resources for getting a logo. Thousands of buyers from 50+ countries have come to our community of 40,000 graphic artists for help with logo and other graphic design.

I wanted to offer a helpful guide to your readers. Whether they come to crowdSPRING or to any of the other resources you've listed in your post, our community has put together their top 10 logo design tips for buyers:

http://www.crowdspring.com/10-logo-design-tips-for-buyers

Best,

Ross Kimbarovsky
co-Founder
http://www.crowdspring.com

9-28-2009 @ 8:57AM

designer1 said...

It's sad that you touched upon every option except hiring a qualified professional designer to create your logo.

Some of these other options you mentioned are fine for very small companies or blogs with very little money for branding. If you're serious about creating a quality logo that actually reflects your business in the best possible manner, then a professional designer is your only true option, and it's an option that is more than worth the money. Working hand-in-hand with a designer who knows about your company & industry and working to create a quality, custom logo specifically for you is a worthwhile business expense.

If the face of your company is only worth a $100 to set up a "contest" (one where all the losers get zero for their hours of hard work) then that speaks alot about the company itself as well as its management. Contests and stock logos are NOT the way to create an identity for your business, it is the cheap, unprofessional way out.