Lately, it’s been getting pretty popular, huh? The Do It Yourself (a.k.a. DIY) Logos. Ok, now I need to hold my temper a bit. On one hand the do it yourself system sounds cool. Since you are the one who knows what, where and how’s about your brand better than any others, right? And you developed your company from nothing – you and your ideas. Spent some time and cash, so why spend more on hiring a professional designer?? Do It Yourself, man!

There are tons of specially “designed” software on the Internet, offering you the best “solution” of the logo design issue. Most of them are nicely packed and eye-candy covered. All you need to do is just select a logo design from their pre-designed library (a clip-art, actually); put your name there + a tagline if you wish; save your “artwork”; pay a few bucks (around 30$) and… DONE! Download your “unique” logo and use it “wherever you wish”. Awe-#$%&in-some!

But. BUT. Hey! What’s in their template library?? [speaking of templates, doesn't it sound like it's not a custom design to you??? Look up in the dictionary: template - a preset format for a document or file, used so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used. Any bells rang?]

The libraries consist of clip-art [clip art - pre-drawn pictures and symbols provided with word-processing software and drawing packages]. And uh…was someone speaking of a custom/unique logo design here?? Well if you are ok with anything for your logo – then I just shut up. It’s up to you. But if you are thinking about a memorable, recognizable, unique logo that no one else in the whole world does not have, then I guess you shouldn’t “do it yourself”.

Clip-arts, templates and all this crap are not artworks. Use them for Word docs, a presentation, you name it. But a logo, come on, it’s your company’s face. A fingerprint. And it must be unique. There’s no guarantee that no one didn’t already use the same clip-art before. Is there?

On the other hand, maybe you are a talented one, who used to draw great doodles during the school days and capable of sketching a logo yourself. Great. Just do it, then. One “little” advise though – keep in mind that if you just scan your sketch and edit it in some amateur software [for example, Paint] and save it, you will not be able to use it as a printable material [brochures, business cards, etc]. You need a vector logo, not a pixel based one. And the best software for that are Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. How much time one needs to master one? Years. How much money you need to spend on them? US$599 and US$300-499 respectively.

So it is really up to you. One thing to mention: I am not trying to encourage you to order a logo design from TrueKolor only. There are tons of great artists around the web that will do a professional and unique design for you. Basic maths: a DIY logo costs around 30$, add 14 more and order from TrueKolor. Difference? Unique, no clip art, fast and professional! Heh:)

PS: I’ve mentioned the difference between professional and unprofessional logo design way before in Why You Should Hire A Professional for A Logo Design.

by Azamat "Bohed" E.

TrueKolor.net Owner. Professional Graphic Designer.

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