How To Make A Logo: Four Best Logo Makers Online
From Nike’s iconic tick to Twitter’s chirpy blue bird, worldwide brands come with world-class logos.
But if you run a small business or brand online, how do you get a great logo as well?
You might not have the expertise. Or the spare time to find a good designer or learn yourself. And we’re guessing you don’t have pockets as deep as Nike.
Here’s the good news: logo makers are tools that allow you to make a professional-looking logos in a matter of minutes – even if you don’t have any graphic design skills. The best online logo makers mean you can get a stylish logo without breaking the bank. If you want to know how to make a logo, you’re in the right place.
As more and more people build brands online, the top website builders and ecommerce platforms have launched logo-making products to help sellers grow.
Here’s a snapshot of how the best logo makers online rank:
What we do best here at Website Builder Expert is find smart hacks to help inexperienced techies create awesome websites – all without you having to hire a designer or developer!
Why? Because we were once in your shoes, struggling to get started. So we thought – “Um…there must be a faster, cheaper and easier way to make an awesome logo without hiring a graphic designer!”
That’s why in this guide we’ll show you the four best logo generators. We’ve used them ourselves. These designs took under five minutes to create:
By the way, those two logos we mentioned at the start? They cost Nike and Twitter $15 and $35 each respectively. Proof you don’t have to spend big bucks to get an iconic logo.
How To Make A Logo: Tips & Best Practice
Before we dive head first into how to make a logo, let’s get some basics out of the way. A logo is like your brand ambassador – it represents and captures what your business is all about with a simple eye-catching image.
We’ll say it again: you don’t need to be a branding hot shot to get a great logo. But it is useful to think about your design first before you start using the best logo makers.
We asked our professional design team for some rules of thumb to bear in mind when learning how to make a logo. Here’s what they told us:
- Simplicity can be very effective – from the McDonalds golden arches to Apple’s… apple, keeping a logo simple can be very powerful. Logos can be just text or image, or a combo of both. If you pick a symbol, make sure it reflects your brand’s values. Limited color schemes make it easier to develop a color signature.
- Use simple graphics that are easy to recognize – don’t use an overly elaborate logo design. If an 8-year-old can draw your logo, you have succeeded.
- Make sure your logo is versatile – if you run a small business or brand online, you’ll need to use your logo in different ways. For example, on social media. One of the great things about the best logo makers online is that they show you how your design appears on things like products and business cards. So ask yourself these questions when making your logo design:
- Will the logo work in horizontal and vertical formats?
- Will it look good if it is in just one color? Or in black and white?
- Will it still be recognizable if it’s scaled down like on a business card?
- Choose a suitable icon – this sounds super obvious, but pick an image that reflects your brand. If you run an ice cream business, don’t pick a pizza slice. Less obviously, don’t pick an image with an abstract or complicated connection to your brand.
Designs that have too many colors or outdated icons that don’t work across different formats aren’t effective.
Before we introduce you to the best logo generators, take a step back and ask: who are your customers? What kind of brand do you want to communicate? Write down adjectives that describe your brand. Try sketching the kind of logo you want on paper.
Lastly, do some competitor research. Look at what brands you admire have done with their logos.
All this will help you make a decision when you have several logo designs to choose from. Picking a logo without doing it would be like trying to paint a portrait without looking at the subject first.
The Four Best Logo Makers Online
Now it’s time to introduce you to the four best online logo makers:
But first, how do online logo makers actually work?
Think of online logo generators as a robotic personal design assistant. You select styles, icons and colors that you like. Plus, you enter your brand’s name and your slogan. An automated tool then produces a range of logo options based on your choices and answers. You pick one you like and then get to customize it. All for a set price.
It’s that simple!
Of course, it’s not the same level of creativity as a real designer. But logo makers are a perfect solution if you need a professional logo, but:
- Don’t have the money to hire an experienced designer (we know budgets can be tight if you’re running a small business)
- Can’t design the logo yourself (you don’t have the tech skills to learn a tool like Adobe)
- Don’t have the time to hire a designer and manage the process
Most logo makers are free. They let you design a logo and download a low-resolution version without paying. However, if you want a high-resolution version and commercial rights, you will need to pay. Typically, though, the costs are as little as $10.
We’ve tried and tested these logo makers ourselves. The pictures included in each section are examples of logos we’ve created using each tool.
Wix Logo Maker
Drag-and-drop supremo Wix has applied the same ease-of-use principles to its logo maker.
The tool is very straightforward to use and can help technical beginners get a professional-looking logo. Simplicity is what makes Wix’s tool the best logo makers on the market.
One difference between Wix and Shopify and Squarespace is that Wix requires you to have an account to use its logo maker. Like Squarespace, Wix includes a question mark link to its Help Center within the logo-creating process. The support available is very comprehensive.
The process works in the same way as the other best logo makers. With Wix you can change your name and tagline at the logo selection phase (only available at the customization phase with Shopify). And there’s great customization opportunities, including: letter spacing; alignment; font size; rotation; curve; shape and icon style.
Once you’ve designed your Wix logo, you can download a free sample or choose between three paid options:
- Professional Logo & Website – $11/month, $16/month or $24/month (all paid annually)
- Professional Logo – $50 one off payment
- Basic Logo – $20 one off payment
If you’re an individual or a small business growing your brand, the Basic plan will be fine. All plans come with full commercial usage rights and a high-resolution logo download.
Upgrading to a more expensive plan unlocks Vector files (high quality images on transparent backgrounds, good if you need to print your logo), social media support and a brand guide. The top plan also gets you a free domain and a branded website. If you haven’t created a website yet, this plan is worth considering.
More Wix Information:
Tailor Brands
Tailor Brands is one of the best logo generators because they actually design the logo for you.
So instead of you scrolling through hundreds of icons to find one you like, Tailor Brands’ algorithm will generate options based on how you answer its questions.
Here’s how it works:
- You enter a logo name – usually the name of your brand – plus a tagline (optional).
- Add your industry – for example, fashion – and describe what you do in one sentence.
- Choose a logo type – pick from icon (abstract, meaning Tailor Brands will create a shape for you, or you can search for an icon yourself), name or initial-based designs.
- Choose which fonts you like.
- Tailor Brands will design your logo.
- Customize your logo in the Tailor Brands editor.
You can go back and forward and change aspects of your design as you go (this saves a lot of time by avoiding having to restart the form). The process is really enjoyable and takes less than five minutes.
Once you’ve picked your logo design, you can chop and change the style, font and text. To make permanent tweaks, you need to sign up to a Tailor Brands plan.
So how much do Tailor Brands’ plans cost?
Tailor Brands bills you $2.99 a month if you pay annually for the basic Dynamic Logo plan. This gives you a high-definition version of your logo with commercial use. But you can pay for one month’s subscription at $9.99, download your logo, and then cancel. There is no free option with Tailor Brands.
The more advanced Premium plan costs $10.99 a month when billed annually. It unlocks features like social media image tools and a branded presentation. The Premium plan is a more comprehensive offering. If you just want a logo, start with the Dynamic plan and upgrade if you think the extra products would be beneficial.
It’s a great tool if you don’t know where to start and want a quick-and-easy way to get ideas. It will also save you time trawling image libraries to find an icon you like. On the other hand, if you have a specific logo design in mind, Tailor Brands might not be enough.
More Tailor Brands Information:
Squarespace
Stylish site builder Squarespace has branched out into logo making and the result is unsurprisingly striking.
The logo designs are very clean and polished. Here’s how you get one of your own:
- Enter your company name
- Customize the logo in Squarespace’s editor
- Download either a free or paid version
The creation process is more complex than Tailor Brands or Shopify. After entering your brand name, you are launched straight into the editor. Much like Squarespace’s site builder, it’s not the most intuitive of tools. For instance, to bring up editing options you need to click on the item you want to customize. This is easy to miss, especially if you’re not familiar with Squarespace.
Once you do get your head around the editor, though, the scope for personalization is excellent. The fonts you can select from are really unique and eye-catching. You can reposition and resize the brand name and icon by clicking and dragging.
If you’re stuck, you can hover over the question mark to bring up a Squarespace guide. While any support is welcome, Squarespace could do more to help users navigate the editor.
OK, how much does Squarespace’s logo maker cost?
If you’ve already got a Squarespace website, you can download a high-res version for free. Otherwise, logos cost $10. You can download a low-res free version, but it will come with a watermark and is for non-commercial use only. This is not a good option if you’re trying to build a credible brand.
While Squarespace’s logo maker is a solid option, it’s not on a par with Wix for level of graphic selection and customization. Like our other automated logo makers, Squarespace’s tool isn’t a replacement for talented designers. But it’s a great option for businesses and individuals working to a tight budget.
More Squarespace Information:
Shopify Hatchful
Top online store builder Shopify has launched a logo maker called Hatchful…and it’s pretty darn good!
It’s already being used by 140,000 business owners – not a bad recommendation!
The process is similar to Tailor Brands. You:
- Select your industry
- Pick your visual style from Shopify’s range – ‘calm’, or ‘classic’, for example
- Enter your business name and slogan
- Select where your logo will be used – physical stores, online-only etc
- Pick a free or paid logo template from Shopify’s results
- Customize your chosen logo in the Shopify editor
Unlike Tailor Brands, you don’t need to be a paid-up member to edit your logo. All Shopify logo packages include a high-resolution image and versions for social media accounts.
Logo templates are designed specifically for Shopify. This is a level of uniqueness not guaranteed on other platforms. For example, a company called The Noun Project supplies several logo makers with icons. The breadth of Shopify’s color palettes, icons, fonts and templates is impressive.
Shopify does have free versions but they don’t look as good as the paid designs, which cost $9.99. Bear in mind that some templates don’t support slogans. If your brand has a tagline, this can be frustrating. You have to go into a logo’s editor and then back out again to find out if it supports taglines.
One downside to Shopify is that you can’t preview your design in different formats. You can’t see what your logo would look like on, for example, business cards.
The inclusion of a favicon in any logo package is a neat touch. Favicons are little images that represent your website in the URL bar. If you’re an online business, having a customized favicon can make you stand out from the crowd.
Shopify’s Hatchful tool is also a good option if your brand uses social media. Each package includes tailored logo designs for all the major social media platforms. These platforms all have different image specs, so having a custom-made image for each one will make your brand look very professional.
How To Make A Logo: Conclusion
Having a logo is an integral part of growing a successful brand – both offline and online.
Thanks to a new range of clever tools, designing a great logo doesn’t take loads of time or bags of money.
Just to recap, the best logo makers on the market are:
When you are starting a new website or business, you might not have the budget to hire a professional designer. At least not until you prove your website can generate traffic and cash flow.
With a logo generator, you can hit the ground running right away, without the pressure to spend a whole lot (or anything at all).
All our best logo makers are free to try and some are paid. Play around with them and see what logo designs you end up creating and loving!
Wix is a fantastic tool because it’s so simple and easy to use, and provides you with a really great level of logo personalization. If you lack a little creative flair, Tailor Brands is a great option as it actually designs your logo for you.
If you do find automatic logo creators too limited, you can search for freelance designers on tools like UpWork or 99Designs. For more technically skilled users, tools like Adobe Illustrator can help you create a really unique logo for your business.
Once you have your logo, do your homework on patents and trademarking. The best logo makers online will not be able to issue copyright protection too. If you’re an American-based business, go through the US Patent and Trademark Office. You can then fill out the right forms and apply for protection for your design.
14 comments