Logo design?

Jobseeeker

I need to create a logo for my website. Not sure on the best way to do this

Tried vistaprint but their options are not really suitable, well there was one but I recognised it as being the logo of a local company, thats obviously where they got it

Are there any other companies that do the same thing? Or should I do it myself, I only have microsoft word

earthstorm

Jobseeeker wrote: »

I need to create a logo for my website. Not sure on the best way to do this

Tried vistaprint but their options are not really suitable, well there was one but I recognised it as being the logo of a local company, thats obviously where they got it

Are there any other companies that do the same thing? Or should I do it myself, I only have microsoft word

if you dont mind having a link on your website then you can try http://www.free-logo.co.uk/ or if you dont want a link back then try their other site http://www.10poundlogo.co.uk/

Flyonthewall

I don't know of any other companies, but others might.

However, as far as programs go, there are plenty of free ways to create your own logo. You can download a 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop for free and there are plenty of tutorals online.

There are some simple shape tools so you could perhaps use them to create something simple, or look for stock photos/images online that you could use as a logo. Maybe you could add some text to that. Logos, in my opinion, are best kept simple so people know what it's for and remember it.

There are also other Photoshop/paint style programs that you can get free. GIMP and Paint.NET are two good examples.

earthstorm

Flyonthewall wrote: »

You can download a 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop for free .

Yes but a snag with that is you cannot save anything you create during the trial.

Flyonthewall

earthstorm wrote: »

Yes but a snag with that is you cannot save anything you create during the trial.

Yes you can. It works exactly like the full paid program, you get all features.

The only thing is that if you save a file as a Photoshop file you won't be able to open that file unless you have that version of Photoshop or later. Although, I'm sure there are some programs which you can use to view the image even if you can't edit it. However, when saving the logo you would save it as a Photoshop file so you have the original file there to edit if needed and you would save it as an image file as well that can be viewed on any program (e.g. jpg).

polskiegowLondynie

There are lots of websites out there which will create several logos for very little cost. Some of them offer unlimited revisions to the design until you are happy with it. We tried that and it turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, the logos supplied were very poor, nothing like what was promised on the website and the email communication was also confused, when revisions were made it was like going in circles. In the end we gave up on it and contacted a couple of local graphic design companies for quotes, we paid a bit more but we got a logo we were happy with and that looked professional.

There are lots of options really, depends on what you need it for and what kind of logo you need.

Tiexen

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Yes you can. It works exactly like the full paid program, you get all features.

The only thing is that if you save a file as a Photoshop file you won't be able to open that file unless you have that version of Photoshop or later. Although, I'm sure there are some programs which you can use to view the image even if you can't edit it. However, when saving the logo you would save it as a Photoshop file so you have the original file there to edit if needed and you would save it as an image file as well that can be viewed on any program (e.g. jpg).

Don't use Photoshop for Logos if you ever want to get anything printed (Letterheads /Comp slips leaflets) it will not be good enough

You need a vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or Serif do a range of drawing programs:

Get creative with our free graphic design software, DrawPlus Starter Edition. Ideal for designing logos, sketching, painting and even making your own web graphics. Start drawing today!

Will do the job better than a bitmap from Photoshop

Flyonthewall

Tiexen wrote: »

Don't use Photoshop for Logos if you ever want to get anything printed (Letterheads /Comp slips leaflets) it will not be good enough

You need a vector drawing program like Adobe Illustrator or Serif do a range of drawing programs:

Get creative with our free graphic design software, DrawPlus Starter Edition. Ideal for designing logos, sketching, painting and even making your own web graphics. Start drawing today!

Will do the job better than a bitmap from Photoshop

I agree with using Adobe Illustrator and with using that over Photoshop for vector drawings.

However, Photoshop can still produce high quality images in a range of formats so in what way would Photoshop not be good enough?

rockm87

please dont use word!!

you need something optimised for use with the web, a vector based programme as previously advised.

I think you can get a free trial from corel draw?

If this is for business needs I would 100% say get a professional to help you, you could get a graduate graphic designer/web designer to do it for you for very little, and with the ability to expand into using it for all your business needs.

Obviously this is just my opinion, I deal with this sort of thing as part of my job, and there is alot to think about with design and graphics and it is always vital to get assistance from someone with a professional skill to get perfect results.

Good luck!

InsideInsurance

Flyonthewall wrote: »

However, Photoshop can still produce high quality images in a range of formats so in what way would Photoshop not be good enough?

As a logo should be done in a vector format as it may need to be tiny for printing on business cards or big enough to go on a large hording.

Using a rasterized image type means that you will get degradation when enlarging/ shrinking.

Now, your average SME is probably not going to need a massive range of sizes and could probably get away with a rasterized logo but best practice is to still use vector just in case.

Flyonthewall

InsideInsurance wrote: »

As a logo should be done in a vector format as it may need to be tiny for printing on business cards or big enough to go on a large hording.

Using a rasterized image type means that you will get degradation when enlarging/ shrinking.

Now, your average SME is probably not going to need a massive range of sizes and could probably get away with a rasterized logo but best practice is to still use vector just in case.

Yeah, but even in Illustrator you need to make sure you're creating it to a certain standard of quality. I wouldn't say Photoshop isn't good enough, it's just not quite as good as Illustrator for logos.

I have created logos in both Photoshop and Illustrator and both were fine, although I wasn't using either for anything massive. Personally I just prefer using Photoshop for things so that's generally my first thought, but, as you pointed out, vector would be best and the OP clearly doesn't have either program so I guess it makes more sense to go for Illustrator lol.

Although you can open up save files from one program in the other so if the 30 days trial wasn't enough or they really needed to edit the file later on there is always the option of using the opposite program. Might not be the perfect solution, but at least you know you're not stuck with a file you can't open/edit after 30 days.