9 Questions Non-Designers Should Ask Themselves Before They Make Their Own Logo

Why would I design my own logo?

Everyone who has started a new business runs into this question in one form or another:

How do I make my business distinctive and attractive to customers?

The answer most people come up with is: through your logo. And most people have at least a bit of artistic talent, whether it is the ability to appreciate art or some experience drawing, painting, sculpting or designing. Being in business is an expensive proposition. There are costs for payroll, equipment, facilities, materials and various other expenses. When you look at the cost for a graphic designer to brand your company with a unique logo, it must be difficult to see the value in a service that may or may not lead to your business being successful.

So, you decide to save the cost and make your own logo. Before you do, you might want to answer these questions first:

What tools will I need to make my own logo?

When a professional graphic designer starts designing a logo, they use many tools to accomplish the task. They use software such as Adobe Illustrator, hardware such as a Wacom tablet and often a high-end Mac.  They have spent years learning to get the most of these tools, and the tools themselves are quite expensive. And these are essential tools. These provide design features that cannot be duplicated with free or non-professional tools.

To put it into perspective, here is a breakdown of what it would take to get started with graphic design tools to make your own logo:

Adobe Illustrator CS5 (the latest version)   $599 (+shipping & taxes)

Wacom Bamboo Tablet (5.8"x3.6")              $99

Apple iMac (27")                                           $1,699

Just for the physical hardware to design your own logo, you are looking at $2,400 or more! And even if you already have a Mac or PC to run Illustrator, you have to ask yourself how well Illustrator will run on your current system. Illustrator is a professional piece of software and requires a lot of resources.

What skills do I need to build my own logo?

Are you a graphic designer? Have you spent years building up your drawing skills? How about your ability to mix and match colors? How comfortable with your skills with layout and the use of space? How about your skill with the tools of the trade? Have you ever used a tablet to draw before? Are you familiar with drawing vectors in a program like Illustrator? Do you know the file formats you are going to need your logo to be in and how to prepare your logo for them? Have you ever dealt with print? Do you know how to build your logo in such a way as to make it easy and cost-effective to print? What makes a good logo?

All of these skills and many more are what make graphic designers professionals. They devote years of their lives to learning and honing their craft.

How much time will it take design my own logo?

What is your time worth? When you are planning to build your own logo, you have to account for how long this will take. Do you know how to use all of the tools to make your own logo? How long will it take to learn them? Are you going to use your work time to design your own logo, or will you work in your spare time? How many revisions are you going to go through? Are you going to get feedback from people on your logo designs? How long will it take for them to get back to you?

All of these questions illustrate the different steps of designing your own logo and what can lead to the process taking a good deal of time.

What sort of details will I need to know about to craft my own logo?

Graphic design is a profession of details. It attracts artists who are very detail-oriented, and the best designers in the world are the best at managing the details. Does the logo look good in black and white? Does it look good when small, medium, large, and HUGE? Does it look good in negative? Does it lose any information/impact when in simple settings? How about in noisy environments? What typesets work best with the logo? Which color palettes should be used with the logo?

A good graphic designer will be able to handle all of these details and many more.

What sort of reputation will I have if I make my own logo?

Your company's branding is the picture your company paints for the world to see. And your logo is the centerpiece of that branding. Okay, so you have now built your own logo. Does your logo paint the picture you want of your company? Compare the logo to your competition and the logos of the bigger players you would like to grow your company into. Does your logo stand out from your competition? Does the logo that you created do a good enough job of telling the world why they should pick you over your competition? Does your logo draw comparisons with your competition or with the companies you want to become like?

A graphic designer will help shape a reputation for your logo and branding that will create a strong impression of your company, will help your company separate itself from your competition and will align your company's image with those of the most successful companies in the world.

What is the long-term impact if I make my own logo?

When you build your own logo, you have to consider its long-term impact. What will the design world look like in 5 or 10 years? Does your logo look trendy? Will it look like it was designed in a specific time period in 5 years? Will your logo have the same cultural significance in the future, or does it rely on something that may be popular now but will become cliché? Does your logo represent where your company currently stands or where you want your company to be down the road? How future proof and iconic is your logo?

Graphic designers spend a lifetime mastering the art of being timeless and iconic. Only the best succeed. An iconic logo will stand the test of time.

How much will the process to build your own logo cost?

It all comes down to cost. How much is your time worth versus hiring someone else to do the job for you. How long will the entire process of making your own logo take? How many tools will you need to learn? How many skills will you need to develop? How much research will you need to do to make sure you aren't copying someone else's idea or truly capturing your company's image without harming your reputation? In this time, how many sales calls could you take? How much more production time could you put in? How much more time could you devote to developing your business? How much is your time worth?

A professional graphic designer, especially a graphic design firm, is streamlined to take advantage of their years of experience and honed skills to maximize the results in the minimal amount of time. What might take you weeks or months can take a professional only days or hours.

Why would you want to make your own logo?

Graphic designer is an established profession requiring years of practice and devotion, specialized and expensive equipment, and an extreme attention to details. Yes, anyone can buy the equipment, do research on the history and techniques of graphic design and teach themselves to make their own logo, but do you want to?

Your time is valuable. Do you have the time?

Hired Guns Creative is a branding, graphic design and web design firm. They specialize in designs that stand out, logos that last and websites that work. Hired them today to get the best in design.