There’s always free cheese in a mousetrap. However, mice there aren’t extremely happy with it. I have never fully grasped the meaning of this proverb. Till recently.
Free logo makers aren’t THAT free
Trying to find some free tools designers could use for their logo design, I faced so-called “free logo makers†or “free logo creatorsâ€. Check them out, there are hundreds of them on the Internet. They are quite easy to use and may come in handy if you are a logo design newbie who doesn’t want to take the trouble of mastering Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Free logo makers promise you to assist you in creating a stunning logo using the latest design techniques. Everything seems to be perfect until the very last stage of your work. The one when you need to download the created files in order to actually use them. So, here comes a real trouble – completely free logo makers ask you to pay $20 or even more to get the files downloaded. On the one hand, this money doesn’t seem to be a high price for that. On the other hand, it’s YOUR money and you don’t need to spend it on things you can get with Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw (not completely for free but still with much more extensive functions and conditions). So, perhaps, it’s better to deal with such software instead? DesignContest will help you to figure everything out!
Free logo makers: alternatives
Let’s take any “free logo creator†Google teems with. As we’ve already figured it out, they are free until you need to use the logo design you’ve created. However, that isn’t the only significant disadvantage these free logo creators contain. The next fault they have is that such logo makers are filled with low-fidelity templates that have been used by dozens of second-rate companies. If you use the same templates, you start making your own company closer to the companies you definitely don’t want to get associated with.
Nevertheless, so-called free logo makers that charge you for the final design do have several alternatives that can be used in order to save some money.
NOTE: even though these alternatives are free, they can never assist you in creating a logo design of the highest quality. They will ba just copycats, no matter how hard you try to change them.
Canva
I bet Canva must have saved you a couple of times or even more. The best thing about Canva is that this tool is completely free of charge. The second best thing about Canva is its simplicity. You don’t need to spend days to simply figure out what is what (like you did it for Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw). All you need to do is to create an account and start designing beautiful things. This cannot be used by professional designers. At the same time, blogger and marketing specialists can easily master Canva.
I decided to try Canva out as well and spent 30 seconds in order to create a new logo for DesignContest:
Online Logomaker
Online Logomaker is another opportunity to avoid using Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw and still create a beautiful logo design (though, this is an option for DIY logos; they aren’t unique, and clients who want to do their logo designs by themselves should realize they will never look original). Despite looking quite promising, this online software isn’t perfect. If you use it for free, you have no access to downloading images of a high resolution or with transparent backgrounds. You will simply get low-fidelity prototypes and that’s far from what your business really needs. Thus, Online Logomaker cannot be a true way out for those who want a professional design. It only suits when you need something done fast and cute but not great.
Wix
The initial idea of this project was in helping to create beautiful websites. However, every new or redesigned website needs a new catchy logo. Wix makes sure that new websites created on this platform get this new logo. So, if you have some time and don’t mind watching the way a smart software creates a new website, Wix will suit you well. Though it isn’t exactly the tool that can be described as a “free logo makerâ€, it is still unbelievably helpful.
As a result
I’ve got 3 new logos in less than 4 minutes. Surely, they are far from the level of perfection we all long for due to my lack of time. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t want my company to use any of those 3 logos and wouldn’t suggest any other company using them. Free logo makers don’t really work (even if they don’t charge you $50 for your own logo design). If you are a professional designer, you cannot waste your time on mastering such software useless for you. In order to create something unique and win your client, you’ll need to master a software that guarantees original results.Â
Bottom Line
History does know several cases when great logos were created in less than 5 minutes. For instance, think of Paula Scher’s world-famous Citybank’s logo. She spent several seconds coming up with it but the company raised millions due to this talented designer. However, such cases don’t take place pretty often. On the contrary, they are more like bedtime stories. If you’re a designer, you need to remember that logos are crucial for any client; if you have a careless attitude or don’t think the task is worth your time; if you think you can make a logo anyhow and expect your client to be satisfied with it because YOU are the one who created it, you still have a lot to learn. And you’d better learn it fast without wasting your client’s time and nerves. This is a great thing about design crowdsourcing platforms – you pick a design and not a designer.
If you are a business owner and want to make your own logo yourself, think twice and make sure you’re really ready for that challenge. It is all about your company’s identity, so why not to turn to professionals for their help? If doctors treat and teachers teach, why not to leave designers to do what they are doing best. Free logo makers are great in terms of their simplicity but they still make you pay. So, why not to choose an easier and safer path?
Remember, that free cheese is only in mousetraps. Avoid those mousetraps by all means.
