Creating a logo is one of those steps in building a business that can stop people in their tracks. They immediately think they have to have the perfect logo or no one will take them seriously and their business will crumble. Dramatic, yes, but I’ve worked with people who have their entire branding figured out aside from their logo and when I ask them why they haven’t created one yet they give me a few different answers. Typically, one is the most common.
I can’t afford a graphic designer.
Boom, there it is. The reason they haven’t made business cards yet or created their Etsy account or made their website go live. They are simply waiting until they can save up enough money to hire a graphic designer to create the logo of their dreams. But here’s the thing, hiring a graphic designer is a big step and working with the right one can be incredibly rewarding and give you an end result you are so excited by. But with that said, there are so many other resources available these days that you can absolutely move forward without one and still have a professional logo for your brand.
But, Taryn, what do you mean? I don’t have any design skills? I don’t even own Photoshop or Illustrator!
Fear not, my friend, let me introduce you to your new BFF…Canva!
If you haven’t been using Canva yet for your business you are missing out on one of my favorite business tools. Canva is a user friendly design platform commonly used by marketers, bloggers, and small business owners. You can create social media images, brochures, invites, presentations, blog graphics, and of course logos! The best part is that you can customize any image you create with your own colors, fonts, and photos to create professional graphics that represent your brand and it’s all FREE! You can log in no matter what computer your on since it’s an online platform and even download the Canva app for your mobile device or tablet. Again, this is one of my favorite tools and I legit use it almost every day.
OK, so that logo you’ve been waiting to create? You can do It with the help of Canva under 10 minutes.
Here is a quick video tutorial on how to jump in and create your own free logo in Canva.
I’m also included this quick step by step run through with screen shots so you can follow along as you create your own logo!
STEP 1
First, you’re going to want to create an account if you haven’t already. Remember, it’s free and fast and once you have the account you can create things non-stop and save things to use as many times as you’d like.
STEP 2
Next, you will click the “create a design” button to see several types of template categories that Canva offers. Scroll down to the Marketing Materials category and select logo.
STEP 3
A new screen will pop up with a blank canvas on the main work space and a variety of Canva Layouts for different logo types on the left-hand side bar. You can scroll through and select the one you want to start with. Remember, you can customize everything so choose based on the layout itself not things like colors or fonts as you’ll be able to change these. Once you select the layout you want you can begin making the changes you wish.
STEP 4
Now is the fun part- designing your logo! Choose your colors, fonts, text, size, shape, etc that express your brand best. I chose to create a fun little doughnut shop logo for this example because I’m slightly obsessed with sweets lately. (Don’t judge.)
STEP 5
Before you are finished with your logo you want to name the file by deleting the current file name up in the right corner of the screen by the Share button and then save the file. Just go to the File button in the upper left corner and click “save” from the drop down. Now the file will be saved in your Canva account under “all your designs”.
STEP 6
To export the file and save to your personal computer or drive, you just click the “download” button in the upper right corner and choose what file type you’d like to save it as. (i.e. PNG, JPEG, etc.)
And there you go! You now have your professional customized logo without spending a cent. Of course, you may want to revisit your logo over time as your business evolves as many brands do. Once you are at a point where you are ready to invest in your branding a little more you can always choose to hire a graphic designer and revamp your logo if you’d like. There is no right or wrong way- you just have to do what’s right for you.
The important thing is to get your name out there and start being familiar with your customers and vice versa! I hope you found this tutorial helpful and feel ready to create your own free logo in Canva. If you are looking for more resources to help build your business be sure to check out the One Crafty Miss resource library. I’d love to know if you are a first time Canva user or if you’ve already been in love with the program like I have.
