Are you starting a new business?

Or maybe you’re considering a rebranding.

You’ll probably want a new logo made but you’re worried it’s going to cost a lot of money.

I’ll show you how you can design your own logo and save thousands of dollars!

It’s really easy and you don’t need any skill and best of all, you can do this for under $5.

If you have an idea for your logo, you’ve got everything you need!

Why design your own logo?

As someone who bootstrapped her business to a full time job with her high school allowance, I completely understand the need for doing everything yourself in your biz.

You make your own handmade goods, you handle customer service emails and you manage Facebook and Twitter.

You wear all the hats in your business.

At some point you’ll be thinking about getting yourself a classy logo, but you feel ginger about spending hundreds (to thousands!) of dollars on a graphic designer.

I’m here to tell you that it’s really easy to design your own logo and for as little as a cup of latte!

Things you need + step-by-step guide:

Here’s a little homework before we dive in.

Go on Pinterest and search “beautiful logos” or something similar to see a whole range of what’s out there.

You’ll find that most logos are just plain text, or a combination of text and a graphic.

Get inspired!

Start a private board of all your favorite logos. You might start to see a common thread between them.

So here’s what we’re going to do:

1. Go to any one of these Etsy illustration/clip art shops and pick out a graphic that you feel represents your brand! Here’s a list of my favorites and they cost under $5! Optional step (you may not want a graphic in your logo)
   • Black Cats Media
   • Graphic Market
   • Shh! Maker Design
   • The Ink Nest (a little pricier, but so worth it!)
   • HOHOHOdesign
   • These clip art usually come as a collection, but we really want to use just one icon. Your purchase should include that individual icon you’ll need for this project!
2. Go to DaFont and pick out a font! Select one of the font categories and type your shop name in the “Type your text here” field. This will show all the sample fonts with your name so you have a really good idea what you’re getting. Don’t forget to install your font. It’s as easy as dragging the font file you downloaded into a folder within your computer!
   • for PC users, here’s how to install fonts
   • for Mac users, here’s how to install fonts
3. Go to gimp.org and download the photo editing software. It’s like Photoshop, but less complicated and free!
4. After installing Gimp, create a new document and set:
   • the size to about 10 inches x 10 inches (how big or small you make it is totally up to you, but the bigger the easier to size down!) and
   • X and Y resolution to 300 under Advanced Options. So when you print your logo it looks  great on paper!
5. Using this trusty Easy Guide to Logo Composition that I made below, you can design your own logo with your chosen graphic and font! Keep in mind that a great logo should:
   • be easy to read
   • look great no matter how small or large it is!
   • look great in black and white

And that’s all there is to it!

This is the exact way I would go about it myself, so I hope this has been helpful for you as it has been for me!

If you have any questions, need ideas, have tips to share, please post in the comments below!