Coca-Cola, Facebook, Safaricom, Kenya Airways …what do these companies have in common? They have instantly familiar logos. A well-conceived logo makes you stand out. It must be stunning, simple and professional irrespective of whether it is for a business website, personal blog or social media account.
But, Kenyan logo designers don’t come cheap. Thankfully, there are a couple of ways that you can get impressive logos on a low budget.
Hire a Low-Cost Logo Designer
The fact of the matter is that if you are looking for a unique brand that stands out from the rest, there is no tool or code that can magically do it for you, at least not in the most professional way. But, while graphic designers can put a dent in your pocket, there are low-cost graphic designers out there who will do a killer job. Most of these designers are either people starting out on their own and looking to build a client list or fresh from campus and looking to showcase their skills. Such professionals are normally willing to take a low fee as they build their profile. So, where do you find these low budget graphic designers? The answer lies in freelance websites. These online marketplaces bring together buyers and sellers of digital goods. There are several such sites and the industry leaders worldwide are:
Thousands of Kenyan freelance logo designers and others from all over the world register at these sites in search of remote job opportunities. All you need to do is create an account at any of the sites above, follow the instructions to post a job and wait for freelancers to place bids on your job. Within a few minutes of posting a job, you get dozens of bids from all over the world with bid amounts averaging 20$ – $45 (KES 2,000 to 4,500). Some high-quality bids ever offer to create up to six initial concepts and unlimited revisions until you are 100% satisfied. Delivery schedules range from one to three days.
Going through some of the freelancer profiles and the feedback from past clients, one cannot help but be impressed by the talent vis-à-vis the bid amounts for money offered. Also, the beauty with these online marketplaces is that you don’t pay the contractor until you are satisfied that the final product conforms to your instructions. All of the sites listed above come with an escrow feature. You simply place the funds into escrow and demand your money back if the contractor performs dismally.
Take note that you will need an Internet-enabled credit or debit card in order to pay for the services. Talk to your local bank and ask them to activate your Visa or MasterCard for online payments. You can also sign up for a Paypal account and link your debit/credit card for better security.
Gimp
The next best thing to hiring a graphic designer is to learn how to do it yourself. If you want to use powerful software to design your logo and are not afraid of a moderately steep learning curve, then we recommend Gimp. Gimp is the free image creation and editing alternative to the popular PhotoShop. Download and install gimp on your computer. The following Gimp videos demonstrate, in detail, how to create a few logos.
Simple Website Logo
Clean Cut Logo
3D Logo Spherical Text Effect
3D Logo Glossy Metal Text
Free Logo Creation Tools
If you can’t afford a designer at all and don’t have what it takes to teach yourself design, there are a number of free online tools that can help you create a fairly good logo in a short time. Below are our best picks.
CoolText
The site has been around for a while and it many more design options. Best of all, their logos are not watermarked. The majority of their styles simulate the look of text carved into a medium. There are close to 2,000 fonts and dozens of textures to choose from. The image generated is stored on CoolText servers for only one hour so you must download it immediately.
Free Logo Maker
Free Logo Maker offers an even wider range of tools to create free non-watermarked logos for a variety of uses. Begin by adding text, select a font from dozens of options and align to your liking. There are even options to curve the text. Next, click on the Image tab and select an image from your computer or browse the site’s image library to find a suitable image for your logo. Drag and position the image. Once you are satisfied with the image, download it to your computer.
Flaming Text
This service is free for personal and academic use. By signing up, you can save your logos on their servers. The sign up process is quick and easy. Enter your email address, choose a password and verify your email. Next, click on Create Logos. There are hundreds of logo patterns and styles to choose from. Change the text, background, color and several other parameters of your logo. Click Create Logo, select Personal Use and you’re done! Download the logo at anytime from within your account. See our product below.
The Take-Away
At the end of the day, the most important thing that should determine the method you use to acquire your logo is the final use of the logo. If you are looking for a simple logo for a personal blog or for use on your social media profiles, you can use some of the free tools mentioned. But, if you want a logo that will make your business stand out and improve brand recognition, we recommend hiring a graphic designer.
Have you ever created a logo or had one created for you? How did you go about it? Please share your experience with us in the comments below.