Hi everybody - I’m fairly new here and I am enjoying the naming and tagline contests. I’d like to take a stab at creating some logos but have no clue how or where to start! I’m just curious to know what logo creation programs are good for beginners - I’m interested in creating logos purely from scratch rather than anything that is created through AI or through a platform that just poops you out a logo. I’d like to poop out my own logos. Any suggestions are appreciated - I wouldn’t worry about me as competition - yet!! Thanks everybody and thanks SH for this fun creative outlet.
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I hope you mean “pop” out a logo?! Although the other way sounds quite intriguing…
Hi Will … I pretty much have the same question. Anybody there who can help us?!
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The industry and SH standard is usually Adobe Illustrator. I’m a graphic and digital art artist, however, and I’ve been known to use others. The thing about that is, you have to be careful, because there are output formats that SH wants your files to be in for the CH assuming you were to win. Some of these formats are ‘said’ in the community to only be able to be done by Adobe. It’s not true. I know because I don’t any longer use illustrator because the monthly investment to me isn’t something I can do. I rather pay for something once and be done with it so that it’s mine and mine indefinitely instead of rent access.
Anyhow, the formats are able to be outputted by other methods, but I wouldn’t recommend this to beginners. So, for this reason, I’m not going to steer anyone to a complicated process as their initial first step. So, I would highly recommend you at least start with Adobe Illustrator. It allows you to save in all of the formats that SH asks for and will help you at least play with a tool that most use if they can afford it.
I would like to give some advice for the beginners, however. Just some little things you don’t have to do but could make the difference to being better and better organized. So these ideas to implement after deciding this and obtaining illustrator would be:
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Create a folder on your computer – this will be your main folder. In that folder is where you will save your projects by making individual folders for each contest/project you may do. After joining a contest, go into that main folder and create another folder that is named by the business name of the logo you’re creating. You will then, after making your logo, save each save as the specific formats needed into that folder. This just keeps everything organized. So after you have made your logo you go to ‘save as’ in Adobe and you select the formats that are asked for by SH to be provided. And save them into that folder.
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I would make use of finding open use/free for commercial use/not copyrighted clipart and vector graphic providing websites. They’re out there and many of the pros even use them because not everyone has the time or ability to do everything freehand. I would also make use of bookmarking several non-copywrited/free for commercial use/open use font sites or font sites in general and just make use of checking whether the font is free for use or not. You would download these things as needed for each project. You don’t have to do this, of course, if you want to do everything free hand or you can and if you can then definitely more power to you.
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When you are submitting a logo for the review of the CH you can either obtain the display logo styles that you see in some of the winning entries where the logo is shown on a sign above a business, on letterhead, across a business office door, etc or you can be unique and come up with your own method be it saving on a colored background or different colors and so forth or just saving it as a plain .jpeg file to submit. It’s all up to you what you decide to do, just know that the jpeg or if sh allows png or whatnot is only for the show of the logo and probably won’t be used by the CH if you win but it still would not hurt to include it with your other project files to give to the ch just in case.
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When you do first obtain illustrator I would do such as a free trial and use that free trial and your imagination to come up with pretend scenario projects. Use the projects you’ve imagined to test yourself on coming up with logos for those projects. Or even join contests to have a brief to work on but don’t put weight on your shoulders that you have to at all provide anything to that contest. No, this is just to allow you to practice and see what your able to do and learn all of the tools and how to do things and even how to save them. Practice practice practice. Watch YouTube tutorials, read online knowledge bases on logo creation and just teach yourself all you can during that trial period. If at the end of the trial your confident that you could do it and want to give it a go, then go from there and actually then start participating in contests using all you have learned.
Hope all of this helps!
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On SH, you can ONLY use Adobe illustrator. You should use the Blue Button for other questions, but I imagine SH has an FAQ about it.
You must submit the fully editable AI files - these files should be a vector file that the contest holder has full access to - as well as a print-ready JPEG file. Those are the two required files you must submit for a winning logo contest.
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Sorry but I don’t want a newbie to be creating logos for my domains. I’ve had little luck with which ever logo designer has ben assigned to my account and this can hurt my sales. I can’t help but compare the quality of designs with that of SquadHelp’s competitors and SquadHelp loses the battle on that front. I want someone who’s already graduated as a graphic designer to be designing logos and it would be irresponsible for SquadHelp to hire rookies.
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You have to submit samples of your designs to SH before you can participate in logo contests.
As you’ve already been told - Illustrator is the go to for graphic design. I’d suggest if you get the program, find you have a knack for design and enjoy it - invest in something like the Wacom tablet. There is a bit of a learning curve to the tablet but it adds a whole 'nother level to what you can do, just takes time.
If you do get to the stage where you can join in on contests just remember - no clipart or stock logo elements - not only is that against the rules the client can not exactly trademark a logo that is in use by dozens if not hundreds of other companies. Hopefully you love it and choose to work at it until you perfect your craft - you don’t need a degree to be a great designer -so don’t let that deter you, but do at least watch as many tutorials as you can and read up on the do’s and don’ts (there are a lot of both in the design world!). There is a lot of extremely beneficial information out there that can really help you, a lot of amazing self taught as well as course educated designers that share a lot of tips that can have you learning the right way and building up your confidence!