You’ve decided to start a cookie business, you’ve decided on a name for it, and now you need to accessorize it with a logo. Just as deciding on a business name can start out fun but then become overwhelming, a logo can present the same struggle. It sure did for me.
How in the world do I create a logo?
Before I address that question, I want to say a few things:
- Your logo doesn’t need to be an award-winning design.
- You can always change your logo.
- Your logo isn’t critical to starting your business. Your cookies are critical to starting your business.
A consistent theme throughout all of my advice is being smart and conservative with your money. That doesn’t always mean “least expensive”. It means that you always focus on what you really want to achieve, and prioritize spending around the things that matter the most.
Logo design is not an area for investing a lot of money, because you just don’t need to do that. Not when you’re just getting started.
Giant corporate brands invest many thousands of dollars into developing their logos, and even those change over the years. Look at how Pepsi’s logo has evolved since 1898:
Anyone reading this is not a Pepsi. You don’t need to invest tons of time and money in a logo to get started with your cookie business, you just need to get started.
And if down the line you want to invest more in a new logo, you can be like Pepsi and do just that.
Low Investment Logo Design Options
1. Use an online logo maker to design it yourself
2. Hire a low-cost designer online
1.
Use an online logo maker to design it yourself
It wasn’t all that long ago that there was no such thing as an online logo maker. You either had to pay someone quite a bit of money for a logo, or you just typed your business name using a font that caught your eye and called it a day.
I was very lucky when I was starting my cookie business because I have a family member with graphic design talent, and I nagged him into helping me out. (Thanks, brother-in-law!)
These days you can find a good number of websites offering a logo design tool, and you can create something quickly and easily for a low cost. In fact there are so many options available, that you can get overwhelmed with that choice alone.
Here is a very helpful article that summarizes some better-known logo maker tools:
Canva is one of the resources mentioned in the linked article, and I want to discuss this one a bit more because it’s a site that I like and use frequently for various tasks.
Canva is a graphic design platform that offers content and templates for creating all sorts of visual products. It can be used to create physically printed products (like flyers, posters, invitations) along with web-based visuals (social media graphics, blog banners, web page content, zoom backgrounds). Capabilities keep expanding as the company grows, which it continues to do at a rapid pace.
Canva’s logo maker is simple and fun to play around with. And it’s free. You first scan through templates that catch your eye for some reason. Then you personalize them with your business name, colors & the font you like best. You can mix and match all you want until you’re happy. And you’ve done it yourself.
Let's try a little project ........
Using my cookie business name, Sweet & Joyful, I’ve created a few options using different Canva logo templates. After personalizing them, you can see how dramatically they are transformed into something new.
Important – You don’t need to search for a template that really looks like what you want …… you use the template to transform the look into what you want.
For each one, you can see the original template that I started with, and then how I personalized it for my cookie business name & style:
You can use Canva for free, but some of the content & capabilities require a fee or pro membership status. I don’t have a pro membership, so the sample logos I made here would be accessible to anyone. One of the templates I used required a $1 charge, but that’s the grand total that I paid.
Now let’s look at another simple and inexpensive way to get a logo for your new cookie business:
2.
Hire a low-cost designer online
Fiverr is a platform for freelance digital services, including many involving graphic design. The name Fiverr comes from the company’s initial business proposition in which basic tasks were priced at $5. In 2015, this pricing limit loosened up and the company has grown quickly ever since.
Within the Logo Design offerings, you can evaluate freelance designers at all price points, including the $5 level. You can view the number of completed sales & ratings of all sellers to help make an informed choice if you decide to give Fiverr a try.
To illustrate how Fiverr works, here I’ve typed “Cookie logo” into the main search bar, and below is some of what came up for me to review:
I do not have any personal experience with Fiverr, but my research tells me that it’s a worthwhile consideration if you really want someone else to handle the creation of your logo, and at a low cost. There are plenty of options in the low price range, so it’s not a big risk.
One more thing regarding Fiverr …..
The company recently introduced a new tool, the Fiverr Logo Maker. It is quite different from the other logo maker tools described earlier in that it uses artificial intelligence to generate options based on your input.
I tried this tool for Sweet & Joyful, and here is how it went:
And here are my results ………
As you can see, the designs are all over the place, but I only need one to work for it to be a success. Many more options were generated than what I’ve shown here, but you get the idea.
A large number of the logos it produced for me feature an image of a cupcake (I don’t sell cupcakes), and many have a very serious, corporate feel. The only one that I would possibly consider has a rolling pin visual, but the logo just doesn’t grab me. At the moment, this tool wouldn’t work for me, but that’s just me. I had fun playing around with it, so I would suggest taking a look if you have some time.
To conclude this post about how to approach creating your logo, I’d like to restate a section from the beginning:
- Your logo doesn’t need to be an award-winning design.
- You can always change your logo.
- Your logo isn’t critical to starting your business. Your cookies are critical to starting your business.
You can get yourself a cookie business logo very quickly and for minimal investment. Try not to get stuck on this task so that it keeps you from moving forward.
Once you get started, I hope you will enjoy this creative project. Good luck!