These days, it’s easy to create your own logo or remotely hire individuals for as little as $5. Yet, some agencies still charge hundreds, or thousands of dollars to create them.

Why is this? And which one should I choose?

Shorter Answer

Regardless of who you hire here’s what you should get:

• A horizontal version of the logo with the emblem and text.
• A vertical version of the logo with the emblem and text.
• A square version (often used for social profiles).
• A round version (often used for social or review sites that have circular versions).
• An emblem only version.
• A black and white version (be sure to test print it on paper so you know it’s legible, sometimes lighter colors are not once printed.
• An RGB (Red, Green and Blue) as well as a CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Key – black) version.
• Trademark search + reverse image lookup.
• Research to form a logo that is description.

Longer Answer

RGB & CMYK

CMYK are the colors you’ll see when it’s printed, and RGB are the colors you’ll see on a screen. These will not match if the designer doesn’t intentionally match them.

So that blue you love on your computer screen could come out teal or even green on your business cards.

It’s easy to overlook and only takes a few minutes to create both versions in most cases.

Trademark Search + Reverse Image Lookup

Once you have a logo created you should use a server like Google Image Search to upload your logo and see if it returns any logos that are too similar.

In our experience, even if two logos are similar it’s extremely rare the original author will notice, much less care to server you with the legal demand to change the logo, much less sue for damages. If you’re worried about it, you should consult with an attorney that specializes in trademarks.

Research to form a logo that is description.

The importance of this varies a bit with each industry and specifically the demographic you’re reaching. But in general doing a little research on the logos in the industry will help you draft an original and memorable logo that is somewhat descriptive of the business. Which can be important if you’re in an industry that has a lot of competition or is not well understood, or your business model is especially unique.