3 Reasons to DIY your logo

Do not be discouraged. Anyone can create their logo. Here are my 3 reasons I am glad I chose to go that route. Truth be told I would do it again in a heart beat. I made the right decision for me, you decide the right choice for you.

Reason #1

Nobody knows you like you know you! I have a hard time explaining myself. I get jumbled and I feel like I am not accurately describing what I am trying to say. For me to take the time to speak to a professional designer sounds like $$$$ because time is money. With the Canva free online software that was recommended in all the ‘beginner’ blogging posts I read I got to work. The software took some time to get the hang of. Significantly easier to use on my computer rather than my phone. However it was pretty self explanatory. The hardest part was searching for the right words to find images to reflect what I was going for. Doing it yourself allows you to take time and really dwell to know if this is the right thing to market yourself as. I drew up several similar designs. Just like shopping in a store I had to feel like I was making a good decision. Best way I know how to do that is to compete 2 things against each other. With my multiple designs I compared them against each other until I felt that the best image won. I still feel like I chose a winner.

Reason #2

You can make it personal, honest, heartfelt, and true to self. I didn’t want some stock image. The first place I went when looking for a logo was Etsy. But most of the images are so similar to each other. I wanted something original. More importantly I wanted something me. I went through tons of Etsy listings narrowing them down. I still have a few saved in my favorites. Etsy helped me to figure out that I didn’t want some animal to represent us. I haven’t raised farm animals and I don’t know when that possibility is going to present itself. So pig, cow, and chicken logo’s felt dishonest. Then I looked into kitchen type logo’s. I fell in love with the plate setting logo’s but those felt more restaurant like to me. Although I did put in a very hard argument to my husband about how it was sooo perfect.

Eventually I stumbled across an image of a mason jar. From there I was sold. I have used mason jars many of times for many of things. Who hasn’t? That felt more honest then the other choices I had been looking at. One minor thing, I am obsessed with Weck jars not mason jars and a cute graphic for that doesn’t exist. I made it work finding the most Weck-like jar I could find. Now what.

Then I thought about how to keep it heartfelt. Making it a family logo seemed perfect. Which is why I opted for 3 jars rather than 1. Daddy jar, Mama jar, baby jar. Simple, subtle, silly. True to self? Check. But 3 lone jars are boring. So I picked things I have grown and love utilizing. I stuck with herbs though in one design I included ginger. With the final draft chosen I see how busy my other designs were. Top advice for branding is K-I-S-S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Reason #3

I was able to become more personal with my logo by designing it and I can already see ways of altering or expanding the logo should my brand change. I like that it is an image I can continue to grow as I do. I understand how the logo was made to make changes later without having to hire someone else for alterations to it. There is enough publishing resources online to print your logo on anything which I am excited to do. I had so much fun designing my logo that I also was inspired to create a printable planner using the same software and I changed the look of every month to reflect them.

Now that I have my logo working I can turn it into a watermark for my images. I don’t even have to learn anything else. The same tool to make the logo makes it a watermark. After you download your completed image as a PNG file with transparent background you can over lay that on any image and adjust transparency. Perfect! I love when things just work out without any extra forethought from me. I am a busy lady and saving time is always appreciated. Also, now that I have a watermark I feel better about going picture crazy. Enjoy!