Design a logo and simple brand with AI
Write a short brief, let AI suggest plenty of ideas, then pick one and make it work everywhere. Here’s how, and how to check it’s yours to use.
Video transcript
A new business, club or side project needs a logo. AI can give you dozens of ideas in an afternoon. Here’s how to end up with one that works.
Start with a short brief: your name, what you do, who it’s for, how it should feel and the colours you like. The clearer the brief, the better the ideas.
Then ask a design tool or an image generator for lots of different ideas. Pick your favourite three, and refine one, changing one thing at a time.
Now test it. Shrink it to the size of an app icon, and try it in black and white. If you can’t tell what it is, simplify it.
Before you use it, search the Intellectual Property Office’s free trade mark register for similar names and logos. AI can come close to a famous mark without telling you.
Many image generators give you a picture made of pixels, which goes blurry when you enlarge it. For signs and print, get a vector version, redrawn if needed.
And know when to call in a designer: for a shop front, packaging or a logo you plan to register. Your AI favourites make a great starting brief.
Read the full guide below for a logo brief you can copy into any tool.
In 30 seconds
- Start with a brief: your name, what you do, who it’s for, the feel and your colours.
- Test your favourite tiny and in black and white, then settle your fonts and colours.
- Search the trade mark register before you use it, and get a Jargon busterVector: An image stored as shapes and lines rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at any size, from a business card to a billboard. file so it stays sharp.
The cake stall needs a sign, the new cleaning business needs a van sticker and the five-a-side team wants a badge. AI can give you dozens of logo ideas in an afternoon. Start with a clear brief, finish with a few checks, and one of them can become a simple brand you’re proud of.
Start with a brief
Image tools fill every gap with a guess, so tell them about the business first. Five things matter most: the name, what you do, who it’s for, the feel, such as friendly, premium or playful, and any colours you love or hate. Add where it will appear: a shop sign, a website, a van or a polo shirt.
I need a logo for [name], a [what you do] in [town], for [who your customers are]. It should feel [friendly, premium, playful or calm]. Colours I like: [colours]. Avoid: [anything you don’t want, such as clip-art cupcakes]. It will appear on [a shop sign, a website, a van and social media]. Suggest five different directions, each with a one-line idea, a simple symbol or lettering style, two colours and a font style. Keep each one simple enough to draw from memory.
Generate plenty, then narrow down
Now ask for pictures. Design tools such as Canva have AI features that make images from a description, many assistants can make images in the chat, and Midjourney is good for exploring styles. Check the privacy settings: some tools, Midjourney included, show what you make to other users unless your plan includes a private mode.
From ideas to a finished logo
- Go wideAsk for a dozen ideas in different styles: lettering only, a simple symbol, a badge.
- Pick threeChoose the ones that fit your brief, not just the prettiest. Ask a few customers which they’d remember.
- Refine oneChange one thing at a time, such as thicker lines, fewer colours or no shading.
- Test it tinyShrink it to the size of an app icon on a phone. If you can’t tell what it is, simplify it.
- Test it in black and whiteIt should still work in one colour, for stamps, receipts and embroidery.
- Settle fonts and coloursPick one or two fonts and two or three colours, and note their exact names and colour codes.
Watch the lettering: image generators can misspell your name or invent odd letter shapes. Often the best result is an AI symbol with your name set beside it in a real font, which takes minutes in a design tool.
Check it’s yours to use
Your logo becomes part of your Jargon busterTrade mark: A sign, such as a name or logo, that shows which business a product or service comes from. Registering one makes it much easier to stop others copying it., and AI can produce something close to an existing mark without telling you. Before you print anything, search the Intellectual Property Office’s trade mark register for similar names and logos. It’s free, and you can search by word or by what a logo shows.
If yours looks like a mark already used in your line of business, go back a step: being too close can mean a dispute, or reprinting everything. To protect your own, you can register it as a trade mark with the Intellectual Property Office, for a fee.
Get the right files
Many image generators give you a picture made of Jargon busterPixels: The tiny coloured squares that make up a digital picture. Enlarge a picture too far and they show, so it looks blurry or blocky., at a fixed size. Enlarge it for a sign or a van and it goes blurry. For signs and print, you want a Jargon busterVector: An image stored as shapes and lines rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at any size, from a business card to a billboard. version, which stays sharp at any size. Some design tools can convert a simple logo, but check the edges closely, or ask a designer to redraw it. Then keep these together:
- A vector master file, such as an SVG, EPS or PDF.
- PNG picture files with a see-through background, in a few sizes.
- One-colour versions, in black and in white.
- A square version for social media profiles.
- A note of your fonts and colour codes.
When to hire a designer
AI is a good start for a market stall, a club or a side project. Pay a designer when the brand has to work hard: a shop front, packaging, a business you hope to grow, or a logo you plan to register. Take your AI favourites along as a mood board, so the brief is clearer from day one.
Building a website to match? Here’s how to build one with AI. And for who owns AI-made work, see AI and copyright.
Check yourself
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