How to order a logo for your blog – my checklist

9 questions to answer when getting a site logo

Getting a logo for your new site is not a high-priority task. Selecting your niche and getting a content plan in place come first.

Once you start publishing your articles, having a professional-looking logo on the page matters.

Google will soon be sending readers your way. You want these visitors to stick around, read the post and maybe even click through to more articles on your site.

A decent logo helps you make a good first impression that makes users stick around for longer.

If you’re a designer, you’ll probably have fun coming up with a logo for your site.

I’m not a designer, so logo creation is something that I let someone else handle. These days, I have in-house graphic designers and they create logos for new sites.

I wrote this post back in 2018, back when I used to outsource logo creation. I shared the instructions I would give to the Fiverr designers who worked on our logos.

I still follow a similar method today. The only difference is that the instructions go to our designers. Here’s the revamped and updated version of that post.

Why hire a logo designer

Yes, I can play around with Photoshop on my own.

And yes, some logos don’t look like they’re more than text and maybe a generic icon from a free clipart website.

You could probably get away with designing your own logo, even if you’re not a pro.

That said, I think there are benefits to getting a logo from a designer.

  1. A  professional designer will get you a better logo
  2. You will get your logo in a variety of sizes and including vector graphics
  3. The design will be unique
  4. Most importantly, your designer will be faster than you, saving you time.

Professional designers are very affordable these days – thanks to sites like Fiverr and Upwork.

It doesn’t make sense for me to spend too long on creating a logo when a designer is likely to achieve better results for $20.

Where to find a logo designer

Fiverr and Upwork are my go-to sites for designers.

I use Fiverr for quick 24 hours jobs where I’m not too picky about the end result. You can still find $5 options there but I typically budget $20-$30 for the project.

At these rates, I can get two designs to choose from, as well as all the accompanying files.

Getting a new logo: What to tell your designer

If you want the best possible logo, you need to convey your exact dos and don’ts to the designer. With only one or two designs included in a low-budget project, getting it right the first time matters.

Prepare a list of logo requirements

You don’t have to spend more than half an hour on creating your order. Just make sure you include everything you want the designer to know.

Tip: When you make an order via Fiverr, most designers will guide you through and let you know exactly what kind of information they need. So, if you’re in a rush, you can just go there and place your order with a reputable designer.

Even these designers will also ask if you have further requests.

That’s where having your own guidelines can help.

What about the “Let it go” approach?

Some people don’t really care about their site’s logo.

Which is actually fine.

If you feel like you have no sense of visual/graphic aesthetics, you may prefer to trust the instincts of a professional designer.

After all, not only were these people trained in their craft, they probably became designers because they were born with a good sense of aesthetics.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let the designer know anything about your logo requirements.

Assuming you hire someone who is not familiar with your website, you can’t expect them to spend several hours studying it and getting the right “vibe” that your audience will appreciate. Definitely not if you only pay them $20.

If you do consider yourself to have a good eye for visuals and you have your own ideas of what you like and dislike about logos, it’s even more important to convey your style to your logo designer.

So, just how flexible you are about the final product will determine the extent of your logo requirements. But you’re going to need to deliver at least some of them to the designer.

With that in mind…

Logo requirements list

This is what I use for my logo creation orders. Feel free to use this as a template for your own project.

1. Size/specs and formats

Specify what kind of files you want.

I typically ask for –

  • A PNG file with transparent background.
  • A print-ready large version
  • A web-friendly medium version that’s 1200 pixels wide
  • A square .ico file (for bookmarks and browser tabs)

You can also ask for social media versions for your Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter avatars and headers. Those are likely to cost a bit more.

All of these files have recommended industry standards. A professional designer would know what sizes to prepare, and their listing will often specify the numbers. If you’re not sure, ask them before contracting the gig.

2. Description of your website

Include your website’s name, its history, and its mission statement. If it’s a new blog, it probably doesn’t have much of a history yet, but you should have a mission statement.

It doesn’t have to be as inspirational as Starbucks’ mission statement

To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

But it’s good to have something.

The ability to define the essence of your blog in one or two sentences can help you in many ways. Finding and working with a logo designer is one of them.

2. Description of your audience.

Let the designer know who your target audience is.

Are they mostly young women in their twenties? Dads in the Bay area? Or maybe your visitors are senior citizens whose passion is world travel?

A good designer will try to make the logo more attractive to your target demographics.

3. Which emotions should the logo convey

This is somewhat related to a description of your site and your audience but it’s a separate element.

Your visitors may be women in their 50s and your site topic is skincare but does not necessarily mean a girly pink “vibe”.

Maybe your website is more about the clinical/scientific aspects of advanced skin care products and you prefer a clean look that stays away from pink hues.

You can’t expect the designer to guess that.

4. Your current logo (pros and cons)

If you’re getting a logo for an existing site, let the designer know.

Tell them exactly what you like and – more importantly – what you don’t like about the current logo.

5. Colors

Do you want to stick to a specific color scheme?

If you already have a customized theme, you should send that to your designer. Or maybe the logo needs to reflect the colors of a product that you’re selling?

Let the designer know.

You can also mention how many colors you want the logo to include.

If you ever want to create merchandise based on that logo, the number of colors matters. Fewer colors would be cheaper to print.

6. The text

Do you even want text? Or do you just want a striking visual?

And if you do want text, what will it be? Is it your site name? With or without the .com extension? Do you want your tagline embedded in the logo itself or not?

7. The fonts

Is there a particular font that you like or want to use? This is the time to let the designer know.

Or you could just have a general preference between the more traditional serif fonts and the modern-looking san serif ones.

7. Images

Do you want a text-only logo? Or one with an image? Or maybe just a clever image without the text?

If you do want an image, then try to give your designer more direction.

If you are set on having an original image created (rather than one from a clipart library) be prepared to pay extra.

If you’re imagining a logo that has an intricate mascot on it, then this would probably require a designer that specializes in mascots (and charges accordingly).

8. Overall style

If you have no idea about style, that’s ok. You don’t have to specify a style and frankly, it’s probably best that you don’t try to.

However, if you do know what “minimalist” means and that’s what you’re going for, do let the designer know.

If you want to give it a shot, this guide by 99Designs has great explanations and illustrations of common visual design styles.

9. Finally, examples!

All of the designers I’ve worked with over at Fiverr asked for examples of logos that I liked.

If you’re serious about your logo, it’s always a good idea to browse other sites in the same niche and see what kind of logos they have.

I use Windows Snipping Tool to quickly pick up these logos and keep them in two folders: One for the logos that I like and one for those I don’t.

You shouldn’t limit yourself to your niche. It’s perfectly ok to be inspired by other websites, so if you absolutely love the Dropbox logo, let your designer know that too.

Once you have a dozen logos that you love (and a few that you hate), you’ll find that answering questions about style and concepts becomes easier.

It’s the last item on this list and may be the last thing you send your designer, but it’s a good idea to make it your first step when you begin thinking about getting a new logo.

How to use this list

I came up with the above list when I needed a new logo for my flagship site. I paid several hundreds of dollars for that logo so it made sense to invest some time in research and preparation.

Now that I have the list, I use that for smaller projects too. Investing 10-15 minutes into putting everything in writing for a logo designer is worth it. Getting better results in the first iteration saves time for both parties.

Most designers will ask you these questions when you make the order. With Fiverr, you have to answer some of these in the order form. Best to be prepared.

I simply put all of the above into a document. When filling in the order form, I copied and pasted the relevant info into each field and then I also added the entire document.

That way, I made sure I didn’t forget anything. I was giving the designer everything she or he needed to get the best logo produced for me.

How about you? Do you create your own logos or do you get them done professionally? Any other tips for getting your logo order right? Leave a comment here and let me know what you think.

6 Comments

  1. Hi,

    Just wondering, did any of your new sites (or old) get hit in the recent spam update? My 2 blogs that got hit in the helpful content update recently did in the spam update as well. The only thing about them is that they have low DA and a lot of pages relative to the amount of traffic (but that is because they are new).

    • Yes, the news sites were hit (again) during the spam update. And I agree, I think this is about site size and age. We have similar content on more established sites and they were not harmed. It’s going to be another sad report on Yeys next month… Fortuantely, my big sites sailed through and even grew, so overall, I’m grateful.

      • It is what has happened to me. All my large/old sites are fine but the new ones have kept getting hit in the recent updates.

        For now, I am shifting my focus to my main site. I know you don’t like link building, but I am also doing HARO for my new site in addition to trying to gain some social traffic.

  2. This is great Anne, I haven’t made one for my 3rd site and I will have to go to Fiverr, been quite a while since I’ve used that service. On my 1st site, I hired a designer I used to work with at the old day job and it was pricey. Thanks for the tips on what to ask for as well for the logo.

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