Review: Online Logo Maker (and the online icon maker)
I'm always excited to undertake sponsored reviews because it forces me to look objectively at a website, piece of software or service that I may not have encountered otherwise. This time I've been approached by the creator of the Online Logo Maker.
One of the most important things to announce when looking at this application is that it's a free web-app. It's not even monetized so that always helps me calibrate how I review. If someone is charging $100 for a license then you expect it to be brilliant, whereas free things you are willing to accept flaws. It's simple.
So what is the Online Logo Maker?
It is what it says on the tin. It's a basic online application with allows you to drag together uploaded images, stock clip-art and text into a downloadable logo.
How much control do you get?
You can adjust the size, layout, colour and rotation of any element you add to the stage. You can add basic geometric shapes (although while you can increase their size, the rounded corners don't adjust to these changes, so it is very basic vector based work). You can upload images to, which would help you break out of the fairly basic clip-art on offer.
Is it useful?
This is the important question here. It's a fantastic tool, easy to use and fairly customisable and yes, I would say it's useful, but only for a certain tier of work. Ultimately an online application is never going to have the level of quality and control that you'll need to create a fully accomplished logo for a proper business. Let me explain in greater detail…
Fonts
It's hard to understate the importance of fonts and typography in logo design. The impressive functionality of the tool not withstanding, it needs more professional fonts. The ones on offer are more suitable for low-end local business logos than they are polished organisations or websites. Whether it's a licensing issue (fonts can be tricky), introducing the same set that Google offer as part of their web fonts would be a great addition. The selection on offer are too restrictive to be useful - aside from Arial there are no fonts I'd consider suitable for a professional organisation. So my constructive criticism here would be to improve the offering in line with the ones Google offer.
Clip-art
While a great addition - allowing you to draft a logo together quite rapidly, the selection covers a wide range of topics but unfortunately, they are absolutely representative of the clip-art stereotype. Imagine the ones you're offered inside Microsoft Office and you're somewhere in the right ballpark. If the set could be increased with a new/wider set, even if some fairly generic shapes were added (such as cubes, orbs; the kind of things you see in generic logos) then it would be more useful.
What is it useful for?
Well, it is a good product and whilst not perfectly suited to professional logo creation, it's a great platform for drafting together quick logos (for concepts, wireframes, etc). You can very quickly start pulling ideas together using this tool and the level of customisation means you really can create multiple concepts rapidly. Until the font situation improves I think you'd struggle to use it as part of a legitimate design strategy.
Online Icon Maker
In parallel to the online logo maker there is the online icon maker, which is a beautifully simple free tool which takes a strict set of icons and modifies them with your required text and colours - which is actually probably more useful than the tool I was asked to review. There are six icons on offer and the customisation is perfect. You can adjust the text (and text colour) and the two gradient colours used on the icons. Simple! As with the logo maker, this tool is also free.
In summary, two excellent tools but the first flawed by a predictable clip-art set and restrictive fonts. Definitely useful, both of them and definitely items to keep an eye on. Visit the Online Logo Maker. Visit the Online Icon Maker.
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