Did you launch with or without a logo?

I just used Google fonts, and picked out one of the most commonly used fonts (Source Sans Pro) and used it. Nobody who's interested in the product is going to hesitate or make a decision based on your logo or lack thereof.

You can always try bootstrap logos ;) bootstraplogos.com

If you are building the MVP, don't worry about the logo.

When you start engaging with customers, then it's worth having a logo - but it doesn't need to be a work of art!

• Don't spend more than 1 hr on it
• Use Google Font to find something basic you like
• Try some variations - add a square around the logo, underline it, add an icon in front of it, etc.

On Saasified, I used Pacifico font and then edited it slightly. Took me 30 mins.

It's usually a waste of time/money/effort to create a brand identity for an MVP. I generally advise startups to wait until their product offering is solidified, and customer interest growing rapidly (not necessarily converting).

I would suggest pursuing a branding engagement (Logo and Brand Strategy / Design) at this point. Why? Capitalize on your general success by appropriately niching your brand with your core audience. This isn't the only path to success by any means, just my experience.

I drew mine in MS Paint and that was of more of psychological significance than anything I could have bought.

I am planning to launch soon, I spent a few hours on my own logo and I am extremely happy with the results. But I can't imagine that it has a huge impact, it might just give you that extra edge.

But most importantly is to have a good an interesting product.

I'll be using one created with https://logojoy.com

I launched Kernl.us without a logo and it didn't seem to hurt me much. I felt more legitimate once I had one, but it didn't make any difference in sales or conversions. YMMV.

Worrying about a logo at this stage is a distraction from the real work you should be doing.

I think you've answered your own question.

In the early days (especially pre-launch) there are so, so many more important things you could be doing than worrying about a logo.

That said, if your product/service is in a category where potential customers will be judging you on your brand/design/marketing capabilities (for example if you're launching a branding or logo-design service), then a logo might be more of a help at the beginning.

FWIW, I've launched a few projects in my time, some of them successful, none with a logo in the early days.

Hi @TonyOnRails. We believe that not just a logo is important but to keep it consistent with your brand. Making sure that you're staying with your brand's color palette, typography, imagery, tone of voice and well sized logos helps to keep your brand look legitimate and professional.

I'm the co-founder of https://automagic.design and we're also indie hackers creating a Design Studio augmented by AI. Please drop us a line and we'd be happy to help you with your logo and other designs you may need!

I think in the initial stage it's worth 5 minutes playing around with something like https://www.faviator.xyz , but beyond that, any time spent on it is taking away from your mission. When you get to the point where your 5-minute logo isn't cutting it anymore, that's when you can afford to spend the time and energy on it.

I would also recommend doing a logo by yourself using, e.g., GIMP, and choosing a modern font. That's what I've done at https://coindatax.com. The color of the logo naturally followed the primary color of the design template I was using. It took me less than 1h to do everything.

I've spent few hours on learning inkscape and designed the logo for this https://remoteleaf.com. It's not so great. I think it's okay for now in the initial stages.

I just use Logo Joy for a cheap logo. It all depends on how serious you want people to take your venture. On the averages, a quick and dirty word logo is good enough during the MVP phase

7 months in and I still don't have one :D and I don't think it's affected anything at all.

• I use text as my logo
• And I use an icon for my favicon
  If you really need one just pick a pretty icon from flaticon.com.
  I'd say a name, the ui/ux is more important and impactful than a logo.

I launched WITH a logo. But that was mainly due to my product turning in to a new product completely so it was important that my previous followers knew the brand was updating with the product.

Launched without, then did one up one morning when inspiration struck.

Launched ours with a full design (http://phage.directory). We're doing a scrappy health tech startup that works to treat people with viruses as an alternative to antibiotics... so it's imperative that we look professional.

On that note, the logo (including branding) took about an hour to make. We spent 20 minutes on a branding exercise, and I cobbled it together and threw it on the design. Literally used the first color (teal and pink) and typography (Metropolis, because I was looking at the font sample) that fit our branding adjectives (clean, authoritative, and trustworthy). (The hexagon is the shape of the capsid, the part where the virus stores its DNA material)

I've since then spent a few of more hours iterating on a more "professional" design (looks like other legit startups), but still uses the same colors and branding.

And the time I spent on design and totally paid off. We're getting interviewed by the BBC and have a piece about us in Mother Jones soon, and we're looking to meet with some higher government health officials soon.

With that said, we have some problems with our phage.directory site because... people are like "wait, that's your url??" Sigh. We do also own phagedirectory.org but people still get confused. BUT I think it's cool and I'd love to stick with it.

Logos are extremely important. You will see when you split test the site with or without. Booking.com increased their Conversion Rate significantly just by adding „.com“ in their Logo.

Branding is very important even at the very early stages.

I would go with a logo (or at least an icon or temporary one) or spend $10 to buy something. Or just create an all text logo. Why? It's just more "convenient" to have a logo when sharing your stuff, and "easier" to replace later.

I spend half a day learning Inkscape to create a simple logo for https://flowrabbit.com/ Since then, I manage to create a simple logo within an hour.

Search for a logo design tool. Type out your company name as the logo. Pick a font you like and that stands out. Done. My example, to give you an idea: https://hostedmetrics.com/static/product/images/logo_light_bkgd.svg

I'm a mobile developer, so projects I've worked on require an App Icon to be published to the store. That said, I've created alpha/beta logos for early releases that I just make using icon builders.

If you have even a rough conceptual idea for what your product is or will be, you can probably create a logo with open source icons that will convey the basic idea.

An icon may not be MVP, but it also could benefit from the feedback/iteration loop, so just putting something basic out there might be worth the trouble. My $0.02

without

This comment was deleted 2 years ago