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How to come up with designing stuff (Color Scheme, Logo and etc) for my first side project ?

Hi all,
I've been following this for quite some time. Seeing you all making success with Side projects and startups made me come up with my own side project. Mainly I'm doing this to improve my technical knowledge and learn stuff. I'm gonna host this, but I don't expect any income or whatsoever.

This is my first SOLO project and first side project. I'm ok with technical stuff and I can go on with them. But I find it hard to find a suitable design / color scheme / theme / typography / logo and other kinds of designing stuff. As I'm not expecting any income, I'm not gonna spend money on this other than hosting and some other things. So, I'm thinking about doing this my own (coming up with an OK design, color scheme, logo and etc).

So, Is there any resources you recommend me to get some understanding about app design/selecting color scheme/ making a basic logo and stuff ? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

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    It'll cost you a lot of time if you try to learn this all from scratch. I recommend focusing on shipping simple, minimal versions that focus on delivering your message.

    • Focus 100% on typography and readability. Forget images/design (at first). Focus on your message. Structure your website as if your visitor was reading a story, from top to bottom.
    • If you're looking for fonts, use this for inspiration (Google Fonts, free): https://www.typewolf.com/google-fonts
    • For your first iteration, just use text for your logo on your website. If you get revenue and want to get an actual logo, hop on fiverr.com and find an artist whose designs you consistently love. Be picky! I guarantee you can find good ones, I've even found absolutely amazing ones (and paid those around € 50 - € 150, cheaper/simpler ones started at € 15).
    • Consider using a page builder like @Felixg's https://www.landen.co or the alternative https://carrd.co. Webflow is also an alternative (Webflow just doesn't fit my own preferences).
    • Complement your typography/text with these illustrations: https://undraw.co/illustrations
  2. 2

    Have you looked at Logojoy for logos? They're apparently an AI powered logo creator. Even if you don't buy their generated logos, I have found that the process of creating a logo on their website is fun and unlocks visual creativity.

  3. 2

    Try adopting material design as base, they have multiple standard palettes, icons, etc.

    The downside is that your product may look but like google designed :) which is fine for utilities but may not be good for purely consumer or entertainment sites or apps

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    First, I'd suggest that you absolutely learn about design. Develop your vocabulary about what is aesthetically pleasing you you and others, it's a very valuable thing to be able to appreciate when selling. On this track I'd recommend picking up some library books on art, interior design, and architecture. Study sites that you find pleasing to the eye.

    Second, I'd suggest going on Fiverr or something and outsourcing logo and colour selection to someone who has a portfolio you enjoy. Getting comfortable outsourcing your weaknesses is a far more valuable skill than trying to DIY everything yourself. After you've done the work to develop your designers eye go hog wild. Until then skipping a luxury for a week and paying someone who's further along than you will shorten your path to MVP and hopefully allow your users to focus on the awesome functionality you've built rather than be put off by shoddy design.

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    a lot of my inspiration comes from Dribbble --> also using templates and ui kits can really help --> http://ui8.net

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    Find a template that you like and build your product using it.

    If it's a web app you can find some super professional themes in https://themes.getbootstrap.com

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    Hey speco92, congrats on starting your first solo project!

    What's your side project about? It'd be helpful to know what your project is about so I could go more into detail of how to execute the logo.

    Color Scheme: I think it's helpful to look up the psychology of colors (https://www.helpscout.net/blog/psychology-of-color/). Make sure you don't use too many colors, as that will take away from the importance of the primary color(s) you chose to convey your brand!

    Logo: Usually, you want it to be very minimalistic, simple, and geometric (https://medium.com/@radenyunos/how-to-use-geometric-shapes-to-design-logos-db7d045ae3f0). Also, negative space is HUGE with logos (https://www.boredpanda.com/negative-space-logos/).

    Execution: If you do need a design - I'd suggest trying to find a designer who's not professional, but still does excellent work. A common aspect of entrepreneurs is that they try to do everything.
    If you're really invested into this project, maybe ask someone who's at least seasoned in designing/branding. Ask them if they're interested in helping you for free, and tell them that they can use it in their portfolio (I used to do graphic design for free so that I could build my portfolio up) - though I do understand this will take time to find someone.

    Also, the reason why I say it'd be best to ask someone else to design it is because exporting file types with your brand is crucial. You want high quality logos - so that means using correct software (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator). But if you have that - then you're off to a good start already haha. There's tons of tutorials out there, and if you ever need inspiration, simply look up Instagram pages that feature logo designs (https://www.instagram.com/logoinspirations/)

    Good luck!

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