How did you create your comic's logo?

[KiaraNovaStar]

Hi, I'm a creator that hasn't been very active since I finished my previous comic but I'm nearly ready to start up a new comic, and I've just started thinking about the logo, which brought up the question... How do people usually make their logos? With my previous comic, I just used a font that came free with Windows and adjusted the width and colours to make it somewhat unique. But I've noticed that in some series, and definitely in a lot of professional series, the font in the logo looks too stylised to be a ready-made font. So I'd be really curious to know how you creators design your logos. Do you make them from scratch, or do you use a ready-made font and just change the colours and add symbols and effects? Or maybe some of you don't put much time into creating a unique logo at all... I know it's tempting to skip the logo and rush into the fun part. : D Creating a custom font will make your logo look original, but I'm just not sure if it's necessary with all the fonts available online, especially if you're not particularly skilled at letter design...

[Strontium]

I did it kind of a complex way. I created my own font first by creating letters in Adobe Illustrator based on typographic sketches I did. Then I put those letters into a website that converts information into a personal font. I downloaded the font to my computer. Thus the logo consists of the font I created and I type out the name of the comic in it. I did create all of the letters of the alphabet but I was in a rush to complete the font set because the copy of Illustrator was at a school computer, so the other letters don't all look as good. Maybe someday I'll have time to improve them.

This is the website I used to convert the letters into a useable font! You don't need to use Illustrator to make the letters, any digital program should suffice, I just wanted to make sure the letters were symmetrical.

[AlkseeyaKC]

My husband is a graphic designer, so he creates all my logos. For Neon Glow, the series was originally to be named Neon Hunters. But he said the logo would be unbalanced, so we named it Neon Glow so it has more balance to it. I'm not sure if he used a font and tweaked the "Glow". But the "Neon" text is all hand drawn.

Starship 77 logo is all free font. He was playing with the new Photo Shop 3D whatever its called for the "StarShip" part. He used some textures and stuff on it.

I made the Iron Hearts logo my self. Kaiser gave me a font to use. I typed it, placed it so it looked good. I erased some things off it so it was easier to read. lol I put three different strokes around it and shaded it.

@Strontium - THANK YOU!!!! I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO KNOW THAT FOR $#*@&%} SO LONG!!!! O n O!

[Strontium]

@Strontium - THANK YOU!!!! I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO KNOW THAT FOR $#*@&%} SO LONG!!!! O n O!

No problem!! It's a super useful site so take advantage of it!

[AlkseeyaKC]

PHHHH OH I will! Like I have another comic I want to do that has there own language/script or whatever. I've been trying forever to find away to turn it into something I can just type. o . o YOU HAVE FOUND IT!! * shakes you then hugs * This is so awesome. (* w *)
Anyway - cough- off topic. Carry on... > w >

[SpavVy]

I use manga st udio 5 for my logos and I only use fonts that are free for commercial use, making fonts isn't exactly my strong point plus I couldn't think of any designs.

[gateofselidor]

I hand drew mine for Lemongrass in Photoshop. I've been meaning to vector it, and possibly make some changes as I'm not sure it's as legible as I'd like it to be. I prefer using something I drew myself over making one from an existing font.

[KiaraNovaStar]

I looked at your logos, and wow, all the custom fonts look very unique and creative! Makes me feel bad about the bland ideas I've been coming up with. ^^;

@Strontium That sounds like a complicated process, I don't think I will bother creating an entire alphabet since I don't plan to use it outside of the logo, but it might be a good idea in some situations. Thank you for the link!

@AlkseeyaKC Interesting, I never thought about changing the title for the sake of the logo, but it does look better. Having a husband that does graphic design must be a big help!

@Savannah I know, I just can't come up with great font ideas. But maybe I will have success after more brainstorming. >.<

@gateofselidor I was able to read it, but maybe some fine-tuning could help make it look more legible. I have never done vectoring before but perhaps it will helpful for cleaning up your logo, or even some colours or effects. ^^

[UltHamBro]

I just used a pre-existing font and played around with an ASCII character in order to make an inverted heart resemble an A.
I wanted something simple, but resembling the sketches I had done, which included the upside-down heart.

[cthlatu]

I did my logos for Strike Pup and ZeeStar by hand. The first one with a physical pen and the second with a digital one using the "straight line stroke" feature.

[NPC]

The logo for my current comic, and most of the comics collaborating over at NPC are done by a long time friend of mine. Check out his stuff. He's always looking to work with more up and coming creators.

[hades]

Blambot has some free fonts specifically made for comics and their logos under their design tab. I usually install one and mess with settings in photoshop.

Here is a quick rundown of how I made a logo for an upcoming comic.

First I install the font and choose the color base:

Then I go to Layer > Layer Styles > Blending Options

From that panel i click and choose what I want to apply to the logo.For this one I altered around with Stroke, inner glow, Inner shadow, and gradient overlay. Make sure to mess with the settings of each alteration!! You can see their settings by doubling clicking the name on the panel.

Get it to your liking and save it as transparent png and you're good to add it to whatever!

Tah-dah!!

[SeanKPrower]

I created the logo for Togire! by taking an already existing font and stretching and distorting it so it looked totally different. Then a friend of mine (who is amazing with computers) very kindly did some wizardry on it to create the black outline around the word and make it a good resolution.

[KiaraNovaStar]

@UltHamBro I like that, it's simple but stands out! ^^

@Marchen Blambot's fonts look nice, it's too bad a lot of them don't come free. Your method reminds me of the method I used for my last comic, the outlines can really make a difference. : )

I feel like the logo I have in mind doesn't even have a complicated font, but I don't know where I could find it so I'll probably go down the custom route.

[VeloursRose]

Oh cool topic! I actually hand drew my logo with PS/SAI and then converted it into a vector. I received council from a friend who is a graphic designer during the design process.:)

[Spinester]

I drew mine in Photoshop... I need to get a vector version though so I plan on bringing it in to Illustrator and using the image trace function.

My original Photoshop file is massive and at a hi-res so I won't really need that vector unless I do a huge banner.

[UltHamBro]

I made a huge Photoshop file too! It's pretty useful: whenever I need to re-create the logo, I can just downscale it.

[jessiepolfliet]

For my comic Stormspectrum I hand drew my logo in Painttool Sai. For those who remembered I first had a diffrenent more ugly logo. But I changed to this because it was much more fitting to the style of the comic. The style of the letters is based on how my character transforms.