I am starting to design some simple business logos for clients and was wondering what the best logo design software is.

I have used Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign.

What would you guys suggest based on your experience and expertise?

Thanks in advance

Use adobe illustrator because its best for design logos in vector image or icons. Most of the professional logo designer use these software to create a company logo.

Logo really need to be designed using a vector tool, so if you have the budget or need to be compatible with a design team Adobe Illustrator.

If you have no budget or no great need to be part of a team, download inkscape and use that. It is easily the equal of illustrator without all the extra bits that nobody ever really uses twice.

Hello Cyberking,

If I were you I would purchase a copy of Adobe Illustrator, this link shows you what can be done with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The gentleman explains how long it took him and what he used, hopefully that doesn't scare you off, but you can see the graphic design is crisp and clean.

For overall control of the type elements of a logo, InDesign is the best tool. You have greater control of kerning, letting if necessary, and so forth. Illustrator, as has already been said, is better for the vector elements other than type. If your logo uses both, work on the non-type elements in Illustrator and import them into a InDesign file.

tim

AND if you want an opensource equivalent to InDesign checkout Scribus.


Also if you need to work "on the move" with a netbook for instance.

there is Scribus Portable, Inkscape Portable

They are a little slow starting up from a SD card but run perfectly well from a USB stick or external HD and the bonus is you can sit down at a clients machine anywhere and work.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I download inkscape and am trying it out.

Thanks for the link Giselle. That work looks awesome.

How about best Logo Design freeware or online logo maker?

Chris posted the good free ones already. Here they are again:

inkscape, Scribus

Scribus Portable, Inkscape Portable

If you're implying some kind of Logo-O-Matic generator, don't waste your time. Your logo is your identity and business presence, something you want to put time and effort into.

tim

I've downloaded Inkscape portable and still trying to familiarize myself with the software but so far so good.

what do you think about Insightpoint?

Illustrator all the way, if you can afford it. It takes some serious learning tho, it's a complex application, but the results are far better than anything else I've ever used and I tend to use Illustrator exclusively for logos.

If you're on a mac, and want to work in a vector fashion, Apple's own Pages software is pretty good too - a much simpler version of Illustrator/InDesign.

Illustrator, I'd like to check that out. Thanks Ed.

I've just registered a domain and had it hosted. Now comes the challenging part, coming up with a template i want and deciding on a logo. I'm not a pro and right now I'm doing pretty much everything. Hopefully I get inspired and finally decide on what kind of logo I want

Originally Posted by Shey

Illustrator, I'd like to check that out. Thanks Ed

Do it! Illustrator is an awesome app, especially if your work crosses over from the web and into print, it rocks at doing both

Originally Posted by edgray

Illustrator all the way, if you can afford it. It takes some serious learning tho, it's a complex application, but the results are far better than anything else I've ever used and I tend to use Illustrator exclusively for logos.

If you're on a mac, and want to work in a vector fashion, Apple's own Pages software is pretty good too - a much simpler version of Illustrator/InDesign.

I'm right there with you Ed and Tim! Illustrator is not only the best but its my favorite program. I love that I can mix my own colors and draw or paint just like I was doing it on canvas (or paper). And for purposes of print - especially logo's they Have to be done in vector format so Illustrator all the way for me. But it is a hard program to learn. Whatever you do don't buy an Adobe Book to learn it. The best ones are from non-Adobe employees!

Corel Draw any day for me! Much more intuitive than Illustrator, and can do all. Switched over from AI and sticking with it since x3. Affordable too.

Illustrator seems to be the best software for that purpose. Some designers claim it is for better compatibility if compared to CorelDraw's. But again, even Photoshop only will definitely do. That depends much on your skills.

I use GIMP because it's free and there are a lot of plugins. And GIMP is compatible to psd files and some photoshop extionsions.

LogoMaker, LogoSmartz are the two good logo design softwares

try serif photo plus, not free but cheap. comparable to adobe photoshop www.serif.com . try and get a deal for it there's plenty of discount coupons otu there.

Stick with adobe illustrator and you won't go far wrong. Also, consider some tutorials from Lynda.com and search for adobe illustrator catagory.