Documents in Microsoft Office? Yes. Logos? Please Don't.

I applaud the efforts of anyone taking a shot at creating their own logo, or creating one for someone else. Not you graphic artists that actually do this for a living; I'm talking to those of us that are the opposite trying to establish your own branding and save a little money at the same time. I'm very proud of the logo I created years ago, that I still use today and will continue to use for a long time. 

For those of you that fit this category, I have a public service announcement for you. Microsoft Office isn't the answer this time. It's great for creating all sorts of documents; but despite all of the graphical options that are available, it is not meant to be a graphics program.

I've seen two logos in the last week from those trying to create their own. I won't embarrass them by showing them to you, but both of them were very bad. It was obvious that they used MS Word, MS PowerPoint or MS Publisher, because they both used clipart that everyone has seen before. One of them even used WordArt with one of those weird AutoShapes.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is not how you want to portray yourself.

So you have two options. The first option is to take the time to learn how to use a real graphics program (i.e. Abode Photoshop, PaintShop Pro, Fireworks, etc.) so that your images look much cleaner and professional. You do not have to be a talented artist to be able to produce good looking graphics; you simply just have to know how to use the programs and become familiar what looks good. One of my favorite sites to get ideas on logos is CoolHomePages.com (be sure to check out the rest of the site for ideas on website layouts.)

If you don't want to do that, you probably know what the other option is ... that's right, hire a professional. For those of you that have tried to create a logo (or any graphic) in Microsoft Office, I would say that you're technical sound enough to learn how to use a graphics program and I would strongly encourage you to do. The skills you pick by doing so will come in handle for the rest of your life. Good luck.