Jake Rheude — April 25, 2018 — April 25, 2018
When you prepare to launch your business, you need a compelling graphic look to stand out from your competition. To achieve the brand image you want, you could hire a design pro and work together to create a logo and marketing materials that will give your customers a feel for your business. Or you could take advantage of the free design tools and do it yourself.
At the end of the day, there’s no substitute for professional design, but there are some downsides to working with a pro. When you’re bootstrapping your business, you may not have the budget to hire a graphic designer. If you want to test an eCommerce idea that may not fly, you might want to keep everything on the cheap at first. Plus, when you need revisions or new materials, you’ll have to go back to the designer every time. That can cost you time and money.
If you have a few hours and a bit of ingenuity, DIY design has never been easier. Free design tools give you a leg up, so your designs look slick from the start.
Here are five free apps (plus bonus apps) to get you started.
1. Shopify Logo Designer
Logo designed with Shopify logo tool.
Shopify makes it easy to set up an online store with tools like its free logo maker. The tool lets you pick from a variety of simple icons, plus several fonts and color choices. It’s not fancy, but it’s easy, and you can create a nice logo in minutes without a lot of fuss. The logo for a (fictitious) dog raincoat company, Dog’s Best Friend, was created with the Shopify logo tool.
If you want to design on the go, Shopify’s Hatchful app lets you create logos on iOS or Android devices. The free options are serviceable but limited. For a few bucks, you can buy premium design elements, a la carte. When you finish, your logo is ready for Instagram and Facebook, in addition to the web.
Bonus resource: Tailor Brands takes you through a series of questions, and then designs a spiffy logo for you. You don’t have to lift a finger.
2. Website Colors from Pictaculous
As you build your website, the colors you choose can make the difference between pages that cause instant eye strain and an eCommerce store that invites browsers to hang around. Pictaculous can save you from bad color choices. Just upload your logo or header art and get your color palette, including the HTML color codes you’ll need to match those colors online.
Bonus resource: If you want to step more boldly into the world of color, ColorZilla is an extension for Chrome or Firefox that puts more sophisticated color design tools in the palm of your hand.
3. Canva Graphic Design Tool for Business Cards and More
Business card created with Canva template.
Canva is a free and flexible online design tool. You can design anything from a logo to a flyer to an icon for your website. The free templates for business cards get you off to a great start -—just drop in the logo you created, add your contact info, and you’re set. There are lots of great free icons and images on Canva, and you can also buy premium artwork for a small fee. The business card for Dog’s Best Friend was created in a few short minutes by adapting one of Canva’s design templates.
Bonus resource: MOO isn’t the cheapest business card printer, but its design tool is one of the easiest to use if you’re ordering business cards online. The print company offers well-designed and modern templates that you can customize and download, even if you don’t order anything. If nothing else, check out MOO’s inspiration gallery for great business card design ideas.
4. Infogram Infographics
When you want to convey complex information to your customers, an infographic is a great way to get your message across. Infogram gives you templates to get you started. If your data is geographic, the app offers a variety of map layouts. If you only need a few infographics, the basic app is free.
Bonus resource: If you don’t see what you want on Infogram, try the easel.ly infographic builder.
5. Free Photos from Morguefile
You need photos to make a splash online. In addition to product images, a beautiful sunset or a cityscape can help set a mood or illustrate a blog post. You’ll find high-quality free photos on Morguefile. The site gives you free reign to alter and edit the images.
Bonus resource: Pexels has free stock photos available for any use, no attribution needed.
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