A new technology company in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward is shaking the cages of logo design with its Web-based $99 logo-maker. Jason Marshall, president of Logostick developed the online software system so that anyone can have a well-designed logo. The idea stemmed from Marshall noticing two-bit logos in the Yellow Pages and on the back of church bulletins.
“I don’t like bad design,” Marshall said. “Some companies did not even have a logo and they paid big money for that ad space.”
Marshall conducted a survey of companies with less than 10 employees to see how many had invested in logos. About 40 percent said no.
“According to the U.S. Census, there are about 17 million companies in the country with five employees or less, which is a massive market. I figured I had between seven and eight million potential customers,” Marshall said.
Marshall re-surveyed businesses with fewer than 10 employees to see what they would spend on a logo and $100 was the magic number.
“Most people understand that logos can help businesses look better, but not all businesses have them because they cost money and involve an investment in the time of going back and forth between themselves and a design firm,” Marshall said.
Marshall took his idea to investors and received $2 million from a silent angel investor. His team began developing last July and www.Logostick.com had its first customers in the beginning of November, Marshall said.
The Web site essentially lets business owners design their own logo while a software program holds their hand. Logostick’s bread and butter is the extensive custom-made symbol library developed by professional logo designers. Marshall’s team of 12 employees adds about 1,000 custom designs to the library per month ensuring ingenuity and a design for everyone’s taste.
“The Web site was so easy to follow and had thousands of options,” said Doug Geuder, president of Alliance Tool and Machining, LLC in Waukesha. “It is just a portal that allowed you to do it at your own pace. You get a chance to think and it is like you are making your own logo but you have the Web site to walk you through the process.”
Geuder created a new logo for his company that was something he had come up with, not something designed by someone unattached to his business, he said. And because it was so cost effective, he can afford to print the logo on mugs and T-shirts to promote the business and the new identity.
The symbols are categorized into 50 professions. Users enter the design portion of the Web site, select their profession from a list and all of the symbols that fit in that category pop up. Users can narrow down the choice of symbols by selecting the preferred style, including modern, antique, traditional and hi-tech.
Once the symbol is selected, Logostick takes users to the design page. The design page displays five font suggestions that will go well with the type of symbol and style selected, but users have access to more than 50 fonts. The design page also allows users to place the text wherever they please and change the size and color of the symbol and text. Click “Buy Now,” pay the $99 and voila!
A downloadable version of the logo is available in JPG, EPS and PNG file formats, all of which are included in the $99 price. The logo is also permanently stored in the “Logo Locker” so users can always access their designs in case they are lost. Technical support is on hand via the Web site if a customer is in need of assistance.
“Customers can have a logo they designed, a professional logo for their business that they created in literally five minutes,” Marshall said.
Elizabeth Weimer is helping her father-in-law run his masonry business, Classic Masonry in Sussex. The business is going through a complete branding initiative including the creation of a logo and a Web site.
Weimer was able to save the few versions of the logo she created on her account at Logostick.com and have friends and colleagues view the choices to provide feedback before she makes a purchase, she said.
Weimer is still in limbo with regards to purchasing a logo because of decisions on the Web development side of her project that have to be flushed out. But Geuder has had his logo for a few weeks now and is already seeing results.
“My logo has gone from something where I would almost always tell people I made my own business card to now, where it is so professional that I don’t think in that direction,” Geuder said. “It makes a little company look big.”
