Creating a logo with AI

In this tutorial I’m going to show you how you can design a logo almost completely with AI. You will still need to edit the logo in Adobe Illustrator to get it to look truly sharp but most of the design process is AI driven in this example.

• Midjourney

• Vectorizer.ai

• ChatGPT-4

• Adobe Illustrator

The task: designing a logo for my personal brand on X (formerly Twitter) and possibly on this website.

Here's what I have so far.

First, I prompted MJ with the following:

AI and Design, vector logo design, brain, modern vector brand identity, extremely simple

After some rerolling and remixing I ended up with a concept I liked quite a bit. Here are the two main iterations I wanted to proceed with.

Two variations, raw Midjourney output

Next, I ran these through a service called Vectorizer. You can access it at https://vectorizer.ai/

Looking rough but it's a start:

The vectorized result. Screenshot from Adobe Illustrator. As you can see, Vectorizer.ai is VERY good. Looks almost exactly the same as the MJ output.

Of course this wasn't nearly where it needed to be. I decided to manually redraw most of it, combining the two, tossing some elements, changing some. I also needed a color palette. Inspired by the teachings of user @NorthstarBrain on X, I went to ChatGPT and prompted with this:

You are a color psychology expert and you have years of experience in picking the exact right brand colors depending on what the brand wants to convey.

I'm going to give you a list of traits I want my brand to represent and you will provide me with a color palette that effectively communicates those traits. Give me 3 main colors and 2 accent colors. Provide the colors in HEX format.

Do you understand your job?

ChatGPT responded affirmative and I gave it the terms: "innovation, good design, positivity".

It responded with the following:

Great, Marco. To create a color palette that reflects innovation, good design, and positivity, we would likely combine colors that are typically associated with these traits in color psychology.

1. Innovation: Traditionally, colors like bright orange or deep blues are associated with innovation. They express creativity, enthusiasm, and trust.

2. Good Design: This trait is a bit abstract when it comes to color psychology, as good design often depends on simplicity and balance rather than specific colors. However, shades of grey or off-white are often used to denote a modern, clean design aesthetic.

3. Positivity: Colors like bright yellows and lighter shades of green usually symbolize positivity, energy, and growth.

Considering these principles, here is a proposed palette:

Main Colors:

1. Deep Blue (Innovation): HEX #003F5C

2. Off-White (Good Design): HEX #F1F1F1

3. Bright Yellow (Positivity): HEX #FFD700

Accent Colors:

1. Bright Orange (Secondary Innovation color): HEX #FF7F00

2. Light Green (Secondary Positivity color): HEX #90EE90

Please remember, color interpretation can be somewhat subjective and can also be influenced by cultural factors. Therefore, it's always important to test color choices with your target audience. These colors are starting points and should be adapted to fit your particular brand aesthetic and audience responses.

Not bad! I took this color palette and incorporated it in my hand recreated version. This is what I had after manually recreating most of the design in Illustrator:

After manually redrawing at least half of the logo, this is what the result was.

Now I needed lettering. Once again I asked ChatGPT for advice. This time on what font to use. I did this in the same session that gave me the color palette. Typography isn't my strongest skill so I figured let’s ask the oracle and see what happens.

This was the response:

The choice of a font for your logo significantly depends on the overall vibe and values your brand wants to portray. Given the traits you've outlined (innovation, good design, positivity), you might want to consider a modern and clean typeface that also has a touch of friendliness and approachability to convey positivity.

1. Futura: Futura is a geometric sans-serif typeface that was designed in 1927. It is known for its efficiency and forwardness, perfect for representing innovation. Futura's clean lines echo good design, and its round geometric forms provide a hint of positivity and approachability.

2. Avenir: Designed as a contemporary take on Futura, Avenir is a versatile sans-serif font. Its clean lines embody good design and the modern typeface signifies innovation. It also has a friendly vibe to it, which can bring in the positivity factor.

3. Proxima Nova: A modern sans-serif typeface, Proxima Nova is a blend of geometric proportions with a humanist touch. This makes it friendly while retaining a modern, innovative feel.

Remember, when choosing a font, readability is key, especially when the logo is scaled down. Also, ensure the font aligns well with other visual elements of your brand and isn't overly used in your industry to maintain uniqueness.

Before finalizing any font, make sure to check its licensing terms, especially if you plan to use it widely across different mediums. You might want to consult with a graphic designer or a type specialist to explore customization options and to ensure it harmoniously fits with your color palette and other design elements.

These fonts are all available as part of my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. I decided to go with Proxima Nova and proceeded to create several variations as lockups. With the colors from ChatGPT, monochrome and inverse.

This is what I have so far:

Several different variations on the main logo design. Still a work in progress.

And that concludes this experiment. For now. Is AI about to replace human logo designers? I wouldn’t say so. Not just yet. Still this flow is an interesting one and I encourage you to give it a go yourself!

Thank you for reading!