- Strategy brief
- 2 moodboards
- 2 logo concepts · 2 revisions
- Primary & secondary logo
- Color & type system
- Web usage guidelines
- brand.md & every file format
AI vs. a real designer
AI can make you a logo in ten seconds.
Here's what it can't make.
What AI logo generators are actually good for, and where they fall short.
An AI logo generator is faster and cheaper than a real designer, but the result usually isn't legally yours and rarely holds up as a brand.
A generator gives you a mark in minutes for free to about $50; a designer takes days and starts around €899, and hands you a human-made original with full source files and real decisions behind it.
Use AI to test a name or mock up a deck. When people are going to judge your company by the mark, or you need to actually own the artwork, it's worth doing right the first time.
Type a prompt and you'll have something in a minute, whether it's yours to keep, and whether it's any good, is the harder question.
What AI logo generators are actually good for
They're fast, and often free. Fine for testing a name before it's real, mocking something up for a deck, or a side project nobody's paying for. If the logo just needs to exist for now, an AI generator does that job.
The copyright problem
You can usually still trademark an AI-generated logo, that's not really where it breaks down. Copyright is the actual problem.
The US Copyright Office requires real human authorship, and a logo an AI made on its own doesn't clear that bar. Nobody, including you, owns the artwork itself.
Worth reading the full breakdown if you're about to build a brand on one.
The quality problem
An AI generator builds your logo from everything it has seen. The worst logos on the internet, a few great ones, and a huge pile of average ones in between.
The bad ones win on numbers. There are far more bad logos online than good ones, which makes sense, most people who have made a logo aren't great at it.
So the model gives you the simplest, most obvious answer. It's quick, and it has no real value.
Ask for a coffee shop logo
Try it. Tell an AI generator you run a coffee shop and you'll get a cup, some steam, maybe a bean. The same things every other coffee shop already uses.
Nothing abstract, nothing thought through. Nothing based on your positioning or what makes you different from the place across the street.
A designer starts from your strategy and works toward the mark. The generator starts from the category and stops there.
What it tells your customers
The bigger problem shows up later. You use the logo for a while, and people start connecting your company with it.
If the logo looks low-end, that's the first signal you're sending, before anyone has tried the product.
If you're still at the indie hacker stage, testing ideas, sure, go for it. For a real company, the logo is an odd place to have a weak spot, especially when getting a professional to do it properly isn't a big investment.
Side by side
| AI generator | A real designer | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Minutes | Days |
| Cost | Free to ~$50 | Starts at €899 |
| Copyright | Usually none, no human authorship | Yours, human-made from scratch |
| Quality | Average of mostly mediocre work | Made with actual decisions |
| Redo later | Usually, and it costs more | Built to last |
| Source files | Limited exports | Full source: SVG, PDF, Figma |
| Brand guidelines | None | Included, every plan |
When AI is fine
Testing an idea before it's real, or a throwaway project with no budget. Go ahead, use the free tool.
When it's worth doing right the first time
My prices start at €899, about what a real logo should cost at this stage. That's not a lot to get it right once.
There's also a middle option. My shop sells ready-made marks at $249: originals made by a person, with full ownership transferred to you, each sold once.
Use an AI generator now and end up redoing it in six months, which most people do, and you'll spend more than if you'd just started here. If you're not sure this is even the moment to spend on it, here's how to tell when a startup should invest in branding.
If that's where you're at, see what a proper brand identity package actually includes, or start now. Already have a logo you're unsure about? See how it holds up small with the favicon preview tool. Or if you'd rather do it yourself properly, here's how to design a logo in 3 steps.
"Working with Sofiane was an amazing experience. He did everything from helping us understand what we wanted from our brand identity, translating it into broader suggestions, narrowing down to one, and in the end was tweaking the last micro details in the end product.
He listened patiently to our feedback and incorporated the good, and also pushed back kindly when he disagreed, perfect balance.
The deliverable itself was super professional with own brand portal and everything you could ask for, including guidelines to AI agents on how to use the brand, fonts, etc.
Overall, very strong and very well designed process, with a great end-result. Exceptional value for money, and a result that perfectly captured what we wanted to do with the brand.
Will continue to work with him whenever possible."
Doppia"I hired Sofiane for my web app, he did an amazing job with the branding, I love that he understood the whole scope and adapted to my needs"
mykeep"I came for a logo but ended up with brand assets too. I had a few ideas in mind, and Sof did those, but also created a direction that was super fun and fit me very well, even I didn’t know I needed that. Recommended!"
Branded Words"Sofiane put a ton of care and effort into helping me rebrand my design studio. He was generous with his time, open to feedback, and genuinely invested in helping me find the right direction. His creative insight and advice gave me a much clearer vision for the brand. I’d recommend him to anyone looking for a thoughtful, dedicated designer who cares about their business."
oath.designBranded WordsBrand Identity, Motion
Branded Words
Brand identity · Content marketing for design studios
Branded Words turns what design studio founders know and do into X and LinkedIn posts that bring them clients. I’d known Liutauras, who runs it, for a while before we worked together.
The first directions were solid but too serious, and they didn’t sound like him. So I went back to the Collect and Locate steps and found what was missing: he knows how to mix serious work with a good joke.
The final brand stays professional, with his sense of fun built in, and since then his own clients have started complimenting it.
cachetBrand Identity, Motion, UI Elements
cachet
Brand identity · Sealed, verifiable agreements
cachet proves a shared file hasn’t been touched since it was delivered, and if it has, it shows exactly what was edited.
It needed to feel classic and reassuring, so it’s built on history: a wax seal mark, a serif with heritage, a warm vermilion.
I also designed animated pieces of the interface, so the product gets built from the brand in use, not from a blank screen.
RampartBrand Identity, Web Design
Rampart
Brand identity · Security monitoring that never blinks
Rampart is an AI agent that never blinks. It watches your infrastructure, defends it and strikes back on its own, so nobody has to sit in front of a dashboard. The style comes from gaming, a world its users already know well.
Everything is built on one pixel grid, from the rook in the logo to the battlements on the website.
Vilio.aiBrand Identity, Web Design
Vilio.ai
Brand identity · AI assistant you delegate to
Vilio.ai takes your busywork off your plate: inbox, calendar, CRM, follow-ups. It still gets done, you just don’t do it, and you choose whether Vilio sends things on its own or waits for your OK first.
The mark puts the whole idea in one shape: a V that’s also a check, for the task that’s done, and a bird, for the freedom you get back. It’s drawn on precise construction lines, in an orange called Ignition.
SomnBrand Identity, UI Design, Web Design
Somn
Brand identity · Sleep ritual app
Somn began as a drawing with no brief: a creature carrying a sun or a moon above its head. The day and night cycle pointed to sleep, so the brand became a sleep ritual app, named after Somnus, the Roman god of sleep.
It all runs on night and day: aubergine black, warm cream, amber gold for the sun, and glyphs drawn like the mark.
the CLEAR process
One process,
start to finish.
- 1
Collect
Right after you pay, you answer a detailed questionnaire about your product, your audience and where you want to go.
- 2
Locate
I study your answers and your competitors, then write the strategy every design decision comes from.
- 3
Explore
Moodboards, each one a different visual direction. You pick one before any logo is drawn.
- 4
Assemble
Logo concepts in that direction. You pick one, I refine it, then build the full system.
- 5
Release
Your guidelines go live on a private web page, with brand.md and all the files in every format.
"I had a few ideas in mind, and Sof did those, but also created a direction that was super fun and fit me very well."
Liutauras, Founder of Branded WordsPricing
Professional, without the agency price tag & faster.
One fixed price, no surprises. Pick one and tell me about your project.
Everything in Essential, plus:
- Strategy & competitor research
- 3 moodboards
- 3 logo concepts · 2 revisions
- Patterns & graphic language
- Complete web guidelines
- Launch kit & social assets
- Editable Figma toolkit
Custom
Want help with the whole launch? Brand, website, product, pitch deck. Tell me the goal and I'll scope it.
Custom
Let's talk- Illustrations
- Web design
- Web development
- Product design
- Product development
- Pitch deck
- Mockups
- Social media assets
- And more
You can select anything from this list. You can also send me an email to talk about your problem and I'll scope it.
"Exceptional value for money, and a result that perfectly captured what we wanted to do with the brand."
Peter Egehoved, Founder of DoppiaQuestions before you start? Send me a message.
Are AI logo generators any good?
They are fast and cheap, and what they produce is an average of the design already online. Most design online is mediocre, so that average lands below average. Fine as a placeholder while you build. For something going on a product for years, it usually gets redone.
Why do AI logos all look the same?
They are generated from the same training data and the same popular styles, so the model reaches for whatever is most common. Ask for a coffee shop logo and you get a cup with steam, like every other coffee shop. Being different from your competition is the one job a logo has, and it is the thing this approach handles worst.
How much does an AI logo generator cost?
Usually $20 to $100 for the files, sometimes a subscription. The cost people miss is the second one, because most founders redo the logo within a year and pay twice. My packages start at €899, so there is not much of an economic case for gambling on the cheap version first.
Can I start with an AI logo and upgrade later?
You can, but redoing it later usually costs more than starting right. There's rarely anything from an AI logo worth keeping once you're ready to invest properly.
Will a real designer's logo actually look that different from an AI one?
Yes. It's made with actual decisions behind it, not the average of everything a model has seen. People notice, even if they can't explain why.
How do I know if my AI-generated logo is legally safe to use?
Trademarking it is usually fine, that's not the risk. Copyright is: an AI generator's output on its own doesn't clear the human authorship bar, so you don't own the artwork the way you'd think. Worth knowing before you put it on everything.