When starting a new company on a limited budget, it’s natural to cut costs as many ways as you can. There are lots of inexpensive royalty-free art/illustration websites out there that are tempting to use as a source of cheap logo art. But I don’t recommend you do so, and here’s why. First off, because it’s royalty-free, anyone and their grandma has the right to buy the same art as you, meaning that the chances of you ending up with a similar logo to someone else are higher than average. That would be like two starlets showing up at a swank party in the same dress. Never cool and always cause for catfight. But seriously—avoid it because it decreases your originality in the marketplace, and if your company has a look that’s very similar to someone else’s, that’s confusing, right? You want to avoid confusingly similar branding as much as possible.
Secondly, you may not be able to trademark a logo that was created using royalty-free art without getting the proper commercial license from the original artist or art service. Which can cost you extra money that you didn’t initially anticipate spending.
My advice: spend your money wisely on a custom, original logo treatment, and increase your brand’s originality and value. Sound good?
