While no idea is 100% original these days, every business should take simple steps to ensure their logo is bespoke. 

Why?

Apart from the irritating discovery that your customers are mixing your logo up with somebody else's, there is also the risk that your logo belongs to a different company. Depending on this company's size, this could mean legal trouble for your business that unwittingly used a copyrighted design.

That's not to say you can't have a visually similar logo, as it's almost impossible to have something truly one of a kind when millions of designs are floating around the internet. But you can at least take steps to ensure that the logo design you bought is yours and yours only.

Avoid the headache of a forced rebrand when your customers are familiar with your logo. Here are some simple ways to check if your logo is authentic: 

Reverse image search on Google.

One great way to check if your design already exists is to use Google reverse image search. Google has recently changed its main image search option to Google Lens, allowing you to click on an image on a website and find more similar images. While this can help, it gives a somewhat limited range of information compared to Google's classic reverse image search. However, you can still install an extension such as Search By Image, which works much the same in your browser. This will allow you to select your chosen image, drop it into the search bar, and see if that image exists elsewhere.

Check stock images and portfolio sites.

Another way to find out if your logo might already exist is a little more time-consuming than a simple image search. But if your inner detective needs time to flex their muscles, manually looking through stock images can help you to find out if your logo design exists or belongs to another designer. Sites like 99Designs and Dribbble have thousands of logos created by designers. You can use the search bar using keywords that would describe your logo. For example, "Leaf logo" will show you a vast range of logo designs that you can search through.

How was your logo provided?

This one requires hindsight for business owners who have had their logo for a while. But it's also beneficial for anybody working with a designer on their branding. Did your designer provide you with concepts before the final logo was approved? First concepts are usually a little rough around the edges, which is a good thing. It usually means the designer sketched the designs based on your brief. Overly polished concepts without initial sketches or concepts that don't fit your brief yet look extremely polished have a good chance of being a stock image. A professional logo designer rarely uses stock images in their concepts without explicitly telling you. If you're unsure if the ideas you have received are original, you can always reverse image search the images they send you.

Avoid a copyright issue and the extra time, cost, and stress by hiring a designer who creates original logo designs. A custom-made logo design might seem like an unnecessary luxury for a new business, but it's a wise investment in the long run.

If you're considering a new logo for your business or thinking of a rebrand, we'd love to help. Fill out the form below, and we will be in touch! The team at Jason Hunter Design ensures every logo is created from scratch because we want our clients to start on the right foot with branding that stands the test of time.