If you’re launching a business, especially an e-commerce business run from a website, you know the importance of creating a dynamic design. This is particularly true when it comes to your branding elements. The visual brand you create for your online presence tells the world who you are and sets the tone for the customer’s experience.
You need to create branding elements, and especially a logo, that will grab people’s attention, accurately reflect what you have to offer, establish your credibility and distinguish you from the competition. That’s a tall order, isn’t it? Fortunately, you don’t have to create your visual design on your own. Technology is advancing, and there are more tools than ever to support your design effort.
Artificial intelligence is at the forefront of today’s design tools. AI makes it possible for individual entrepreneurs to create their own designs without having to call in a professional. If you’re wondering where to get started, here are five AI tools that you really ought to check out.
1 Designs.ai
Designs.ai is an AI visual design tool that creates visual branding content. Its Logomaker generates brand-building logos. Of all the visual design elements, logos are perhaps the most central. Nothing more effectively makes customers think of a brand than a memorable logo.
The logo maker is easy to use, even for someone with no experience in design. Just enter some brand information and logo preferences, and the Designs.ai Logomaker draws on its library of over 10,000 icons to present samples. You can then customize one that you like and export it along with a full brand identity kit.
Logos come in multiple formats and are suitable for social media posts, business cards and placement on products. The visual quality is impressive, although maybe not quite what you’d get with a custom design.
The Design.ai tool suite includes Colormaker and Font Pairer and offers smart suggestions for typography and color choices. The tool can help you produce videos, banners, ads and flyers.
2 Tailor Brands
Tailor Brands offers a suite of tools designed to help a new business owner effectively launch their venture with a professional look. These tools can help you design your website and even choose and register your domain name. Perhaps their most popular tool is their AI-based Logo Maker.
You start by specifying your company name and line of business and then describe in a few words what your operation does. You choose a logo style that reflects your business and reinforce that by selecting some fonts. In less than a minute, the generator offers you a selection of logos. You pick one and optionally modify the icons, fonts and colors.
Logos are downloadable in a variety of formats so that they work on your website, email, social media posts, business cards, brochures and even on merchandise.
The Logo Maker AI serves as a sort of virtual in-house design consultant. Some users will find there aren’t as many customization options as they’d like. However, there are components such as color palette and tagline that can be edited after you make the purchase.
3 Brandmark.io
Brandmark.io is strictly a logo maker. That’s not particularly limiting, considering that a logo is the graphic design element you can feature on business cards, app icons, social media and letterheads as well as on your website. Brandmark’s claim to fame is that they offer free customization and also provide chat-based consulting for personalized suggestions and help during the process.
You start with your brand name and a slogan. Then you enter some keywords (Brandmark will suggest some). You pick a color or color combination, and Brandmark generates sample logos. You can pick logos from the list and save, edit or purchase them. You can also ask for variations on what the AI has given you.
The website and logo maker are easy to use and navigate, and the customized help is a bonus. However, there are tools that offer more graphics and customization options, and, unlike some other logo makers, Brandmark does not offer a branding kit.
4 Khroma.co
The focus of Khroma is colors. It uses AI to learn your own color preferences and make suggestions based on what you like. Color drives the emotion of a website visitor’s experience, and a great color combination will bring users in and make them want to come back. As a designer, you can express yourself more effectively when the colors are the ones that resonate with you.
You start by selecting 50 or more colors from a list of samples. That seems like a lot, but it means you’re unlikely to exclude a color unless you truly dislike it. The AI takes your selections and presents you with a list of color pairs, typically a font on a background. You can save, edit or ask for more variations. You can also enhance your color selection by uploading images.
Khroma in many ways acts as an extension of your own color sensibility. There are so many variables you can tweak – hue, tint value, rgb – that it’s possible to be overwhelmed by the choices.
5 Wix
Some new business owners want a single AI tool that will do it all. If that’s you, then Wix deserves a look. Wix is a complete, feature-packed website design tool that will take your internet presence from concept to publication and manage it during its entire lifespan.
Wix offers as much freedom or support as you want. You can choose from over 500 website templates or build one from scratch. The drag and drop website builder is powerful and intuitive. There’s extensive functionality available in third-party add-ons. There’s a lot of help, both from Wix itself and its user community, to answer questions and guide you through the process. Wix produces websites that are fast and responsive.
And, yes, Wix does include a logo maker.
The biggest complaint about Wix is that it’s heavily proprietary. If you later decide to use a different website platform, you can’t export from Wix. You’ll have to continue using Wix or start building all over again.
Make AI Your Design Assistant
If you don’t know where to start with your design, there’s no reason to stare with frustration at your blank screen. AI design tools can help you get started and serve as your counselor all through the process. If you’ve been stumped, don’t wait any longer. Grab one of these five tools (or another from the wide selection in the AI marketplace) and see how far some help from AI can take you.