Exploring ways to get a Logo created for your new restaurant? Confused among all options and high costs? Here I review two affordable and easy to use ways to get your restaurant logo designed beautifully.

As a restaurant marketing consultant, I have helped create powerful logos for successful restaurants. Now I will help you to get your perfect logo designed today.

Begin with Restaurant Name & Brand Positioning

Name Your Restaurant

You will need two important elements to create your best restaurant logo; your restaurant name and branding position.

Don’t worry I will break it down (in simple terms ) exactly what a branding position is, how to create one for your restaurant plus how to use it to attract diners to your eatery. 

If you have not already named your restaurant then check out both of my resources:

>>Guide on How to Name Your Restaurant

>>List of Restaurant Name Ideas with Examples by Cuisine

Here are some quick tips on how to name your restaurant effectively:

• Cuisine type – Are you serving Mexican food or BBQ? 
• Geographic Location – Dishing out in Los Angeles or New York?
• Target Customers – Cooking for adults, teens, or children, busy singles or large families?
• Competition – What are the existing restaurants and eateries in your area?
• Point of Difference – Why should people eat at your restaurant and not your competitors?

Now go and create your best restaurant name and come back here to learn how to create a powerful logo to make your name shine.  

Create Your Branding Position

Now, I will show how to create a brand position that attracts your best customers in 2 easy steps. You will also learn what brand positioning is, why it is important, and how to use this vital information to design your strongest restaurant logo. 

Please don’t get intimidated by the word Brand Positioning. It simply means – What do you want people to think when they hear your restaurant name and see your logo?  

Do you want them to think about gourmet food served in an elegant decor or value-priced family meals with fast service for take out? 

Steps to Discover Your Brand Position

Step 1 – Your Restaurant Difference vs Competitors

What “position” do you want to claim a stake to in your customer’s minds as opposed to your competitors? Is your place more gourmet, less expensive, hipper, serving more authentic ethnic cuisine?  This answer is part 1 of your brand position.  

Step 2 – How You Want Customers to Identify Your Restaurant

What qualities do you want your customers to think of when your restaurant comes to mind? Are you serving family-style, is your place romantic, is your food fast food for takeout? This is part 2 of your brand position.  

Example of Actual Restaurant Branding Position & Logo Design

Here is a quick example of a branding position for a new steakhouse and how to use this info to begin the logo design process:

Brand Position: A chic, hip city (Sante Fee, New Mexico) steak house that serves the trendiest meat-based dishes to businessmen and couples aged 35+.  The restaurant is named Prime Palace.

Logo Direction: Use hip, trendy fonts with classic colors that will appeal to people over 35, who are sophisticated diners living, working, and visiting the metropolitan area. 

Best Options for Restaurant Logo Design

#1 DIY Online Logo Maker – Tailor Brands Design Studio

Overview Description:

A free and easy way to make a good restaurant logo yourself online in 2 minutes with this online logo maker.

This design tool link is powered by AI Artificial Intelligence and also most helpfully features restaurant-specific designs. Read my comprehensive review of Tailor Brands here.

Plus there are low-cost upgrade options available for different file formats, design studio software, and social media post creation – which are all perfectly coordinated thanks to AI.

Best for:

Cash-strapped entrepreneurs who need a logo right away and are comfortable using online tools such as logo makers. 

Ideal for restauranters who want to take care of their company graphic design needs by utilizing the powerful DIY brand-building tools in Tailor Design Studio.

My restaurant owner clients appreciate how easily the AI software creates perfectly coordinated marketing materials including websites, merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, bags) business cards, stationery, brochures, and social media posts. 

It works by automatically creating your own unique branded template, while you design your logo. This template is then installed in the design studio tools so that all your future projects are perfectly coordinated. 

My entrepreneurial clients love that Tailor Brands is a one-stop-shop for DIY design AND merchandise production with easy online ordering. 

Cost:

FREE $0 for logo creation using the logo maker link.

Once you create a logo you love you can elect for an affordable upgrade.

Then you can by a few clicks create (and get printed/produced) perfectly branded items including business cards, t-shirts, and social media posts (save 20% on all items with our exclusive reader coupon code here) 

Delivery Time:

In as little as 2 minutes you can create, download, and use your logo design. Boom! The average time to add your personal customizations is 15 minutes.  Plus, you can come back at any time and modify your designs.

Ease of Use: 

Easiest to use. The online restaurant logo maker quickly generates logo designs. Also, the studio dashboard is well designed for intuitive usage. Plus the pre-loaded fonts and coordinated color palettes are accessed with one click.  

Pros & Cons for Tailor Brands

Pros

• Designed for beginner entrepreneurs – Easy to use and no design talent needed
• AI-generated logos are good looking and unique
• Logo maker has specific restaurant styles available
• A full suite of branding tools is a one-stop-shop from logo to website, social media, menus, and business cards. 
• Perfectly coordinated branded elements due to the custom-created brand template 
• One-stop-shop where you can design AND print business cards, t-shirts, and more – saving time and money. 

Cons

• Not designed by human graphic artists with professional art training
• You need to do the work yourself to create your logo and download files
• Slightly limited on customization because it is not a human designer  >>NOTE: If you prefer to review hundreds of different logo designs from lots of real human designers then your best choice is  option #2 – 99designs logo contest – reviewed below

Example Restaurant Logo Designs by Tailor Brands

#2 Crowdsourcing Logo Design Contest  – 99designs

Overview Description:

You can use the power of a million graphic artists by launching a logo design contest on 99designs. (I did and love my brand new look – read about my experience here link) 

Designers from around the world will create hundreds of unique logo designs from which can modify and select your favorite.

For a low price (save $99 with our exclusive 99designs coupon code here ) you get tons of quality choices that you are guaranteed to love. Yes, guaranteed! Read more about 99designs generous and flexible guarantee here

Best for:

Well suited to entrepreneurs who want a large selection of logo concepts from which to choose and have a few weeks in their schedule to get their restaurant logo made. 

Also good for the undecided who are not exactly sure of the look they want.  By receiving loads of logo submission ideas you are sure to find ones you like. 

Cost: 

The lowest cost option starts at $299 PLUS SAVE $99 with our exclusive discount code here and for only a few hundred bucks you will get a ton of interesting and unique logo designs for your new restaurant.

Costs for higher levels of design contests range from $499-$1,299. These upgraded packages offer top-level designers, a dedicated project manager, and prioritized support.

Read my 99designs comparison pricing article here

Delivery Time:

Typically within 48 hours, you will begin to receive logo ideas. My 99designs logo contest experience was that within 3-4 days I got over 100 submissions for review, feedback, and modification.

I got my perfect new logo within 7 days. Also know that you can take longer to review your design submissions if you would like. 

Ease of Use:

Moderately easy to use. You will need to complete a logo design brief. This should take about 15 minutes. Here are my tips on how to create a super-effective design brief for the best results.

You simply click on a few logos that you like, answer some simple questions and give a little background about your restaurant.

You can also upload or send links of logo styles you like. Once designers submit logo ideas you will need to give helpful feedback to best personalize designs to your aesthetics. 

Pros and Cons for 99designs

Pros

Affordability --  costs less than hiring a freelance graphic designer and you get multiple logo design ideas for one fixed price

Guaranteed – 99designs says Love your New Look Guaranteed – and they mean it. Thus, launching a design contest for your restaurant logo is essentially risk-free 

They have a very generous guarantee program of up to 60 days after the closing of the project – unlike the other design alternatives link. Read more about 99designs guarantee in my article here link.

Choice – You get a large selection of good logo designs to choose from – even at the lowest price packages (I got over 100 in my contest read about my experience here link). This is an ideal way to brainstorm brand concepts.

Easy Design Brief – the online interface is intuitive and well designed for ease of use from the point and click for design briefs, smooth ordering process, and simple dashboard for designer feedback and communication. 

Polling – This feature allows you to select your shortlist of choices and create an interactive poll. Send it to your customers, partners, employees, or post on social media for people to vote on their favorite logo design.  A helpful and inexpensive method for conducting market research via a mini-focus group for your logo choices. 

Fast – Usually within 48 hours you will begin to receive custom-designed images for your restaurant logo.

Cons

Online  – Because you are not hiring a local graphic designer you cannot easily meet in-person. But you can use the integrated message board for communication or use Skype or Zoom for digital meetings with 99designs artists.  

Time – You will need to invest time in completing the design brief (would be as little as 15 minutes) and more time to send helpful design feedback and review modifications.  

Communication – Due to the international mix of 99designers there can be slight communication disadvantages due to differences in languages and cultural references. You should clarify your requests simply so that Google Translate will convey your messages’ meanings correctly.

I recommend that you use more visual elements in your communications such as screenshots, Pinterest boards, and reference URLs. 

Examples of Restaurant Logos from 99 Designs Logo Contests

Review of Good and Bad Logos

What makes a restaurant logo good? Or bad?

Before you decide where to get your logo made you must know what makes a restaurant logo good or bad so you can properly evaluate your design choices.  

Let me show you – with real life examples – what makes a restaurant logo good or bad.

Good Restaurant Logo Examples 

• Visually Attractive – Look good and are pleasing to the eye of your target customer (remember brand positioning discussed above link)
• Easy to understand – Communicates your restaurant offerings 
• Related to your restaurant concept 
• Readable – In both large and small versions  
• Good fit for usage – Correct logo type for digital (icon-based) personal branding (name-based) Read more about logo types here link
• Interesting  – Attracts customers who want to learn more about your menu
• Unique – Different from other businesses logos

Bad Restaurant Logos Examples 

• Ugly – Visually repellent turning away customers – the exact opposite of your goal
• Weird – Strange fonts, images, and words will not build strong brands
• Hard to read and understand
• Boring and generic – quickly forgettable in your diner’s minds. 

Logo Design: Types, Color & Shapes  

Great logos are the best combination of the right type of logo for your usage painted in powerful color combinations creating impactful brand images.

Keep reading to learn about the best logo types and color combinations for your restaurant branding. 

Different Logo Types & Best Usage

Now that you know what makes a logo good or bad (which you learned above link) let’s explore different logo types and how shapes and colors affect the effectiveness of images conveying brand messaging.

Logos come in different types – designed for specific uses:

Icon based – An easy to remember shape is the central element of the logo design.

Best Uses – This logo type works well for online usage in – social media and apps.

Examples of icon based logos

Name-based – Your company name (or personal name) is the key element of this logo design type. 

Best  Uses – Restaurants named for the owner/chef for personal branding. 

Initial based – Initials are the main element of your logo design – a form of a monogram. Interesting fonts create designs using the letters of your initials. (Learn more about if you should use your name for your business name in my article here link)  

Best Uses – Works well online because it small and can fit on mobile screens well. I recommend that you add a tagline (or slogan), explaining your menu offerings. Compare these restaurant names; XYZ or XYZ, The last word on fine steaks in NYC. 

NOTE: I like the logotype options (icon, name, and initial based) in the restaurant logo maker at Tailor Brands which makes it easy to pick the right type for your usage and build your best logo in minutes.

How to Choose Color Palettes for Restaurant Logos 

Your brand’s personality shines through your chosen color palette. 

Is your restaurant vibe a cozy shade of russet brown or a chic and trendy silver?

Rules for Best Color Combinations for Restaurant Logos

Stick to a Limited Number of Colors

Firstly, the best color combinations for your restaurant branding are simple. Two or at most three color combinations are most compelling. 

In fact, many of the best-branded restaurants use only one color – think Starbucks Green or McDonald’s red.  Check out this video about why most famous restaurant logos use one color

Contrasting Colors Stand Out 

Two-color logos are popular across all industries. That’s because two-color combinations effectively use contrast which is eye-catching and attractive.  

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