For as long as I’ve been a graphic designer, I have been attracted to logos that have “rough around the edges” quality to them. In this digital day and age, there are a lot of sleek and shinny looking logos out there. They look clean, crisp, and vector-perfect. But when I see a few little rough gems of handmade looking logos, it reminds me that to create great logos I don’t always have to go straight to my computer to make it look flawless. Some times, it is the imperfection that makes a logo perfect.
 
Back in the days when I was still in art school, computers were still a luxury to own. As a graphic design student, I had to create print-ready artwork for logos on the giant stat camera (yes, I once knew how to operate it). I probably have revealed my age here. Oh well. My design professors always encouraged us to explore non-digital ways to create logos. It was partly because they themselves had been creating great work without computers. Their advice stuck with me. I’m glad that some of the logos I handcrafted found accolades.
 

 
There are many designers that I admire who are still using low-tech methods to design great logos for their clients. The following are 30 logos I love that were created using masking tapes, ballpoint pen, markers, watercolor, collage, and even a twig. Hopefully their work will inspire you also to consider going low-tech from time to time before reaching straight for your mouse or Wacom tablet.
 
AIDS National Quality Center – Felix Sockwell   |   The Fray (Band Logo) – Alphabet Arm

 
Black Coffee Brand Expression – Mark Gallagher   |   Crema Cafe – Sharon Werner

 
InSpira Performing Arts – Nick Schmitz   |   Sufjan Stevens – Dennis Erickson

 
Design & Thread – Desiree Yanes   |   Mistina Picciano – Larissa Nycz

 
Escape Plan – James Strange   |   Laughing Stock – Steve DeCusatis

 
Sommese Design – Sommese Design   |   Beulah’s Freckled Pig Barbecue Sauce – Sommese Design

 
Brew Nerds Coffee – Mitre Agency   |   Sweet Dreams Bakery – Steve DeCusatis

 
Crow Antiques – Lesa Cook   |   Cheetah Valley – Sharon Werner & Sarah Nelson

 
Friends of Sumatra – John Fischbach   |   Toad Print – Mike Erickson

 
VegeTherapy – Jakub Jankowiak   |   Pas Pas – Lucia Castro

 
Kaelson Landscaping – Felix Sockwell   |   Inspiration – Werner Design Werks

 
Mission Blend Coffee – James Strange   |   The Chase Group – Michael Pagliuco

 
Mystic Gardens – Jake Lefebure   |   Pinnochio – Thomas Seifert

 
Orange Spa – Hirshorn Zuckerman Design Group   |   Rucksack Backpack Online Shop – Vladmir Lifanov

 
Santo – Quique Ollervides   |   Unpugged – Michael Spitz

 
There are many more rough diamonds out there, I’m sure. So if you found great logos that should fit right in, feel free to add the links to those on the comment box. Thanks for reading!

This year a lot of good things had happened to Green Ink Studio. One of them is that 5 of the logos I have designed got chosen by the prestigious LogoLounge to be published in 3 of their books.
 
I was very happy when I first found out about the first one, a logo I did for Cavalry Insurance, was going to be published in their Master Library Series: Animal & Mythology. Several months after that news, I got another email stating that 3 logos of mine will be published in LogoLounge Volume 6. Randall Museum logo, one of my favorites, is a logo for a hands-on natural science children museum in San Francisco. The other two are a logo proposal for Minority Recruit (the client chose another option), and a concept logo for a juice bar called Red Bike. Lastly, I received a notification that another concept logo I did, Square Balloons, is going to be published in the Master Library: Shapes & Symbols.
 
Like I said, it’s been a thrilling year for Green Ink Studio. I hope it’s going to get even better from here.