DIY is an acronym that is starting to infiltrate everyone’s lives – from do-it-yourself For Dummies books to the DIY network cable station – everyone is taking on their own projects. This has even leaked into marketing, and specifically logo design, which is what this article is about.

For the DIY business owner, there are plenty of reasons to take on the task of designing your own logo. It is a very important part of your branding strategy – you will use your logo when business card printing and on your packaging as well as all of your advertising materials. Obviously, the biggest reason is the money savings. But that is not the only reason. Read on to find out five more reasons to design your own logo:

Who knows you, baby?

Your brand represents your business’s personality. It is all about you and how you interpret and envision your company; not someone else’s vision. When you hire a designer to create your logo, you have to explain everything about your brand – its history, benefits, competition, audience – everything you can think of so that the designer understands you and your brand. The designer’s interpretation of what you tell her could drastically differ from what you had in mind.

What is more, there are plenty of DIY Web sites and software that make it easy for you to create your own design. For instance, AAA-logo.com has logo creating software that you can download for $59. You do not even have to go out and buy it – you can download it and start designing in no time. Another great logo design software is The Logo Creator, which touts itself as the #1 best selling logo design software (www.thelogocreator.com). There are a ton of options on the Web and at your local electronics store.

You have to make all the decisions anyway. If you hire someone, you have to say “yay” or “nay” to each design idea. You have to clarify what you want and what you meant by “make it brighter.” I am sure your brand has many qualities that you would like your logo to convey to prospects. Only you know what will get that message across.

You can save time. When working with a designer, you have to wait for that person to draw up a few designs, then tweak them, get feedback from you and tweak a little more and … on and on it can go. When working with yourself, you are on your own schedule and you don’t have to worry about someone else’s schedule.

Designers may focus on creativity rather than utility. Designers are typically hired to make your materials look professional and creative. They do not generally work in the mindset of whether their design will actually work for you. Most graphic design awards are based on creativity, not how much money was made because of them. Some designers may have very cool ideas and could overdesign – making your logo look like a big pile of colors and shapes that have no meaning. You know what result you want from your logo and you will have no problem keeping that result in mind as you design.

You can be proud of yourself and your design. You will just plain feel good about yourself once you create a great logo. You have created something that works well for your needs and encompasses your brand perfectly because you created it.

If nothing else, you should at least try to design your own logo before handing over the reins to a professional designer. Who knows – you might surprise yourself!

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