Creating a logo for a dental clinic

I build a good many websites for dental clinics, and naturally, when clients send over their materials for the site, a logo comes along with them. Sometimes it's plain to see that the logo is dated, and would look archaic set against a modern website.

The clinic's logo plays a genuinely important role — it appears fairly often, showing up three to five times on every page. I work it into page dividers, and sometimes give it a touch of movement to catch the eye. Repeating the logo this consistently, I find, builds memorability and lends the clinic a real sense of stature.

So, whenever we're faced with an obviously outdated logo — one knocked together in a hurry, years ago, perhaps by a relative — a new website becomes the perfect excuse to finally update your dental clinic's logo too.

There are two routes you can take.

The artist route is worth trying if you have some time to spare, and already know a designer whose logos you've admired.

The best platform in the world for finding artists was, is, and remains Behance.

Before I found my way into dentistry, I worked in clothing, and spent a great deal of time studying drawings, photography, painting, design and logos on this very portal. It showcases some of the finest work from all over the world — a genuine feast for the eyes. Take a look yourself, even setting dentistry aside entirely; it's thoroughly impressive.

Dental clinic logos do feature on the portal too, of course, though they're rarely as striking as work in other artistic styles.

Alongside the photographs, vector logo templates are sold there too. You can browse hundreds of designs, pick out the one you like, and build a new logo for your clinic on that foundation. I do exactly this every time a client sends me an outdated logo — I put together a couple of options I think suit their style, and show them to the client. Let's walk through this route together, look at some examples, and talk it through.

In the search bar, specify what you're looking for and select the vector file format. This format allows the image to be edited in design software — it isn't a static picture, but a set of vector lines that can be adapted: changing the colour, removing unwanted elements, and adding your clinic's name.

On shutterstock.com you'll find hundreds of logo options — pick out three to five that catch your eye.

Note down the image numbers, then simply purchase them directly through Shutterstock using a standard card.

You'll receive the files immediately, and these will form the basis of your new logo.

I bought five images I liked, and used them as the basis for a logo for the (entirely fictional) practice of Dr Petrov. You can see the source material below, and what it transforms into.

Working with these files requires CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator — specialist software for artists and designers that you almost certainly won't have, and there's no need to download it and puzzle it out yourself. It's far easier, and cheaper, to find a freelancer on a freelance platform, hand them the files, and tell them what wording should sit alongside the artwork.

The designer's job is to place your clinic name harmoniously alongside the artwork and choose a beautiful typeface. Give them some direction: do you want a modern, minimalist sans-serif, or, alternatively, something handwritten that reflects the dentist's own personality? And, of course, give them your clinic's colour palette — classic clinical cool blues and metallics, or something warmer and more distinguished, browns with gold.

I have some genuinely excellent ready-made dental website projects that will exceed your expectations. They contain everything you'd want to see on your own site, and a great deal more that you don't yet know you want. And if you've got the drive and ambition for it, you can choose the very best ready-made website project and quickly build the finest website in your city.

As far as I understand it, you generally cannot register a trademark using an image purchased from Shutterstock — trademark offices typically accept only genuinely unique images for registration, and appear to have the means to verify this. So if you want proper legal protection for your logo and name, once you've gone through the quick stage of creating it, you'll need an artist to make some changes — personalising it, modifying it slightly, so that it becomes genuinely unique. That's naturally a good deal easier than developing a logo from scratch with an artist in the first place.

I've registered a trademark myself, albeit in a different field, with the help of specialist trademark lawyers. It isn't expensive, and it isn't difficult. If you decide you'd like to protect your clinic's name from being copied, write to me and I'll pass on the contacts of people who can help.

Frankly, this is a waste of time. The results are poor across the board — ugly, uninspired, forgettable. No amount of tweaking afterwards, nor however detailed your brief, will rescue them. Treat these tools as nothing more than a toy: try one or two, be suitably horrified, and quietly thank a living artist all over again for their creativity.

I had the patience to test seven such services, and not one of them came anywhere near an acceptable standard of design.

Using artificial intelligence to create a logo, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely. I've only just started testing the Raphael AI service, and it's already produced perfectly serviceable sketches that can be developed further.

I asked it to design a logo for a dental clinic in London.