Turn a napkin doodle into a real vector logo

Doodle it and write notes around it

Draw the idea as simply as you can: the letters, the main shape, where the name goes. Then write two or three notes next to it in plain words. In the reel the notes were things like "AK monogram? bold, geometric", "fox mascot for the coffee bags" and "round badge, stamp feel".

Notes matter more than drawing skill. Claude reads them as the brief. Photograph the sketch straight on in good light.

AK monogram

Round badge

Give Claude the photo and a short brief

Tell Claude the brand name exactly as it should be spelt, what the business does in one line, and any colours you already have. Ask for SVG built from simple geometry, not a picture.

In claude.ai ask for an artifact so you can see it straight away. In Claude Code, ask it to write the files into a folder.

Here is a photo of my logo sketch. Build it as a clean vector logo in SVG code, not an image. Brand name: [NAME]. What we do: [ONE LINE]. Colours: [COLOURS or "you choose"]. Use simple geometry (circles, straight lines, one or two curves), build any letters as thick strokes, and lock it up with the name underneath and a small uppercase descriptor. Show it in an artifact with a colour and a one-colour version side by side. Before you draw, tell me what you read in the sketch and ask me anything you can't read.

Answer its questions

Claude should tell you what it read (the letters, the shapes, your notes) and ask only about what it can't see, such as the full name or the colours. If it misread a letter, correct it now. It is quicker than fixing the drawing later.

Check it small and in one colour

A logo has to work on a stamp and as a tiny profile picture. Ask to see it at 32 pixels and in black only. If it falls apart in one colour, the shapes need fixing, not the colours.

Show the logo at 32 px and at 16 px, and the one-colour version on white and on black. Tell me which details disappear at small sizes and fix them: thicken any stroke that gets lost and simplify anything that turns to mush.

Change it with numbers, not adjectives

Because the logo is code, every part is a number: stroke width, corner radius, letter spacing, colour. Ask for specific changes and you get exactly that change and nothing else. "Make it pop" gets you a guess; "thicker strokes and tighter spacing on the name" gets you a fix.

If you can't decide, ask for two or three versions that differ in one thing each, for example with and without the ring.

Keep everything else the same and change only this: make the letter strokes about 20% thicker, tighten the spacing on the brand name, and use [HEX] for the accent. Then show the before and after side by side.

Export the files

You want the SVG (the master), a one-colour SVG, and PNGs for everyday use. In claude.ai, ask for download buttons on the artifact. In Claude Code, Claude can save the SVGs and render the PNGs with a headless browser.

If it is an app icon, export a 1024 × 1024 square with no rounded corners and no transparency. The App Store and Google Play add the rounded mask themselves.

Add download buttons to the artifact: logo.svg, logo-mono.svg, and PNGs at 1024 and 2048 px with a transparent background. Embed the fonts in the SVG so the name looks right when I open the file elsewhere.

Check the name before you use it

Claude builds you a starting logo, not legal clearance. Before you print it on anything, search your country's trademark register (UK IPO, USPTO or EUIPO) for the name and anything that looks similar.