// from sketch to screen
You have your concept. Now it's time to build it digitally. Professional designers use tools like Adobe Illustrator — but for beginners, Canva and Adobe Firefly are free, powerful, and require no prior experience.
This lesson walks you through both tools so you can choose the right one for your workflow.
Canva — browser-based design tool. Free tier is generous. Best for combination marks, wordmarks, and layouts. Go to canva.com and create a free account.
// building in canva
Start a new design. Choose "Logo" from the template options — this gives you a square canvas at the right size. Delete any template elements you don't want.
Step 1 — Add your text. Type your brand name. Choose your font from Lesson 3. Adjust size, weight, and letter-spacing.
Step 2 — Add your icon. Search Canva's element library for shapes or icons that match your sketch. Or upload your own sketch photo and trace over it.
Step 3 — Apply your colour palette from Lesson 2. Keep it to one or two colours.
Step 4 — Adjust spacing and alignment. Everything should feel intentional — nothing randomly placed.
→ Hold Shift while resizing to keep proportions locked
→ Use the alignment tools to centre elements precisely
→ Group your icon and text so they move together
→ Test on a white background AND a dark background
// using adobe firefly
Adobe Firefly (firefly.adobe.com) is an AI image generator built for commercial use. You can use it to generate icon concepts based on text prompts — then bring those into Canva as a starting point.
Try prompts like: "minimal flat icon of a mountain, single colour, white background, logo style" or "abstract geometric mark representing speed, dark background, purple".
Important: Firefly-generated images are safe for commercial use — Adobe has licensed the training data. This makes it different from many other AI image tools. Always check licensing before using AI-generated assets commercially.
Open Canva. Create a new Logo design. Build a first version of your logo using your sketch from Lesson 4 as a reference. Don't aim for perfect — aim for done. A finished rough version is worth more than an unfinished perfect one. Save it as a PNG with a transparent background.