The old advice “never use an AI logo, the text and vectors fall apart” is only half true as of June 2026. Two things changed: Recraft V4 (shipped February 2026) is the first mainstream image stack that exports real SVG, not a rasterized fake, and Ideogram 3.0 now renders wordmark typography at roughly 95% legibility. AI is still best as a direction-exploration tool — generating 20 concept marks is far faster than staring at a blank artboard — but the gap between “concept” and “usable asset” has narrowed. Below are 10 templates tuned for that exploration stage, plus which model to run each in.
TL;DR
- Use AI to explore direction, not to ship final brand files. Generate 15-20 marks, keep 2-3, then refine.
- Pick the model by job: Recraft V4 for clean vector marks/icons you can export as SVG, Ideogram 3.0 for anything with text (wordmarks), Midjourney v7 for mood and stylistic range, Google Nano Banana 2 if you just want the most free generations.
- Every prompt below names a use case, a shape bias, a 2-3 color cap, a background, and an aspect ratio. Those five levers control 90% of the output.
- Logos:
--ar 16:9or--ar 1:1. App icons:--ar 1:1, always.
Which model for which logo job (June 2026)
| Model | Best for | Free tier | Paid entry | Vector/SVG export |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recraft V4 | Clean vector marks, app icons, brand kits | 50 credits/day (personal, public images) | Basic $10/mo, 1,000 credits | Yes — true SVG |
| Ideogram 3.0 | Wordmarks, any text in the mark | 10 slow credits/week | Plus $15/mo (annual), 1,000 credits | No (raster) |
| Midjourney v7 | Style range, mascots, mood exploration | None | ~$10/mo Basic | No (raster) |
| Google Nano Banana 2 | Highest free volume for rough sketches | 20 images/day | — | No (raster) |
| GPT Image (ChatGPT) | Quick iterations alongside a chat | Free tier (tight limits) | Plus $20/mo | No (raster) |
If you only adopt one change from this article: run wordmark prompts in Ideogram 3.0 and vector-mark prompts in Recraft V4. Midjourney is gorgeous but still can’t spell, and it has no vector output.
What a high-quality exploration prompt should contain
Exploration prompts differ from delivery prompts. Include these six layers:
- Use case:
SaaS productivity logo/boutique coffee/esports team— sets the gestalt - Shape bias:
geometric mark/hand-drawn organic/monogram/mascot illustration - Palette cap: limit to 2-3 colors so the model doesn’t spam every hue
- Background:
white background/neutral cream— easier to lift afterwards - Variations:
4 design variations side-by-side/multiple weight variations - Aspect:
--ar 16:9for logos,--ar 1:1for app icons
The --ar flag is Midjourney syntax. In Recraft and Ideogram you pick the ratio from a dropdown instead, so drop --ar 16:9 from the prompt text and select 16:9 in the UI.
10 copy-ready prompt templates
1. SaaS productivity logo
Best for: B2B / productivity brand. Run in: Recraft V4 (vector).
Modern minimalist logo concept for a SaaS productivity app called "Flow", clean geometric mark combining a wave and a forward arrow, indigo and cyan palette, flat vector style, white background, multiple variations side-by-side, --ar 16:92. iOS app icon
Best for: App Store icon. Run in: Recraft V4 or Midjourney v7.
iOS-style app icon, rounded square, gradient lavender to magenta, central abstract letter "M" with depth, soft inner highlight, no text outside the icon, ultra-clean, --ar 1:13. Boutique coffee logo
Best for: Indie coffee shop, roastery. Run in: Midjourney v7 (hand-drawn feel).
Boutique coffee brand logo concept, hand-drawn organic line mark of a coffee bean and a sunrise, warm earthy palette, neutral cream background, 4 design variations on one sheet, --ar 16:94. Esports team logo
Best for: Gaming clan, esports brand. Run in: Midjourney v7 (mascot detail).
Esports team logo concept, sharp angular mascot illustration of a phoenix, bold red and black palette, modern gaming aesthetic, on white background, multiple angle variations, --ar 16:95. Tech startup wordmark
Best for: Hard-tech / SaaS branding. Run in: Ideogram 3.0 (text rendering).
Tech startup wordmark concept, custom sans-serif lettering for "Lumen", subtle ligature between letters, monochrome black on white, premium minimal aesthetic, multiple weight variations6. Fitness app icon
Best for: Sports / health apps. Run in: Recraft V4 (vector icon).
Fitness app icon, rounded square, gradient lime green to teal, central stylized running figure made of clean geometric shapes, soft inner glow, no text, --ar 1:17. Eco brand logo
Best for: Sustainable, organic food brands. Run in: Midjourney v7.
Eco brand logo concept, hand-drawn leaf merging with a water droplet, muted sage green palette, natural paper texture background, organic and modern, 4 variations, --ar 16:98. Kids education app icon
Best for: Kids content, edu apps. Run in: Recraft V4 or Midjourney v7.
Children's education app icon, rounded square, bright primary palette of yellow, red and blue, friendly cartoon owl mascot, soft drop shadow, --ar 1:19. Luxury monogram logo
Best for: High fashion / luxury. Run in: Ideogram 3.0 (letterforms) or Recraft V4.
Luxury fashion logo concept, elegant serif monogram of letters "AV", thin gold lines, deep black background, ultra-premium aesthetic, multiple monogram variations, --ar 16:910. Music streaming icon
Best for: Music / audio apps. Run in: Recraft V4 (vector).
Music streaming app icon, rounded square, deep purple gradient, central abstract waveform mark with white glow, modern flat aesthetic, no text, --ar 1:1Common mistakes
- Rendering text in the wrong model. Midjourney v7 and GPT Image still garble logotype. Put any wordmark prompt in Ideogram 3.0, where text legibility is roughly 95%.
- Shipping a raster as a logo. A PNG mascot at 1024px breaks the moment someone scales it to a billboard. Either generate in Recraft V4 (real SVG) or rebuild the chosen concept in Illustrator/Figma.
- No shape bias. Without
geometric markormascot illustration, direction wanders across every roll. - Too many metaphors in one mark.
a bird + a tree + a rooftopcollapses into mush. One idea per mark. - Forgetting
flat vector style. Omit it and the output arrives with perspective and fake 3D — unusable as a logo.
How to push results further
- Generate ~20 direction sketches, pick 2-3, then either export from Recraft V4 as SVG or hand the favorite to Illustrator for a clean vector rebuild.
- Modern look: add
flat vector style, clean geometric, modern minimal. - Handcrafted feel: add
hand-drawn organic line mark, slight imperfection. - For a brand system:
4 design variations on one sheet. - App icons:
iOS-style rounded squareorAndroid adaptive icon style. - Brand consistency across many assets: upload your locked logo to Recraft’s brand-style feature so later icons and banners stay on-family.
For the official prompt-format reference, see Midjourney’s parameter docs and Ideogram’s prompting guide.
FAQ
Q: Can I ship an AI logo directly to the App Store?
A: You can, but raster output (Midjourney, Ideogram, GPT Image) will alias and blur across icon sizes. The clean path as of June 2026 is to generate in Recraft V4 and export the SVG, or rebuild your chosen concept as vector in Figma/Illustrator. Then export the required icon set.
Q: My brand name keeps getting misspelled — fix?
A: Stop generating wordmarks in Midjourney or GPT Image; they still can’t spell reliably. Use Ideogram 3.0, which is purpose-trained for typography (~95% legibility). Or generate the symbol only in any model and set the wordmark in real vector type afterwards.
Q: Bilingual (Chinese + English) logo — how?
A: Explore the English wordmark in Ideogram 3.0. For the Chinese characters, hand-draw or rebuild in vector — even the best 2026 models still get CJK glyphs wrong far more often than Latin text, so don’t trust AI-rendered Chinese in a final mark.
Q: Which model should an indie dev with $0 budget use?
A: Google Nano Banana 2 gives the most free generations (20/day) for rough direction. For a vector you can actually export, Recraft’s free tier (50 credits/day, personal use, public images) is the better stop — just upgrade to the $10/mo Basic plan before using anything commercially.
Q: Designer says my AI exploration images look fine but aren’t usable — fix?
A: Filter before handing off. Drop anything with more than 3 colors, any perspective/3D, and any visible text. Hand over only clean, flat direction images, then let them rebuild as vector.