After I launched Logoipsum Editor on March 1st, 2025, I know that this will end up being monetized, but I also know that I need to keep the Logoipsum's "free to access" spirit. Hassle free, get things as quick and as effective as possible, those spirits.
Currently other than ad, there's no actual form of direct monetization in Logoipsum. So I started working on Editor+. The idea was simple: bringing the ability for user to extend and add more "power" to the current Editor (hence the name Editor "Plus"), through optional add-ons like fonts, logograms, and maybe more types of add-on later down the road. All while keeping the core Editor open and free to access to anyone.
The model
At first, I thought about using a subscription model. But after thinking it through, I realized it didn’t make much sense. Logoipsum isn't something people use every day. People might regularly visit and copying/dowloading the logos from it everyday, but it's not really a critical, day-to-day needs. A subscription feels too heavy for what it is. So I decided to go with one-time payments. Pay once, get what you need. Done. Pretty much still inline with Logoipsum's spirit.
For the first add-ons, I released a small set of custom fonts. Each add-on has two options:
- Use in the Editor only
- Use in the Editor AND download the font file
Little intermezzo, since the early days of Logoipsum development, I’ve been using f5bot, a free service that emails you when selected keywords we set shows up on Reddit, Hacker News, or Lobsters. I set it to monitor the keyword “Logoipsum.” Every once in a while, I’d get a notification email. One occasion was a Reddit post of a user asking, “What font is this?” while attaching a screenshot of a Logoipsum's logo. That caught my attention.
That’s when I decided to add a small feature: showing the font name used in each logo on the site. And now with Editor+, I’m doubling down on that idea. Some of the custom fonts I originally created just for my personal projects and Logoipsum logos, will available as custom fonts that people can actually use. So next time you see one of the logo on Logoipsum that's written "Custom" on their details info, it might likely available in one of the Editor+ add-on.
Font delivery
Delivering the fonts securely from backend to frontend is not as simple as it sounds, and figuring it out to work properly took longer than I expected. I had to deal with signed URLs, CORS, headers, all of those stuff that I knew conceptually but never really get my hand dirty on them, and also orchestrating those things with internal logic like user credential and data. It was a mess at first. Eventually I got it to work, with a lot of trial and error (and a good chunk of help from ChatGPT).
For the font download feature, things were a bit smoother. Since I’m using Polar (more on this in a second), protecting the download is pretty straightforward. Polar will send email to the user, but I want it to work programmatically on the frontend, and it's pretty easy. Just check the user session, get the signed URL, deliver it to the user, and done. Easy peasy, lemo... rrrhh Polar.
Payments
Payments were another story. I originally planned to use Lemon Squeezy. I’m already quite familiar with their APIs, webhook events, etc, and it supports PayPal. Not backed by data, but I still think that PayPal is preferable in majority parts of the world.
One thing that makes me concern though, there's a banner in Lemon Squeezy that says store approval will take longer time, and I don't know how long it will take, could be forever. So while waiting for my store to get approval, I started playing with Polar. It was new to me, but I liked how it worked, and try to implement it further. And of course, the day after I finish integrated it, Lemon Squeezy approved my store. Classic.
Anyway, I’m sticking with Polar for now. If things happen along the way (and more people want PayPal), I guess switching won’t be too hard.
Logoipsum Editor+ is coming soon. Join the waitlist!
Logoipsum Editor+ is now live. Check it out!