Shopify Launches Branding Assistant Hatchful

Shopify is giving entrepreneurs even more tools to create their perfect brand and market their vision.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce behemoth has released Hatchful, a free mobile app billed as a launchpad for new businesses. The app uses machine learning aspects to intelligently construct brand assets without the need for a professional graphic designer or freelancer. Hatchful is available to both Shopify merchants and regular users.

Hatchful combines the creative thinking capabilities of a designer into a seamless and easy-to-use process that creates millions of possibilities. Still, the goal is not to replace designers entirely, but provide new entrepreneurs a jumping off point to launch their new business. The desire to create a brand is one of the biggest indicators to start a business, but many users often feel intimidated when asked to create their own logos or designs.

“We see Hatchful as a product that helps create the visual identity for new businesses,” says Ade Labinjo the product lead for Hatchful. “We’re not looking to replace graphic designers. Our main goal is to show that humans plus machines equals incredible gains. The combo of the two will lead to much better results than just a machine doing it.”

The human part of Hatchful comes from the user inputting key information about their business then waiting for Hatchful to bring back various logo styles. From there, the business owner can tweak their result using a simple editing tool. There are hundreds of fonts, icons colour palettes and more to choose from.

One of the best aspects of Hatchful comes from what it provides when the process is finished. The user does not simply receive one logo—they get branding for everything they will need, including YouTube page designs, Facebook cover images, Instagram profile shots and more.

“Our goal is to make commerce better for everyone, so we have a strong drive to decrease the barriers to entrepreneurship,” says Labinjo. “Generally with design, it’s can be a really difficult process for entrepreneurs getting started. We’re always looking for ways to get to that next step quickly.”

“Hatchful’s goal is to decrease that curb to entrepreneurship. This tool is for any small business owner who needs help creating their visual identity,” he adds.

Hatchful will be available for free to any user, regardless if they are a Shopify merchant or not. There is also a premium version with have access to an expanded bed of templates and designs, but Shopify promises the free version will have more than enough assets to create meaningful branding. The paid version comes in at a flat $19.99 USD per template.