Speed Up Logo Downloads: Combining Programmatic Search with Manual Quality Control

I've worked on dozens of projects where I needed to gather client logos, partner brands, or competitor assets. Manually searching and downloading each logo on Google Images? That's soul-crushing work that eats hours of billable time.

After wasting too many afternoons on this tedious task, I built a hybrid solution that combines the speed of programmatic search with the quality control of manual selection. Here's how it works—and why you should use it too.

The Problem: Manual Logo Hunting is a Time Sink

Picture this: You're building a portfolio site, case study page, or client showcase. You need 20+ high-quality logos with transparent backgrounds. The traditional approach?

• Type each company name into Google Images
• Add search filters for transparent backgrounds
• Scroll through results looking for high-res versions
• Open image, inspect quality, right-click, save
• Rename file to something sensible
• Repeat 20+ times

For 20 logos, this easily takes 30-45 minutes. That's time you could spend on actual design or development work.

The Solution: Programmatic URL Generation + Manual Quality Control

Instead of typing each search manually, I wrote a simple script that generates optimized Google Image search URLs for an entire list of companies at once. It takes 30 seconds to run and opens perfectly configured search tabs for every logo I need.

This isn't full automation—I still manually verify and download each image. But it eliminates 80% of the repetitive work while maintaining the quality control that fully automated scraping can't provide.

How It Works

The script takes an array of company names and generates Google Image search URLs with pre-configured filters:

export function buildGoogleImageSearchUrl(keywords: string[]): string {
  const searchQuery = keywords.join(' ');
  const encodedQuery = encodeURIComponent(searchQuery).replace(/%20/g, '+');

  // udm=2 enables image search
  // tbs=isz:i,ic:trans filters for large, transparent images
  return `https://www.google.com/search?q=${encodedQuery}&udm=2&tbs=isz:i,ic:trans`;
}

const companyList = [
  'tanifund',
  'universitas tarumanegara',
  'carsome',
  'shell',
  'kepolisian indonesia'
];

for (const company of companyList) {
  const url = buildGoogleImageSearchUrl(company.split(' '));
  console.log(url);
}

Run this script, and you get a list of ready-to-use URLs. Copy them all, paste into your browser (Chrome/Firefox let you open multiple URLs at once), and boom—20 search tabs open in seconds.

Understanding the URL Parameters

The magic is in the URL parameters that pre-configure Google's search filters:

Why Not Fully Automate the Download?

You might wonder: why not just scrape and download everything automatically? I've tried that approach, and here's why the hybrid method wins:

The 2-3 minutes spent manually selecting and downloading is worth the quality assurance. You're not blindly trusting an algorithm to pick the right file.

Building Your Own Logo Downloader Tool

Here's a complete, production-ready version you can use right now. Save this as a TypeScript file or paste into your browser console:

interface LogoSearchOptions {
  size?: 'icon' | 'large' | 'medium';
  transparent?: boolean;
  type?: 'clipart' | 'lineart' | 'photo';
}

export function buildGoogleImageSearchUrl(
  keywords: string[], 
  options: LogoSearchOptions = {}
): string {
  const searchQuery = keywords.join(' ');
  const encodedQuery = encodeURIComponent(searchQuery).replace(/%20/g, '+');
  
  // Base URL with image search
  let url = `https://www.google.com/search?q=${encodedQuery}&udm=2`;
  
  // Build filter parameters
  const filters: string[] = [];
  
  // Size filter
  if (options.size === 'icon') filters.push('isz:i');
  else if (options.size === 'large') filters.push('isz:l');
  else if (options.size === 'medium') filters.push('isz:m');
  else filters.push('isz:i'); // Default to icon size for logos
  
  // Transparent background
  if (options.transparent !== false) {
    filters.push('ic:trans');
  }
  
  // Image type
  if (options.type === 'clipart') filters.push('itp:clipart');
  else if (options.type === 'lineart') filters.push('itp:lineart');
  
  // Add filters to URL if any
  if (filters.length > 0) {
    url += `&tbs=${filters.join(',')}`;
  }
  
  return url;
}

// Example usage
const logos = [
  'tanifund logo',
  'universitas tarumanegara logo',
  'carsome logo',
  'shell logo',
  'kepolisian indonesia logo'
];

console.log('📋 Copy these URLs and open in browser:\n');
logos.forEach(company => {
  const url = buildGoogleImageSearchUrl(
    company.split(' '),
    { size: 'large', transparent: true }
  );
  console.log(url);
});

Real-World Workflow

Here's my actual process when I need to collect logos for a project:

Total time for 20 logos: 5-8 minutes instead of 30-45. That's an 80% time saving.

When to Use This Technique

This hybrid approach shines in specific scenarios:

Ethical & Legal Considerations

Let's address the elephant in the room: Is this legal? Is it ethical?

When in doubt, reach out to the company directly for official logo assets. Most B2B companies are happy to provide logos for partner/client showcase purposes.

Take It Further: Build a Web UI

If you find yourself using this frequently, consider building a simple internal tool with a web interface:

This would be a perfect weekend project: Next.js, a simple form, and localStorage for saved lists. Total build time: 2-3 hours. ROI: Immediate time savings on every project.

The Bottom Line

Don't waste hours on mindless logo hunting. Use code to eliminate repetitive work while keeping the human quality control that makes your deliverables professional.

This hybrid approach—programmatic setup, manual execution—is a pattern that applies beyond logos. Think about other tedious tasks in your workflow: data entry, file renaming, report generation. Where can you script the boring parts while keeping the judgment calls human?