And now I'm talking to myself and answering my own questions.
Well, glatt,
apparently Ringo and Brian Epstein went into a drum store in London to trade in Ringo's old drums and get a new kit. The store owner had recently become a Ludwig drum dealer, so he wanted to basically give Ringo a drum set for next to nothing in exchange for putting a Ludwig sticker on the drum. Brian agreed, but wanted the Beatles name on there too, and much much larger. He also wanted the "beat" part of Beatles to be emphasized. So the store owner sketched a design with input from Ringo and Brian, and grabbed a nearby sign painter to paint the logo.
TLDR: Ringo and Brian got Ivor Arbiter to design the logo and it was painted by Eddie Stokes