Logo Design Does Not Cost $5.00

Logo design in today's world is totally underrated. People do not understand how important a good logo is and how valuable it is to their business. This is why I am going to outline some very important facts, telling you why logo design should not cost $5.00, and why your logo is not something you should take lightly.

In broad terms, I will do this by comparing “cheap logo design” to “professional logo design” and I will outline the reasons why professional logo designers do not charge such low fees and why you should invest in a professional logo design.

What Is A Logo?

To understand what a logo is meant to do, we first must know what a logo is. Wikipedia explains that

“a logo’s design is for immediate recognition, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand, or economic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities.”

It makes me wonder why people have no logo or why they would even bother with a cheap logo design if a logo is meant to do all of these things?

Spec Work & Logo Design Contests

Before I get onto comparing cheap VS professional logo design I want to talk to you a bit about SPEC work. “Spec” has become the short form for any work done on a speculative basis. ie. You design this for me, and I will pay you if I like it.

To clarify, let’s create a scenario in another industry where SPEC work does NOT exist.

“I went for a dental check-up yesterday. After the dentist inspected my teeth, she suggested some work to prevent further tooth decay. I told her to go ahead, and if the dental work was satisfactory, I’d be more than happy to pay. She responded that she wouldn’t be able to do that, because she normally provides a service when a fee is agreed upon up-front. I said I’d let her know after I checked in with other local dentists.” - David Airey

This scenario happens in the design industry every day and is seen as very unethical as it is ruining the design industry. A designer should not have to invest time and resources with no guarantee of payment much alike a dentist or any other professional.

I do not want to go into this any further as much has been written about it but I would like to say please avoid design contests at all costs - these are the true epitome of SPEC work. Logo design contests are bad for your business. Period.

$5.00 (Cheap Logo Design)

Now that we have taken a look at the damage of Spec Work, let us now take a look at what quality you can expect from a logo in between the $5 to $200 bracket. The particular case I am looking at today is from a $35 logo design contest that was held on Digital Point Forums.

The “brief” for the logo design project:

"Make a logo for the site 'Spela Piano'. The meaning of that is Play Piano. This is a site where our members can learn to play piano online."

Below you can see the responses from the contest. Which one do you think won?

You will notice that nearly all of the logos above use free fonts and don’t assign to the rules of what makes a good logo. Examples: It's describable, memorable, effective without color and scalable.

Ask yourself these questions in regards to the logos above:

• How many of the logos can you describe or remember?
• Are these logos effective without color?
• Are they scalable?
• Do they gain immediate recognition?
• Convey the company’s personality, character or attitude?
• Relate to your clients by conveying a feeling of familiarity and credibility?
• Have association with quality and satisfaction?

I will leave these questions for you to decide.

Professional Logo Design

Relate to your clients by conveying a feeling of familiarity and credibility?
Have association with quality and satisfaction?

You decide.

Now compare these professionally designed logos and answer the same questions as above….

See the difference?

Why are they so different?

Professional logo designers have an actual design process that involves research, sketching, conceptualizing, and reflection and this is why they do not charge $5.00.

The design process of a professional logo designer usually consists of:

• The Design Brief: They conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief.
• Research: They conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on its competitors.
• Reference: They conduct research into logo designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that are related to the design brief.
• Sketching & Conceptualizing: They develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and research. They use creativity and know how to design a logo.
• Reflection: They take breaks throughout their design process. This lets their ideas mature and lets them get renewed enthusiasm and receive feedback.
• Presentation: They then choose whether to present only a select few logos to the client or a whole collection.
• Celebration: They then drink beer or eat chocolate or sleep or start on next logo design. Or a combination.

Do you believe doing all of that costs $5.00? (I should hope not!)

Do you agree that logo design typically does, and should cost more than $5.00? What have you paid for a logo design?

By Just Creative Design