We recently talked HERE about what a logo is, the purpose a logo serves, and why a logo is so important to anyone in the outdoor industry. Now let’s talk about the costs involved in hiring a professional to design a logo for you or your outdoor company. We hope that this will enlighten you and make you appreciate why a custom logo, designed for you by a professional individual, costs what it does.
When the average person looks at a good logo, which should be simple in its execution, the first thought may be, “That couldn’t have taken you very long to draw that–why does it cost so much?”
Simple answer: “Drawing” the logo is the easy part. There’s a lot more to a logo design than just the simple process of “drawing” it. The process of creating a professional, custom designed logo is multi-faceted and typically involves these following steps:
- The Design Brief: The designer conducts a questionnaire or meeting/interview with the client to gather specific information about what the project entails: what the message must be, what personality should be reflected in the design, how the client wishes to position themselves in their market.
- Research: The designer researches the industry itself to discover any trends and see what the competition is doing.
- Sketching & Concepting: The designer wades through the development stages of the logo by sketching rough ideas and finding different ways to convey the message. This process involves a sense of creativity that is specific to the designer, which is blended with an understanding of proper design principals. This step is an art, not a science and can take a considerable amount of time that is not easily measurable, or billable.
- Reflection: The designer must take breaks throughout the design process. Often times the only way to clear a creative hurdle is to step back and take a break, and revisit the project after an unspecified amount of time. This allows for ideas to mature and offers the opportunity for the designer to renew enthusiasm and creativity and also receive feedback from a focus group.
- Presentation: The designer must choose whether to present only a select few logos to the client or a whole collection. Often times multiple variations on a similar, singular concept may be worth presenting. A designer can get “too close” to a project during the course of spending multiple hours on it, and it is then up to an objective voice (the client) to determine which is the best design. That being said it is the designer’s professional responsibility to steer the client in the right direction. Contrary to the service industry, the client may not always be right when it comes to choosing the best logo.
Internet logo budget design sites
There are countless internet sites that advertise a professional logo design for $150 to as low as $39. Pardon me while I scream! If you want to spend $39 on a gamble that you will get a professional design, in all the file formats you may end up needing, from someone who understands the outdoor industry, who will work closely with you through every step of the branding process and be there long after the design has been completed to help you with additional questions and future projects, then by all means spend that $39. You may get lucky. But please, do not compare one of those internet outfits with the individual designer who, like you is just trying to make a modest living doing what they love and do best. Those sites work with multiple “designers” who are willing to crank out designs like a fly tying sweatshop in Indonesia; where the “designers” are paid a relatively meager wage for their designs. These sites only make money because they do a huge volume and collect your fee up front. For $39, don’t expect much.
What does a professional logo cost?
This is a very common question but not one that can be easily or accurately answered without first gathering information specific to your project, because no two projects are exactly the same. You can expect to receive what you want to pay for however, and the more you spend the more options you have. Remember that your logo represents you, or your company, in the marketplace, and your logo will be used for years. It may be placed on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites, vehicles, signage and products. A logo has more value than just the hours spent on creating it. It becomes your identity.
Please contact us for an individual quote to design your logo. For other branding practices visit our pricing guidelines for more information.
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