Not all logo design services are created equal, and understanding the value of the branding process will help you know what to expect for your money.
*We’ve all heard about Fiverr and similar online services where it seems like a great logo is only the price of a good coffee from being a reality. On the other end of the spectrum, there are major brands shelling out tens of thousands or even millions of dollars on a rebrand. So how much should you pay for your logo and what should you expect for your money?
Extra Cheapo $5-100 USD
Logos in this price range are a dime a dozen on websites offering freelance services such as Fiverr and 99designs. If they’re so cheap here, then why would anyone in their right mind pay a hundred times the price or more?
Many of the accounts at this cheaper end of the spectrum will use shady tactics such as acquiring false reviews and endorsements, then proceed to resell free stock logos under the guise of original work. There is a huge chance of running into inexperience, false promises, poor communication, and – more importantly – lost time. In the end, these online solutions are rarely worth the gamble if you have a time-sensitive or high-value project on your hands.
In addition, these websites do not foster healthy competition within the design world. With so many designers on the platforms competing to get themselves ranked, most are forced to work for next to nothing (or for literally nothing as is the case for the majority of accounts on 99designs). Many students and beginners open accounts on these platforms in the hopes of growing their portfolio and starting their freelance journey to fame, glory and riches, but quickly learn the process is extremely exploitative and unreliable as a form of real income.
Whether you are looking for a designer, or are a designer yourself, we recommend steering clear of budget level online services.
What to Expect
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Logo Design loosely fitting your brief often made using stock assets or templates
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Possibly includes various file types and sizes for various purposes
Best Suited For
Low-value projects.
Freelancers $100-1,000 USD
In this bracket, it is common to trust a logo designer to create the unique work required to match your brief. You may run into some incredibly talented creatives in this price range, and provided you know what you’re after they will likely deliver excellent results. That being said, for this price the designer is unlikely to dive much deeper than ensuring your files are to your liking and useable. If your brand has already been thoroughly researched and you are looking for some creative talent to help bring the aesthetic elements to life then this price range is a realistic estimate needed to fill the gaps.
What to Expect
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A unique Logo Design per your brief
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Includes various file types and sizes for mutiple purposes
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Possibly includes a Branding Guide
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Possibly offers a range of mockups of your logo in real life application
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Possibly offers up to 3 different logo design directions to choose from
Best Suited For
Projects where all the brand strategy heavy lifting is already taken care of.
Branding & Identity Designers/Consultants – $1,000-10,000
This bracket is where you start paying for experience and advice beyond the software. Designers with sufficient branding and marketing experience will be unlikely to touch pen to paper until a thorough discovery session has been held. Researching your market positioning, your ideal customers, your competition, and identifying the most important aspects that you bring to your industry will be completed so that all of these factors can be considered in your logo. When you work with an experienced designer, they will bring valuable branding knowledge – and ultimately essential business information – to the table along with their design talents, rather than merely producing whatever the client likes.
What to Expect
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A unique Logo Design developed after Branding Discovery
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Includes various file types and sizes for multiple purposes
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Includes a Branding Guide
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Up to 3 different logo design directions to choose from
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A range of mockups of your logo in real life application
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Brand Strategy/Discovery session of varying complexity. Usually 1-3 hours or a few days depending on if there are findings you need to explore with your stakeholders prior to design.
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Possibly extra marketing collateral negotiable eg identity kit, website, advertising, iconography etc
Best Suited For
Businesses looking to seriously grow, but not yet ready to tackle a large number of marketing projects straight away.
Agencies $10,000-100,000,000+ (yes, really!)
Instead of working with a single Specialist who has a strong understanding of everything needed to turn a great logo into the flag for a great brand, you will have a larger team focussing on the finer details. A dedicated Branding Specialist may set up your Brand Pillars; the very foundation of how your business presents itself both internally and to the public. Multiple designers may work under a Creative Lead to produce a wider range of design collateral within an optimal time frame. A Marketing Strategy may be developed along with a road map to launch your brand effectively across multiple channels. Additionally, the Agency will likely be able to handle any further marketing requests thrown their way whether it be Website Development or a Television Advertisement. If the Agency lacks any of the skills currently in-house then they will outsource to trusted industry professionals to ensure your projects are completed to an unbeatable standard.
With the number of people collaborating on projects within an Agency, it’s no surprise that costs start to increase fast. A brand which values its image understands that there is a lot to lose by taking the cheap route on a rebranding project, and the more a company is worth the more crucial it is that the utmost planning and consideration has been undertaken by the best in the industry.
What to Expect
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A unique Logo Design developed after Branding Discovery
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Includes various file types and sizes for mutiple purposes
-
Includes a Branding Guide
-
Up to 3 different logo design directions to choose from
-
A range of mockups of your logo in real life application
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In-depth Brand Strategy/Discovery session
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Extra marketing collateral negotiable eg identity kit, website, advertising, iconography etc
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Larger teams of designers collaborating to produce ideas under leadership of specialists
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Further marketing projects managed in-house by the Agency
Best Suited For
Businesses and projects looking for a complete rebrand, or a wide range of supporting design and marketing work taken care of all under one roof.
Free Online Resources
Finally, we will touch on free online logo resources. These are often presented in the form of vector packs, logo generators, or clipart resources. While free logos may be handy in a pinch for a small project or for farming design assets, any respectable business should avoid these types of cut-and-paste solutions if they are serious about real growth. A free logo is always going to be a very short term solution for a valuable problem or a real solution to a problem of zero value.
Even if on first impressions the free logo design looks great, you are guaranteed to find hundreds of examples of the logo already being used online – usually just with subtle colour and text changes. A free logo is not the way to differentiate your brand from the competition!
How Can Genki Graphic Help?
All projects with Genki Graphic first start with a discovery session to determine the scope of your existing brand development. Once your brand story, USP, customer personas, vision, mission, voice etc are in place and fully understood, then we can jump into the design phase of your logo and supporting materials. Genki Graphic can also provide optional Identity Packages, Website Development, and ongoing Advertising & Marketing Support for businesses/projects once the branding stage is finalised.
