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Where to get a logo designed?

ricgnzlzcr

ricgnzlzcr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2005
802
0
Does anyone know where I can get a professionally designed logo made at a fair price? I recently had one designed at the nearest shop nearby and it's safe to say it looks terrible. I don't know much about designers online but I figured that many should be attractively priced.

Anyone have any experience with this?
 
the best place is probabbly to post at the AIGA job board, tho it will cost you to post. you can also look thru portfolios and contact people whos work you like.

http://www.aigadesignjobs.org/

if you post on any of the freelancing sites you will probably get a lot of offshored quotes that are dirt cheap. i think that finding someone who does work you like and asking them about doing work for you is the best way.

also i am not sure what you think a "fair price" is but developing a logo is something i would allot at least 80-100 hours of work for to do it quickly but correctly. depending on what rate you get that could range from $2000 - $7500 to the designer. (or more or less)
 
Thank you very much. I do understand that pricing should be around that area and have no problem paying for quality as long as it's reasonable. I had no idea that it takes 80-100 hours to design a logo. It seems a bit extreme but I know absolutely nothing about designing logos which is why I ask for information here. Thanks again.
 
well, i would practically guarantee that a bunch of posts will follow mine saying no way it takes 80-100 hours, but i would consider that a bare minimum, actually not really enough time to do it properly. the process that most of my colleagues and i use for logo design is basically:

-research. talking to the client, seeing what their competitors are doing for their collateral, researching the industry, etc.. the point of this stuff is that a logo is basically a visual translation of the idea/mindset/DNA of a company and to make a good translation, the designer really, really needs to understand what the company is and the business the company is in intimately.

-sketching and visual explorations. a lot of time just coming up with ideas, making sketches, etc... usually when this is done properly there are 1000's of little logo ideas to look at

-narrowing and iteration. the designer takes all these visual ideas and narrows them to a large handful which are then iterated and refined.

-client presentation. the large handful is narrowed down to something between 5-10 logos or so for presentation to the client. colors are included, as well as general sketches of how the logo will work across multiple kinds of media

-refinement and more meetings

-final logo design

-final logo iteration across media. this is where a web version, a poster version, a red version, a black + white version, etc... is all created.

and so on. this takes a LOT of time. a LOT. yes someone can make a logo in 5 hours based on you saying "we sell ferret supplies" but you will probably get what you already got from the local place you tried.

edit: i should mention that the above is for a logo for a local or regional business designed by a one- or two-man design studio. when you get into huge corporate identities, the process gets dramatically more complex and time consuming.
 
Well it seems that your clients get what they pay for shecky. It's very nice to see how the process goes. Thanks so much for all your help.
 
I'd agree that the time could easily reach 100 hours, especially if the idea has to be generated by me, although obviously it depends on the brief etc. Then theres the rest as mentioned above. If it was just drawing up/modelling a logo you could probably do within a day to two days depending on complexity and final requirements ie flat logo for letterhead (simple)versus say a 3D version for animation (complex) etc

You have to remember that the logo is the core identity of most companies as well and this is often one of the most difficult items to get right.
You then have issues with making sure the logo doesn't match another one out there, copyright/trademarks are a pain sometimes.

As to price it depends on country, but I would say that for a full identity you are looking in excess of £2000 but it all depends on the brief etc, what the client wants.
 
Let's be realistic here. Is this a small self-run company or a multi-million dollar operation? Are you looking for entirely new branding or a nice logo to go with the business.

A basic logo/font package for a small sole proprietor/>10 employee company shouldn't be more than $750 - $1000.

Obviously you'll be looking at more if it's a big company that requires research and other services with the logo's creation.

Where are you located? I have a guy that does logos where I live and he's excellent. PM me if you are interested in having his info.
 
Turkish said:
A basic logo/font package for a small sole proprietor/>10 employee company shouldn't be more than $750 - $1000.
Click to expand...

so you think because its a small business it should only take as little as 10 hours? you are kidding yourself or you are one of the hordes of designers doing crappy, subpar work; which it sounds like the OP already tried.
 
A small business should not get any lesser treatment than a large one, obviously the time scale for a smaller company is likely to be less as they are going to have less people to satisfy. But the same work has to be done for a small company as a large company.

Also the cost to a larger company wouldn't be quite so much of an issue but thats another matter :D
 
Look, I'm not going to get in a shouting match with a bunch of designers about their fees.

Just stating my experience.

And no, I'm not a designer, but I have to put up with them every day. ;) :p
 
Corporate ID

Just about every Logo I have designed has been completed in the $500.00 - $1000.00 range. A competent designer will ask all the questions needed to hone in in the desires of the client as well as the needs of the design to represent a feel or look that conveys the intent. Having said that, yes a smaller company will have significantly less costs than Coca Cola, or some other huge entity, that pays tens or hundreds of thousands for a logo refresh. Small non entity companies do not have the complications of an established business and usually are easier to please in a reasonable timeframe.
I would tell you to call many people & go with the one most interested in what you do, and what the the project entails , than to how much budget you have.
 
It may be possible to do a good logo for $1000. But that would really only be if you went with a freelancer as opposed to a full-blown agency, and even at that, probably one with a fairly low rate. Agencies do have their upsides- a much larger pool of combined experience, more heads on the project, a dedicated account manager, and probably more overall strategic thinking. They've also got more overhead, and therefore higher fees. Shecky's estimates are pretty accurate.
 
Note: There is to be no members with offers of services in this thread as per this amendment to forum rules:

Blue Velvet said:
Because of some recent issues, we've felt the need to amend and clarify some of our rules on advertising and other listings.


Advertising/soliciting. Using the forums for advertising or for commercial business deals and offers. See the MacRumors About page if you want to buy advertising at the site. Threads started for the purpose of advertising products, services, or businesses, building traffic at other websites, soliciting donations or contest entries, offering jobs, etc. will be deleted. Memberships created solely for such purposes will be banned.

Job listings: We will now treat offers of work like other want-to-buy requests. That means they should be in the Marketplace forum and not be from commercial businesses.
Click to expand...
 
ricgnzlzcr said:
Does anyone know where I can get a professionally designed logo made at a fair price? I recently had one designed at the nearest shop nearby and it's safe to say it looks terrible. I don't know much about designers online but I figured that many should be attractively priced.

Anyone have any experience with this?
Click to expand...

Make a thread in the Marketplace and post how much you would like to spend and see what offers you get from members here and ask them for a portfolio before you agree to do anything. If you don't like what you see for you price, be prepared to spend more $$.

Personally, I think $1000+ for a small company is a lot of money on a logo. But that's my opinion.

Also try the Sitepoint Marketplace and again use the same procedure, post budget and ask for portfolios before committing.
 
jng said:
Personally, I think $1000+ for a small company is a lot of money on a logo.
Click to expand...

A logo is the most important tool a business has for providing a visual, memorable representation of their company. Do you think $3,000 is a lot for a small design studio to spend on a new Mac to aid them in doing their job? But that (or in your words, a third of that) on a visual brand is too much?

A bad logo can easily cost you thousands in lost business by presenting your company as unprofessional.
The ROI is very, very simple to understand.

mperkins37 said:
Just about every Logo I have designed has been completed in the $500.00 - $1000.00 range.
Click to expand...

All I have to say to this is: you get what you pay for.


Shecky, that was well broken down, and very accurate. Thank you.
 
DigitalAx said:
A logo is the most important tool a business has for providing a visual, memorable representation of their company. Do you think $3,000 is a lot for a small design studio to spend on a new Mac to aid them in doing their job? But that (or in your words, a third of that) on a visual brand is too much?

A bad logo can easily cost you thousands in lost business by presenting your company as unprofessional.
The ROI is very, very simple to understand.



All I have to say to this is: you get what you pay for.


Shecky, that was well broken down, and very accurate. Thank you.
Click to expand...

For the love of god, I hope that website is a joke... :eek:
 
ricgnzlzcr said:
Thank you very much. I do understand that pricing should be around that area and have no problem paying for quality as long as it's reasonable. I had no idea that it takes 80-100 hours to design a logo. It seems a bit extreme but I know absolutely nothing about designing logos which is why I ask for information here. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

80-100 hours is a bit much, but it all depends on the number of revisions you make as well as the number of initial concepts you agree to have the designer produce. It typically takes me about 10-15 hours to produce a final logo and variants (line-art, greyscale, 1, 2, 4 color, etc) with client edits and an initial 6 concept build. Good Luck!
 
corywoolf said:
For the love of god, I hope that website is a joke...
Click to expand...

devilot said:
I dunno. I really love the House icon. Yes, I'm kidding... Although there is something to be said for it's amusement factor.
Click to expand...

In case you didn't notice where I got that link from, it was the person whom I was quoting. The person who boldly stated that since he would charge under a $1,000 that surely over that was too expensive.

mperkins37 said:
Galactic Graphic Design
Phoenix, AZ 85043
mperkins37@cox.net
www.galacticgraphic.com
Imac 800, Imac 233 Bondi Blue OS 9
B&W G3 300 (RIP 2006)
Click to expand...

Again, I state: you get what you pay for.
 
DigitalAx said:
Again, I state: you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

i agree. that link proves my point right there.


just as an aside, i want to go on record with two things. first, it is POSSIBLE to get a logo done in 10-15 hours like some are stating here (hell, its possible to get it done in an hour). i would say it is highly unlikely you would get something done properly and well thought out in that amount of time, however not all businesses want something done right, they want something done cheap. while i disagree with that philosophy, it is certainly a valid one.

second, some are already aware of this, but it should be noted that "brand" and "identity" are NOT interchangeable with "logo". they are different things, with a logo being a part of a brand or identity, both of which are much more all encompassing macro to micro views of a companies visual presence.
 
branding, identity and logos

Yes, branding/identity design and logo design can be wildly different beasts.

The cost for the University branding noted above was not just for a logo, it was for the whole enchilada: marketing materials, t-shirts and other merchandise, stationary, web standards, usage standards/identity guidelines including colors and fonts used when and where, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Basically anything with the University's name on it was covered by that cost.

Finally, logos should not just be nice graphics, but have a conceptual basis to them as well--something you probably won't get for $300.
 
kingslod said:
Yes, branding/identity design and logo design can be wildly different beasts.

The cost for the University branding noted above was not just for a logo, it was for the whole enchilada: marketing materials, t-shirts and other merchandise, stationary, web standards, usage standards/identity guidelines including colors and fonts used when and where, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Basically anything with the University's name on it was covered by that cost.

Finally, logos should not just be nice graphics, but have a conceptual basis to them as well--something you probably won't get for $300.
Click to expand...


logoloft.com is cheap and they did a great job with our logo. They give choices to choose from. Highly Recommended.
 
I'm looking for some legal work to be done. It's some specific terms and conditions and specialized contracts and trademark work (it's not like any other standard contracts. I've already tried a company who gave me standard forms and they didn;t work).

It's for a small company, so I want professional work at a reasonable price, not someone who will charge $80+ an hour and also charge me for all the research and filing too. I just want someone to come in and say "Yes, do it that way it'll be all legal" for $300 - $1000. I asked a big law firm and they said it would take $8,000 - $10,000. That's nuts.

Maybe you can suggest someone who does legal work for cheaper. BTW the entire future of my company rides on it being done right.
 
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