How Much Is A Great Business Logo Really Worth?
A great logo can help a business project a positive image whilea bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. Formany companies, a logo is the only identifiable mark a potentialcustomer may ever see, so it needs to be memorable, descriptiveand easily recognizable. If a logo is the company spokesman, howmuch is it really worth?
Cheap logo designs are all over the Internet - logo designsunder $150! $99 logo designs, $75 logo designs, $49 logo designsand even lower! You will easily find a wide range of prices forlogo design on the Internet. Be careful of cheap logo designoffers, some designers may be using clip art. A logo design thatincludes a royalty free piece of clip art cannot be copyrighted.That same piece of clip art could be used on dozens of otherlogo designs. A designers portfolio should be displayed andthere should be a wide variety of logo samples. At $49 each, doall of the logos look the same? Do the majority of them haveblock lettering and a swoosh?
Some logo designers charge one flat fee for a logo with noquestions asked. Can you imagine Coca-Cola purchasing a logodesign for $99? What a deal! Or how about Bob's bait shop paying$750 for a logo. There goes the budget! All companies are notequal in size, budget and usage. All designs are not equal. Doesa swoosh take the same amount of time and effort as creating adetailed motorcycle?
The confusion doesn't stop there. Some logo designers chargeadditional costs for extra colors, extra modifications and extrapreliminary designs. You have to get your calculator out just tofigure the final cost of your logo. Do you really know what youare paying for?
How much is a logo design really worth? Ask Coca-Cola, Polo,Nike, The Hard Rock Cafe, Hallmark or any other company thatrelies on their logo as their number one spokesman. Not everycompany is as large as these but every company should have alogo that is easy to identify and stands for the integrity ofthat business.
A logo design is more valuable to a company than a single spotillustration. An illustration is normally used once or used fora limited campaign, whereas a logo is used for years and isplaced on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites,vehicles, buildings and products. Do you see the difference invalue to a company? A logo has more value than just the hoursspent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity.
With that said, shouldn't a logo be worth more than just thetime involved in creating it? Professional graphic design ratesaverage anywhere from $30 to $75 per hour. If you see a logodesign priced at $125 and that designer charges $50 per hour fordesign work, do you assume that they spent 2.5 hours on yourlogo? That price would include the time spent to contact you,the research done on your company and competition, thepreliminary ideas, the changes, the finalizing of the logo, thefile prep for each different format, sending the logo, billingand allowing you to have all rights to the design. So how muchtime was actually spent creating your logo?
My conclusion is that a logo is much more valuable to a companythan a standard illustration so the price should reflect theadded value. Many professional graphic designers would be hardpressed to create a top notch illustration for under $150 letalone a creative, well designed logo. So beware of logos pricedunder $150, you may get what you pay for.
There's even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designersbase their logo rates on several of these factors:
Logo Modifications - You could get charged for each time youwant a change or modification to your logo. If a logo designerasks the right questions, does the research and stays in closecommunication with the client there should be no need for majorchanges during the creation of a logo design. Be a goodcommunicator and explain to the logo designer exactly what youwant your logo to be saying about your business. As a designer,you should get signed approval for each modification showingthat the client was in agreement at the time.
Extra Colors - Printers charge more for extra colors. If a logodesigner charges more for a two color logo than they do for athree color logo, get a detailed explanation as to why. It onlytakes the click of a mouse to add an extra color. In today'sworld there is very little need for color separations so thereshould be no need for a designer to charge by the color.
Preliminary Designs - A few choices is good, to many choices isoverkill. A logo designer should be able to decide for you thecorrect amount of preliminary designs it will require to createyour perfect logo. Be leary of eight, ten and more initialdesigns. How much time could actually be spent on each design?If you don't like your first two or three designs you can easilyrequest two or three more.
If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you donot want to present ten logos to ten different people. You maynever get down to a winning design.
On the other hand, if you need an additional presentation oflogos due to a complete change in direction on the companiespart, there should be an extra fee. An example would be askingfor a yellow duck logo design and changing your mind to a reddog design once the logos are presented to you.
Adding an identity program to your logo is a legitimate cost.Designing the business card, letterhead and envelope layouts arenormally a higher priced package. You should receive cameraready files for each design.
There is a standard reference for pricing graphic design andcorporate identity projects. It is Pricing and EthicalGuidelines, published by the Graphic Artists Guild. Any logodesigner can purchase the book. A professional graphic designerwould have a tough time supporting a family and a studiodesigning all of their logos below $200.
I'm not writing this to give exact prices for a logo designbecause each logo designers circumstances are different. Amateurlogo designers charge much less to get their feet wet, butslowly increase their rates as they gain experience andcreativity.
The standard logo design rates are based on two majorcomponents, company size and application or distribution size.The majority of logo designs created over the Internet arecreated for small companies and individuals with limitedapplication and distribution uses. Fortune 500 companiesnormally pay much higher logo design rates and use advertisingagencies.
My conclusion is that the value of a logo should be based on afew important criteria: 1. Experience of the logo designer 2.Size & budget of the company using the logo 3. Scope and usageof the logo 4. Difficulty of the design
An individual or small company with small to average uses shouldbe prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a topquality, professional logo design.
What's included with your logo? The worst part of paying for acheap logo is finding out that you were not sent the correctfile formats for printing and web. You will then have to payanother graphic designer or printer to create the correct files.Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask yourlogo designer what file types are included in their price.
The most common file types needed are AI (Illustrator) and EPSfor most professional print jobs. These are vector format files.These files should be in a CMYK color format. Vector art allowsyou to reduce or enlarge a design to ANY size without losingdetail or clarity.
For home use and some print jobs you will need TIFF and BMPfiles. These are pixel files and should have a DPI (dots perinch) of at least 300 dpi. 600-1200 dpi is best for professionalprinting. These type of files lose their detail when enlargedbut can be reduced.
The last file types you will need would be JPEG and GIF. Theseare pixel files and are used for web design. They should be in aRGB color format. Be aware that not all colors translate well onthe Internet, especially GIF files. Ask if the logo designerused web safe colors. You should receive crisp 72 dpi files forthe Internet. A GIF file should be transparent if you do notwant a white box around it when displayed on your page.
Be sure and ask your logo designer about your logo colors. Askthem for the Pantone PMS color numbers for each color. You willneed this information each time your logo is printed. Thisinsures that you get the exact same colors with every printerthat you use.
Will you get your files over the Internet or will you receive aCD? Try to get a CD, it is much easier to take that to yourlocal printer. Ask your designer how long they keep your logo onfile in case you lose your versions later down the road.
You should also receive all rights (copyrights) to your logo.Since a logo is a companies identity you will need to own allrights to get a trademark. Ask for this in writing if you haveany doubts.
Ask for the background on the logo designer you choose, youshould at the very least know their name. Do they have a degree?How long have they designed logos? Is this their profession or ahobby? Where is there portfolio? Can you contact their otherclients? Can you speak to them directly? With the amount ofsoftware available today and the invention of the Internet, anysixteen year old kid can start his own logo design company.
In closing let me say that the information above is a personalopinion and is taken from years of searching logo design websites and reading books on graphic design. The prices andinformation I have explained here only pertain to the work ofgraphic designers, not advertising agencies. An advertisingagency handles logo design on a larger scale and incorporates anentire corporate identity service. Their logo design rates aremany times higher than a graphic designers
Cheap logo designs are all over the Internet - logo designsunder $150! $99 logo designs, $75 logo designs, $49 logo designsand even lower! You will easily find a wide range of prices forlogo design on the Internet. Be careful of cheap logo designoffers, some designers may be using clip art. A logo design thatincludes a royalty free piece of clip art cannot be copyrighted.That same piece of clip art could be used on dozens of otherlogo designs. A designers portfolio should be displayed andthere should be a wide variety of logo samples. At $49 each, doall of the logos look the same? Do the majority of them haveblock lettering and a swoosh?
Some logo designers charge one flat fee for a logo with noquestions asked. Can you imagine Coca-Cola purchasing a logodesign for $99? What a deal! Or how about Bob's bait shop paying$750 for a logo. There goes the budget! All companies are notequal in size, budget and usage. All designs are not equal. Doesa swoosh take the same amount of time and effort as creating adetailed motorcycle?
The confusion doesn't stop there. Some logo designers chargeadditional costs for extra colors, extra modifications and extrapreliminary designs. You have to get your calculator out just tofigure the final cost of your logo. Do you really know what youare paying for?
How much is a logo design really worth? Ask Coca-Cola, Polo,Nike, The Hard Rock Cafe, Hallmark or any other company thatrelies on their logo as their number one spokesman. Not everycompany is as large as these but every company should have alogo that is easy to identify and stands for the integrity ofthat business.
A logo design is more valuable to a company than a single spotillustration. An illustration is normally used once or used fora limited campaign, whereas a logo is used for years and isplaced on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites,vehicles, buildings and products. Do you see the difference invalue to a company? A logo has more value than just the hoursspent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity.
With that said, shouldn't a logo be worth more than just thetime involved in creating it? Professional graphic design ratesaverage anywhere from $30 to $75 per hour. If you see a logodesign priced at $125 and that designer charges $50 per hour fordesign work, do you assume that they spent 2.5 hours on yourlogo? That price would include the time spent to contact you,the research done on your company and competition, thepreliminary ideas, the changes, the finalizing of the logo, thefile prep for each different format, sending the logo, billingand allowing you to have all rights to the design. So how muchtime was actually spent creating your logo?
My conclusion is that a logo is much more valuable to a companythan a standard illustration so the price should reflect theadded value. Many professional graphic designers would be hardpressed to create a top notch illustration for under $150 letalone a creative, well designed logo. So beware of logos pricedunder $150, you may get what you pay for.
There's even more confusion about logo pricing. Some designersbase their logo rates on several of these factors:
Logo Modifications - You could get charged for each time youwant a change or modification to your logo. If a logo designerasks the right questions, does the research and stays in closecommunication with the client there should be no need for majorchanges during the creation of a logo design. Be a goodcommunicator and explain to the logo designer exactly what youwant your logo to be saying about your business. As a designer,you should get signed approval for each modification showingthat the client was in agreement at the time.
Extra Colors - Printers charge more for extra colors. If a logodesigner charges more for a two color logo than they do for athree color logo, get a detailed explanation as to why. It onlytakes the click of a mouse to add an extra color. In today'sworld there is very little need for color separations so thereshould be no need for a designer to charge by the color.
Preliminary Designs - A few choices is good, to many choices isoverkill. A logo designer should be able to decide for you thecorrect amount of preliminary designs it will require to createyour perfect logo. Be leary of eight, ten and more initialdesigns. How much time could actually be spent on each design?If you don't like your first two or three designs you can easilyrequest two or three more.
If you are on a committe or a board, I assure you that you donot want to present ten logos to ten different people. You maynever get down to a winning design.
On the other hand, if you need an additional presentation oflogos due to a complete change in direction on the companiespart, there should be an extra fee. An example would be askingfor a yellow duck logo design and changing your mind to a reddog design once the logos are presented to you.
Adding an identity program to your logo is a legitimate cost.Designing the business card, letterhead and envelope layouts arenormally a higher priced package. You should receive cameraready files for each design.
There is a standard reference for pricing graphic design andcorporate identity projects. It is Pricing and EthicalGuidelines, published by the Graphic Artists Guild. Any logodesigner can purchase the book. A professional graphic designerwould have a tough time supporting a family and a studiodesigning all of their logos below $200.
I'm not writing this to give exact prices for a logo designbecause each logo designers circumstances are different. Amateurlogo designers charge much less to get their feet wet, butslowly increase their rates as they gain experience andcreativity.
The standard logo design rates are based on two majorcomponents, company size and application or distribution size.The majority of logo designs created over the Internet arecreated for small companies and individuals with limitedapplication and distribution uses. Fortune 500 companiesnormally pay much higher logo design rates and use advertisingagencies.
My conclusion is that the value of a logo should be based on afew important criteria: 1. Experience of the logo designer 2.Size & budget of the company using the logo 3. Scope and usageof the logo 4. Difficulty of the design
An individual or small company with small to average uses shouldbe prepared to pay anywhere from $300 to $1500 for a topquality, professional logo design.
What's included with your logo? The worst part of paying for acheap logo is finding out that you were not sent the correctfile formats for printing and web. You will then have to payanother graphic designer or printer to create the correct files.Be aware of what file types you will be needing and ask yourlogo designer what file types are included in their price.
The most common file types needed are AI (Illustrator) and EPSfor most professional print jobs. These are vector format files.These files should be in a CMYK color format. Vector art allowsyou to reduce or enlarge a design to ANY size without losingdetail or clarity.
For home use and some print jobs you will need TIFF and BMPfiles. These are pixel files and should have a DPI (dots perinch) of at least 300 dpi. 600-1200 dpi is best for professionalprinting. These type of files lose their detail when enlargedbut can be reduced.
The last file types you will need would be JPEG and GIF. Theseare pixel files and are used for web design. They should be in aRGB color format. Be aware that not all colors translate well onthe Internet, especially GIF files. Ask if the logo designerused web safe colors. You should receive crisp 72 dpi files forthe Internet. A GIF file should be transparent if you do notwant a white box around it when displayed on your page.
Be sure and ask your logo designer about your logo colors. Askthem for the Pantone PMS color numbers for each color. You willneed this information each time your logo is printed. Thisinsures that you get the exact same colors with every printerthat you use.
Will you get your files over the Internet or will you receive aCD? Try to get a CD, it is much easier to take that to yourlocal printer. Ask your designer how long they keep your logo onfile in case you lose your versions later down the road.
You should also receive all rights (copyrights) to your logo.Since a logo is a companies identity you will need to own allrights to get a trademark. Ask for this in writing if you haveany doubts.
Ask for the background on the logo designer you choose, youshould at the very least know their name. Do they have a degree?How long have they designed logos? Is this their profession or ahobby? Where is there portfolio? Can you contact their otherclients? Can you speak to them directly? With the amount ofsoftware available today and the invention of the Internet, anysixteen year old kid can start his own logo design company.
In closing let me say that the information above is a personalopinion and is taken from years of searching logo design websites and reading books on graphic design. The prices andinformation I have explained here only pertain to the work ofgraphic designers, not advertising agencies. An advertisingagency handles logo design on a larger scale and incorporates anentire corporate identity service. Their logo design rates aremany times higher than a graphic designers