This information is helpful to both clients and also designers who are just starting out. It’s a question we often get asked and it’s totally understandable why. As a customer who is about to spend a certain amount of money, you would like to know why something costs the money that is being charged. Why does a logo cost $1,000+, and not $100? Why can I get someone to design me a logo for only $50, or get 30 designers to give me 50+ options and all it’s going to cost me is $500? Why should I pay $1,000+ for a logo and what are the benefits in that?
Firstly and foremost, a logo is an investment, not a cost. Of course, it’s also a cost, but you should be looking at logo design in terms of ROI (Return On Investment). Just like all the other design & print, machinery & equipment, whatever you need to buy for your business to start or grow — it’s all an investment and this is exactly how you should approach design. Looking for the cheapest deal and trying to save on what is the foundation of all of your visual identity may end up the biggest mistake you can do. And not to spoil your day, but if that’s what you are doing — you’ve come to the wrong place. We take all design seriously.
So here are top 5 reasons why logo design is expensive.
1. Logo design takes hours
On average, we spend about 5-10 hours in discussions, brainstorming and some sketching. Ideas don’t end when we switch off for the day, they are always building and sometimes you can spend days thinking about a concept and various approaches to a logo (those hours are not logged, but they do exist). Design itself takes about 10-15 hours, refinement and changes another 5-10. Final output and logo guidelines another 2-3 hours, and if you are after a full brand book, that’s another 10 hours or so. On average, that’s about 20-30 hours, so unless it’s being charged at $5-10/hour, do the maths.
Don’t believe us? Take look at the process of designing our own logo.
We custom design everything. No stock images, no recycled logos (unless you specifically ask for that). We are very strict that our designers create everything from scratch and have a zero tolerance policy on plagiarism.
2. Logo design takes work
Logo design requires work of at least one graphic designer, we often have two, or even three. Everyone has their strong points, everyone can bring something new to the table. We also have an art director and/or project manager. That is someone who will manage the whole process, grab the idea from the client and turn it into processes for the designers. Get the work from designers and turn it into presentations for the client.
We believe in giving our designers as much freedom as we can, jumping into specifics only when we have something solid done.
3. We didn't start designing yesterday
We know it may sound a little cocky, but seriously, we’ve been doing this for years and “we know our stuff”. The one thing we ask our clients is to trust us. Without trust, there will not be a good result. It will end up a nitpicking endeavour with ‘change this and move that’, the client will take on the role of the art director and the designer will take a role of computer software (in a way).
Before we begin any work — we encourage you to browse our portfolio. The question is then simple – Do you like what you see? Yes, so leave it to us. We want your business to do well, and we want our business relationship to grow with it.
4. Logo is the stepping stone to your brand
Branding is not just about the look and feel of your brand, it’s also about its personality and how the public perceives it. But let’s start with the logo. From your logo, that tiny little image, the whole corporate identity of your company will grow.
The colours used, the typography, the way different elements of your logo can be used across all of your marketing. If you get it wrong now, it may be very costly to fix later.
5. Logo design doesn't have to be expensive
(if you know what you want)
A bulk of the time when designing a logo is spent on the “concept generation” stage. It may seem easy and sometimes the idea pops up right away, but in most cases — there is time involved. There is the research, competitor analysis, brand analysis, industry analysis, and so on. Then there are the various concepts and ways to integrate them into your brand. But, if you actually know what you want, but don’t have the technical expertise to actually create it — we can work with you literally by the hour.
It would still take time, but that time could be halved, or even less. Keeping in mind of course, your idea may seem great to you, and we will do our outmost best to work with it, but without any attempt to offend you — if it sucks, we’ll tell you. We simply will not feel right working on a concept that we can already envision has no future. The ball is in your court, our designers are ready to work with you.
