It is a really simple question but the complicated part comes in when we consider the amount of answers it has and the debates that are had over this question. If this is the first time you are thinking of re-branding, then you might not know how much it will cost. In this article I will explain how you should think about branding and logo design costs.
First of all, let’s get this out of the way, rebranding is not just a logo design. Although refreshing your branding is much more, a professional logo design is very important in the branding mix, and in order to understand how important it really is, we first need to understand what a logo actually is and what it is used for.
A logo design is often the first communication potential customers have with your brand, and as the old expression goes, “first impressions last”. Why not put that first impression in the hands of a professional? A professional logo design will bring instant recognition to your brand, company, charity or other ventures. Logo designs are not just for businesses, sometimes, you may need to invest in your own brand, personal brand, but we will leave that subject for another blog post.
Branding is more than a logo; it is your voice in the marketplace. Your opportunity to turn heads, grab hearts and persuade people to take that next positive step, whether that is a purchase, a website click or a phone call.
Taking the time to develop a great brand should be seen as an investment, something that will cost money, but which will more than pay for itself over time.
There are brands that spend millions of pounds in rebranding and there companies also exist that spend £99 on websites where many freelancers can be found. Most professional brand consultants charge between £10,000 – £30,000 depending on the project.
That being said, there are people that want to hire ‘logo designers’ (aka, people who have just used Adobe Photoshop – the wrong programme for a logo design) for pennies.
Your brand should be seen as an investment, and as well as money, you will need to invest time in the branding process.
Most branding engagements last between three and six months, and during that time you will need to spend time working with your brand consultants. You will also need to make your staff available to participate in workshops and in one-on-one conversations with the professionals.
Let’s have a look at some live examples, below you can have a quick look at a Freelancer website that has different logo designs.
The next most offensive thing is the overall quality (and I use that word very very loosely) of the design work produced. You can see, just by taking a quick look, that these weren’t designed by professional logo designers. This is one of the key problems with logo design competitions and crowd sourcing, in that anybody can enter.
The winning entry is average. It’s not exactly exciting or particularly original, it just happens to be a lot better than the rest of the entries.
Another thing to bear in mind here is that the only brief the designers have, and on which to go on, is a “logo design for science but funny image site”. This is a very vague description and it will not bring about the best sort of results. Your designer should be fully invested in making the best logo they can for your business and I would expect a professional to be asking for and going into a little more depth than that.
Ask yourself the following questions about the submitted designs:
- How many of the logos make a great first impression?
- Can you describe any of them?
- If you had to draw one in five seconds, could you?
- Are they scalable?
Now let’s have a look at thes logos:
Now ask yourself the questions again. You can see that these logos were designed by professionals (expect the Nike one). I could go on and on about it, but I will just leave it at giving you my own point of view about the subject.
I am not a graphic designer or a web designer. I am, however, in the people business and I run IQ Digital Agency so I know a couple of things about logos and how a great logo should look.
My advice to you is to always remember how much time you want to invest in your brand. What is the potential and if you want great work or average work. As far as I am concerned, we all have to be great because nothing else than greatness pays off in the end. I help businesses make money by building brand equity.
Here are a few more logos for you to have a look at:
Below are some logos that instantly came to mind (maybe that is because I use them very often). I have not included any social media websites because for me they are always on my mind:
Hope you enjoyed this article and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to comment below. I will leave you today with this expression, “you pay peanuts you get monkeys”. This is not just an expression that is very fitting when it comes to a log or branding, it is also very appropriate in every aspect of business and life.
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