The other day, I came across the blog of David Airey, a self-employed graphic designer and design consultant. He spends the majority of his time creating marketing promotions, such as ad campaigns, brochures, corporate identity, business stationery. His experience with client’s attitude towards logo design struck a chord with me:
“I find it a shame to witness the incredible amount of people undervaluing the importance of their logo. Here are just a few excerpts of the many blog and forum posts I’ve been receiving lately.
- “I need a vector logo for my business. Must be able to be resized without losing the quality. I have the logo idea…. Budget: (US$50).”
- “The prize for the winning company logo design is $100 USD payable in your paypal the day the contest ends, and the contest deadline will be the 1st of May. We will wait for your creatives, and wish good luck to all contestants. Let the battle begin!”
- “I’m a professional logo designer offering my skills. Prices can range from $20 (approx. £11) up to around $280 (approx. £150) with various package options along the way.”
I agree with David completely, this is downright crazy. Airey goes on, saying “a business person spending $50 on professional design services shouldn’t be expecting anything more than one hours’ work at the most, so to value your corporate identity like that isn’t a wise move (…). Yes, you might be on a tight budget, as most people starting a business are, but being in business doesn’t come cheap. You have to spend money at the beginning or it will end up costing much more for a re-design / re-brand further down the line (because you do get what you pay for and you will come to realise your logo is rubbish).”
