Your $5 Logo Design Company

Now that we have taken a look at the damage of Spec Work, let us now take a look at what quality you can expect from a logo in between the $5 to $200 bracket. The particular case I am looking at today is from a $35 logo design contest that was held on Digital Point Forums.

The “brief” for the logo design project was

“Make a logo for the site ‘Spela Piano’. The meaning of that is Play Piano. This is a site where our members can learn to play piano online.”

Below you can see the responses from the contest, which one do you think won?



You will notice that nearly all of the logos above use free fonts and don’t assign to the rules of what makes a good logo. Ie. describable, memorable, effective without colour and scalable.

Ask yourself these questions in regards to the logos above:

* How many of the logos can you describe or remember?
* Are these logos effective without colour?
* Are they scalable?
* Do they gain immediate recognition?
* Convey the company’s personality, character or attitude?
* Relate to your clients by conveying a feeling of familiarity and credibility?
* Have association with quality and satisfaction?

I will leave these questions for you to decide.

Professional Logo Design



Why logo design does not cost $5.00

To understand what a logo is meant to do, we first must know what a logo is. A logo’s design is for immediate recognition, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. The logo is one aspect of a company’s commercial brand, or economic entity, and its shapes, colours, fonts, and images usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities.

The design process of a professional logo designer usually consists of:

1. The Design Brief: They conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief.

2. Research: They conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on its competitors.

3. Reference: They conduct research into logo designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that are related to the design brief.

4. Sketching & Conceptualizing: They develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and research. They use creativity and know how to design a logo.

5. Reflection: They take breaks throughout their design process. This lets their ideas mature and lets them get renewed enthusiasm and receive feedback.

6. Presentation: They then choose whether to present only a select few logos to the client or a whole collection.

7. Celebration: They then eat chocolate or sleep or start on next logo design. Or a combination.

Do you believe doing all of that costs $5.00?

On that note, did you know that the software to make the logo is $700 in itself… Let alone the computer that it has to be installed onto or the costs associated with the essentials… paper, ink and an Internet connection.
More Reasons

Here are some more responses from other designers on reasons why logo design does not cost $5.00.

Tara from Graphic Design Blog outlines in her 6 reasons why a logo should cost more than your lunch that

1. A logo is the very first impression people get of your company.
2. A logo needs longevity.
3. A logo needs to be original.
4. A logo should look professional.
5. A logo should reflect the time and thought gone in to designing it.
6. A logo is the starting point of your whole corporate image.

Now look back at those $5.00 logo designs or your even own logo to see if adheres to the above points.

Isn’t it about time you invested in a professional logo design?