The cost of a cheap logo
As a start-up or small business it can be tempting to get started while spending as little as possible while you wait to escape the budget red-zone and work your way into the sweet, sweet green of cash flow positive.
The visual side of your brand is what people see first. Intrinsically, we’re judging that logo on quality, trying to determine if we understand what the company does just by looking at it. Does it look a little cookie-cutter? It makes an impact. A bad first impression can make your business feel less credible or less reliable to your audience, so people are self-selecting away from you from the very start.
Here are a few reasons why a cheap logo is a bad idea:
Cheap designers are usually looking to make really quick, easy money, or build a portfolio to start charging more for their work later on. They’re not taking time to sit down and understand your needs, your business or what would make a great logo. They’re churning and burning clients, you’re just a number. The equivalent of a supermarket brand vs a premium, we’re telling ourselves it tastes the same but we know it doesn’t.
They’re probably just doing logos. And you might not actually be needing a logo? Weird to think but I’ve seen it happen a few times. There’s a logo which is a ‘full’ version, it might have your full business name in it, great to slap on an invoice or social media banner. There’s an icon, much better used as a profile picture on social media websites where words or full logos might not show clearly and effectively. Knowing what you need it for, and most importantly future-proofing it is so important. A seasoned professional will ask these questions.
Your logo could just be a carbon copy of a bunch of other logos out in the wild. To make a cheap logo effective, there’s quite often a sheet of pre-made logos that are ever-so-slightly adapted for each client. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen the same Canva template used a bunch of times in different scenarios.
Once you start to realise a bunch of the problems above, your next step is usually to have to go and spend more money to correct the problem. So it pays (less) to get it done right the first time.
It’s really hard to brief a designer. Incredibly hard. A lot of my career has been and still is figuring out what businesses are trying to achieve, what they have in their mental picture and then putting into words what the designer needs to put your mental image on a piece of paper. A great designer will spend a decent amount of time with you understanding what you’re imagining, putting together examples and inspiration so before they even come back with their design options for you to choose, you’re on the same page of what you’re after.
My top tips:
Try explaining what you want like you’re directing a five year old. Everything that feels obvious, isn’t. No one is a mind reader so it’s an amazing bonus point if you try with an actual five year old. It will show you how difficult it is to take what’s in your head and give someone enough direction to understand it. You’ll also probably lack the terminology to get there faster with a designer, that’s ok, a great one can coach you through the process.
Check how many rounds of feedback you are entitled to when hiring a designer. This means how many chances you get to correct what they’ve first presented to you and allows you to get closer to what you envisioned.
At the bare-minimum ask for a vector file as an output. These are file names ending in either .ai, .svg, or .eps. This means if you want it slapped on a banner, you’re not getting ugly, pixelated logos from your print shop (and the print shop will thank you!). If it’s a file you can’t open (without a design program like Adobe), it’s a great sign. You’ll also want some .png examples so you can see and use it on a few easy marketing materials yourself.
Know what you want. At the minimum, I’d be requesting a few colour options, each with transparent backgrounds and some with solid colour backgrounds. Think about how it will likely go on either white, black, or coloured backgrounds to ensure you cover all your bases.
How do you find a good designer? I work with a few I can recommend, otherwise I can go to market and find you the best quality for money! Get in touch.
