Your Logo: Why it matters & why you should pay for it

I have encountered too many situations recently in which people have completely undervalued their logo or visual brand.  It happens all the time.  I'll talk with potential clients about a logo design, and everything is on track until we talk about price.  I have some amazing friends who are doing great things, but they don't understand the value of their logo.  They approach me for advice or an estimate, and then go elsewhere to get it done at a cheaper price.  As a friend and a designer, those situations kill me.  I'm fine if they choose to have someone else design their logo, that's not a big deal.  I simply don't want to see them make decisions that are detrimental to their business or organization.  Given all of that, I thought I would take a moment to try and explain why a logo is important, and unless you know someone who owes you a BIG favor, why you should pay for it.

Why Your Logo is Important
It is true, your business or organization is much more than just a logo, and the quality of your product or service heavily affects how people will view your business, but your logo becomes the visual face of your company.  It goes where personal interaction cannot, and precedes you into many interactions.  It is what potential customers and clients see when they are passing by in a car, looking at an ad, or when they are handed a business card.  The logo becomes a strong symbol for who you are.  It stays with people and creates an impression when you aren't given the opportunity to do so in a personal manner.

Your Logo and Your Brand
The word "brand" often confuses people, hence the myriad of published books on the subject.  The simple definition is that your brand is everything you do.  It is the overall perception of your company and every interaction you have.  It is how your customers or clients are treated, how your company runs its warehouse, the visual representation, and how you speak on the phone.  Your logo cannot establish an entire brand on its own, but it surely is deeply integrated into your brand and affects how people view you. Your logo's strength cannot make up for poor interactions, but the reverse is also true.  No matter how strong the rest of your brand is, a poor visual representation of your company will have a significant impact on your business.

The Process of Developing a Strong Logo
I first want to clarify a common misconception.  Logos are not well-created in an hour or two.  Many businesses hope to have a logo created in a matter of hours and want to pay accordingly, but this strategy will lead to poor results.

Because your logo has a great importance and significance both to you and your customer, it is important that proper attention be give to it.  As mentioned, it is possible to create a logo in a brief amount of time, but that logo will fall short of its intended purpose.  Your logo needs to represent your company and accurately communicate who you are and what you do.  It also needs to identify with your target market and form a connections with those who utilize your product or service.  Making sure that these things happen take time and research in market trends, target audiences, colors, typefaces, and so much more.  Here is an idea of what a good logo development process looks like:

Research - It all begins with research.  I want to know everything about your company, who your clients are, why they choose you, where they come from, and how you can better relate to them.  Once I understand who you are and who your market is, I look into market trends, what the competition is doing, and how I can give you an edge before I ever start designing.

Brainstorm - I spend time conceptualizing, looking for ideas, and analyzing all of the angles of a project, hopefully coming up with brilliant ideas and throwing out the bad ones before I ever begin sketching.

Sketch - I get out the trusty sketchbook and hash out my ideas.  This lets me know what I want to puruse further before i put hours in behind a computer, meaning I save you time and money.

Digitize - When I have all of the ideas I want to run with, I put them on the screen to see how they hold up.

Present - After I have a couple of versions I like, I show them to you and get feedback.  Since this is your logo, I want to work hand in hand with you along the way.

Refine - Given your suggestions and comments, I edit and refine the logo, though as the hired professional I will occasionally push back on your suggestions, and work toward a finished product. I continue to tweak, develop, and present, working side by side with you until we have a...

Successful Solution - Your finalized logo should be something you are proud of that also identifies well with your customers and brings in more business.  The process of getting here is not always easy, but it produces great results and hasn't failed me yet.

Why (and what) You Should Pay for Your Logo
As you can see, a logo is a delicate item that serves a great deal of needs and must be well-created in order to effectively do its job.  The process of developing a logo is usually not a simple task.  In terms of pricing, think about it this way.  A well-designed logo, even if for a small company should take at least 10-15 hours.  I personally would love to be able to allot much more, but that is rarely the case.  If you are paying a freelancer to do the work, consider that the freelancer has to pay all of his own taxes, provide his own healthcare and insurance, pay for rent if he has office space, and more.  Not only that, but much of his time must be spent taking care of accounting or bookkeeping, managing projects, marketing himself, etc.  That means that he can't simply charge a rate of $20/hr and survive.  Even if he were booked 40 hours per week at that rate, that's only $40,000/yr, likely significantly less than what the person asking for the logo makes, and that's before the aforementioned expenses.  Sadly, $200 ($20/hr for 10 hours) is right around what most people would like to pay for a logo, and suggests that they don't feel that designers deserve to make a liveable wage.  A more realistic freelance rate, keeping in mind that you're also paying for the availability to get your projects done in the near future, is around $50-60/hr.  That means that a 10 hour logo, which is a fairly simple logo, should be a minimum of $500, but in all honesty closer to $750 or $1000.

Many people think that price range is high, but before you write this off, consider all that your logo does.  You will have it for years if it is done well, and it will bring in plenty of business and opportunities for you.  You will more than make back that investment in a short amount of time.  So my final charge to you is this.  If you are a small business owner, a non-profit organizer, or anyone thinking about starting a company, make room in your budget for a logo and other design needs.  It is worth waiting and doing right.  Designers, stop underselling your product.  We all need to eat, and as long as people are willing to design for free or under sustainable levels, we all continue to suffer.