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There is perhaps no greater indicator of your brand’s identity than its logo. Simplistic, symbolic, and memorable—your logo is the critical first impression made on an audience. As the public face of your brand and values, your logo must evoke everything there is to say about who you are, what you offer, and to whom you serve—and it must do it all in a manner that is unmistakable and instantly recognized in its message.
With so much at stake, how do you ensure your own logo meets these lofty expectations? For most business owners, designing your own logo is just not feasible nor recommended (unless you’re a designer or artist of some kind).
You’ll need to allocate enough funds to hire a custom logo design service or play it thrifty and entrust a budget-centric freelancer to get the job done. In this article, I’ll discuss some of the best places you can go to get a logo made for your business so you can decide what is right for your business’s needs and how much you are willing to invest.
Where to Get a Professional Logo Design?
Perform any kind of internet search for “custom logo design” and you’ll be faced with hundreds of thousands of options from self-proclaimed logo design companies and freelancers across the world. Some of them may be worth your time; most of them are not.
The wild frenzy of hungry designers out there can make for an overwhelming process to sift through and pick the good ones. Luckily, we’ve compiled a shortlist of places that should be your first stop in finding the right designer for the job. Each have their strengths and reasons for consideration; so with a little detective work you should be able to make an informed decision on which outlet is best for your business.
1. 99designs
The biggest draw to using 99designs for getting a logo made is the sheer number of options available to you, the client. Their service works in an interesting way: rather than choosing a single designer—who may or may not provide the logo that’s right for you—you are given dozens of potential, ready-to-go logos from designers who are all vying for your approval. The number of options provided and their level of quality depends on what pricing tier you’re willing to invest in.
For an all-inclusive resource in developing your brand’s logo, this is a fantastic service to consider. With a large pool of designers from across the world, 99designs simplifies the hiring process to ensure that the right logo finds its way to your eyes. Their on-staff experts even offer design consultation if you need help determining a direction for your brand’s design. And with a money-back guarantee, it’s hard to go wrong for finding high-quality, valuable work.
How 99designs Works
Essentially you are creating a week-long design contest in which you provide information on your business and what you’re looking for, then designers pour in and submit their takes on your logo. Throughout the week you can rate, comment, and make suggestions on these submissions until the perfect logo has been designed. The designer responsible for the winning logo then takes home the pre-allocated cash prize, and you walk away with your new logo.
2. Looka
Looka (formerly Logojoy) takes a DIY approach to building your brand’s logo. Well… sort of. Yes, you will be the sole driving force in determining the overall aesthetic of your logo—but the actual heavy lifting is accomplished by designers of a somewhat… artificial variety. Robots, that is. Okay, maybe not the man-eating, science fiction type of robots—but your brand’s image is most certainly in the hands of artificial intelligence rather than the organic intuition of a flesh-and-bones designer.
The future is now. Technology merges with art to create a service that makes it fun for a business owner to take control of their logo design process. Looka employs advanced algorithms and technical wizardry to produce countless logos for you on the fly, where you can then walk away with a finished product for under a hundred bucks. For a little extra money, you can even get a logo made by real-life humans in a one-hour design consultation. Overall it’s a pretty novel approach to empowering DIY’ers, and one that admittedly can (sometimes) yield impressive results.
How Looka Works
You start by providing your company name. To help the design algorithms know where to begin you are first presented with many existing logo examples, and you must choose five or so that best embody the aesthetic you’re looking for. After that you are instantly given dozens upon dozens of ready-made options. Favorite the ones you like; ignore the ones you don’t. The process continues by further honing the right design through font, icon, and color choice. You are then presented your shiny new logo along with all the assets you need—all at an affordable price!
3. Upwork
The largest online freelancing platform in the world for services ranging from copywriting to web development, Upwork hosts hundreds of thousands of affordable logo designers to choose from. Upwork is fundamentally a gateway to connect you in a one-on-one working relationship with a freelancer. All payment transactions and legal stuff is handled through Upwork’s platform; after that, it is entirely up to you to decide what you’re willing to spend for a logo, when you would like it due, and who the right person for the job is based on their provided portfolio and bid.
How Upwork Works
You first sign up for a client account, where you are then free to post jobs for as many services you need fulfilled. In your job description be sure to adequately describe the requirements of the design and anything else that will help freelancers send the most detailed proposals possible. Decide on a specific number for your budget, if you prefer to pay hourly or a flat rate, and whether you’re looking to attract Beginner, Intermediate or Expert designers for the job. Ultimately though the exact details of the contract will be worked out between you and the freelancer you choose. You’ll typically receive anywhere from 20-50 proposals for a custom logo design gig, in which you can then interview the best candidates through Upwork’s integrated voice and text system.
Upon choosing your designer, the contract begins and you then await the freelancer to submit his or her work. The best experiences come from good communication, so be sure you’re there to readily answer any questions the designer has. When the designer submits the logo for your approval you can choose to accept the work as is or continue the process through revisions. Once everyone’s happy, the contract ends and you pay the agreed upon amount for the logo. Finally, you write a short review of the freelancer, which counts towards their public rating that can either help or hinder future procurement of work. Be aware though that the freelancer also writes a review of you—so professionalism and courtesy are important to maintain throughout the process, as negative ratings can affect your ability to outsource work again on the platform.
4. DesignCrowd
Another large community of freelance artists, DesignCrowd is home to over 500,000 designers across the world and provides another interesting option to get a logo made. Very similar to 99designs, these freelancers are all vying for the chance that you’ll pick their logo submission out of the dozens you’ll receive for the job. Where things differ a bit here is the flexibility in pricing; you are not locked to a set price tier but can decide on a specific number that matches your budget. There are some posting fees, however, so factor that into your overall investment.
You can let the designers come to you, or if you’re feeling proactive and want to find the best freelancer yourself there is a searchable database of portfolios where you can invite a designer to your job. The abundance of submissions, the flexibility in pricing, and the money back guarantee make DesignCrowd a worthy place for obtaining a logo that meets any requirement.
How DesignCrowd Works
Post your logo desires in a design brief that outlines what you need, the budget you have allocated for the job, and include any useful information that will help designers hone in on the right approach to your logo. The submissions will then flood in and by the end of the 3, 5, or 10-day contest deadline you will choose a winning design. Full copyright and design ownership is then handed over.
5. Fiverr
Ah, Fiverr. The freelancing marketplace you’ve probably already heard so much about. It’s made quite a splash among online communities for its true-to-self bargain prices. Some are in praise of this business model; others are not so keen. Despite the point of contention among freelancers, it’s really you, the client, who benefits from this type of service. For a business on a tight budget, there’s really no better place to turn to.
When you decide to go with Fiverr you really need to understand what it is you’re getting into. No, not everything is just $5 (some logos can cost you up to $20, maybe even $100!) but this is unmistakably a resource where many designers are willing to work for very low wages. This means they are either inexperienced or they live in a country where $5 goes much further than it does in more developed nations. Some of these designers can actually offer you impressive, professional-quality work. Yet it’s a bit of a free-for-all here, so be warned that you will often receive exactly what you pay for. You should also be wary of plagiarized work, as some fraudulent freelancers will try to make a quick buck by stealing others’ designs.
How Fiverr Works
Fiverr offers an intuitive and well-designed search engine that will quickly narrow down designers for you based on some chosen parameters. According to their website, the quickest way to find the perfect designer is to first choose a logo design style you like (flat, hand-drawn, vintage, etc.), then enter your budget range, and finally what your proposed deadline is. You’re then presented with an extensive list of designers to sift through based on their portfolios.
Each designer has their own profile page where they detail their pricing packages, which, depending on the individual, can range in delivery times, number of revisions, and source files included in design delivery. When you find a freelancer you like, you simply order the package you want and the designer gets to work. If all goes well, you are then handed an amazing (and affordable!) logo that exceeds your wildest dreams.
But Fiverr’s logo design services don’t stop there. They recently also launched the Fiverr Logo Maker, an AI-powered logo generator. It’s a quick and affordable way to get a logo design, although it’s not exactly custom-made. While logos are created by real Fiverr designers, they are generic logos that are customized based on your industry and preferences. Still, with packages starting at $30, it’s an attractive alternative if you don’t quite have the budget for a decent custom logo (more on that below!).
6. crowdspring
crowdspring – not to be confused with DesignCrowd, although it does a similar thing – is another online platform for sourcing designers and creatives. And like 99designs and DesignCrown, it also allows you to run design contests, offering the services of over 200,000 designers.
So what’s the difference? To be honest, not much. Pricing tends to be pretty on par with competitors, with logo design packages starting at $299, and they also offer customer service and a money-back guarantee. You can also contract one-on-one services if you’d prefer not to go down the contest route.
The main difference is that crowdspring goes beyond design to provide copywriting services too, but that’s probably not super relevant to your logo design project (unless you also want a new brand name and slogan created).
How crowdspring Works
crowdspring isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here – its process of getting a logo made is very similar to 99designs’. You answer a few questions about your business and requirements, as well your preferred styles and color schemes, then select from one of four logo design packages, ranging from $299 – $1,199 (the latter giving you access to premium and elite designers only, plus ‘VIP’ support). It’s as easy as a briefing process can be, which is a great time saver.
It’s perhaps a slightly more streamlined experience than what 99designs offers, mainly because it skips the step of having to review logo designs upfront to indicate the styles you like, but I’m not sure that’s hugely advantageous in the end (after all, being able to provide visual examples of what you like will help designers understand your requirements better).
Typically, you’ll receive design submissions over a period of 1 week, although you can shorten or lengthen that time if needed (there’s an extra cost associated with the former).
What Do Custom Logo Design Services Typically Cost?
This is the question you’re probably most concerned with—and it’s difficult to determine what the value of a logo should be. Marketing and design costs can potentially run quite high, and as such this is often an area where savvy business owners try to cut corners or do it themselves. In some cases this can be successfully done—but don’t let a logo’s deceptively simple nature fool you: there’s a lot of thought and care that goes into crafting a good one. Don’t expect the world’s greatest logo for just a few bucks. But you can also breathe easy knowing that there’s a logo budget available for pretty much anyone.
All in all, the average price to pay for getting a good logo made is anywhere from $200-1000.
Any less than that and you may risk ending up with something that does more harm than good for your brand. Any more than that and you could quite honestly be overspending if you’re just a small business.
DID YOU KNOW? The famous Nike swoosh logo was commissioned back in 1971 for a mere $35. But what did Pepsi pay for their logo redesign in 2008? One million dollars!
How Much Time Does it Take to Get a Logo Made?
There are plenty of designers out there—particularly on Fiverr—who promise they can crank out a finished logo for you in under 24 hours. While this isn’t necessarily impossible, it should probably raise a red flag for you. What level of quality can you expect from such a fast turnaround?
Logo design is not something that can be churned out within minutes. A designer must research and understand your business. They need to familiarize themselves with your market. They must come to an educated decision on what colors, symbols and fonts will best evoke the essence of your brand. This is no small feat. That’s also the reason why logo makers usually don’t deliver great results.
Don’t expect your designer to get it right on the first try either. Revision is a necessity for all creative work—but logo design in particular requires some very fine tuning. Logos are by nature nothing more than symbols. And there is great power—visually, psychologically, and subconsciously—in symbols. Bear this in mind during the revision process: the slightest alteration of a symbol can completely change its meaning, so take the necessary time to ensure your logo’s meaning is clear and intended.
Having said all that, 1-2 weeks is likely the proper amount of time to allow for conception to finished logo. If it’s taking longer than a month you may want to check in and make sure your designer isn’t sleeping on the job…
BOTTOM LINE: Every business owner wants to save money where they can—and commissioning a custom logo shouldn’t completely break the bank. But it is important for your brand! With so much riding on the proper presentation of your business, remember not to skimp on this investment. Don’t rush or neglect the process, and don’t overlook its significance. And please: DON’T buy a $5 logo. Just don’t.
Logo Trend: Debranding
If you’re about to get a logo designed you probably want to know more about current logo trends. Because so much Internet-content is being consumed on mobile devices, logos started to get more simplistic. This trend is called “Debranding”. Watch this 3-minute video to learn more about it:
Conclusion
The Internet has completely changed the landscape of custom logo design. No longer do businesses need to seek out large marketing agencies to produce their company logo; the talent pool and resources are now easily available to you—and often will come directly to you to answer the call.
You can still pay premium prices if you prefer, but there are literally millions of capable freelancers out there who can craft a worthy logo for you at an affordable price. And with the six resources we’ve listed above, your logo commissioning process is now as simple and reliable as possible.
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