The competition in the technology industry is always a cutthroat one, and the companies realize that for them to stand out from the ground, branding is very important, and this begins with the design of the company logo. A beautiful logo won’t just make the company appear professional, but also will be memorable amongst the potential audiences and in so doing, the company has a chance to build a strong and a lasting brand in the minds of their customers. Whereas there are many tech companies with extremely gorgeous logos, some not already famous, below are the ones with the hottest logos currently.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a file storage company providing users with the ability to store and share files in the cloud. The company is relatively new, yet it has become immensely popular because it has negated the need for people to constantly walk with their memory sticks. Perhaps the other reason for the popularity of the company is its awesomely designed logo. It is simple, easily recognizable and a single glance at it will let you know immediately what the company deals in.

Storific

This is an app that allows its users to order food using their phones and they get notified with the food is ready for pickup. The logo features handwritten lettering on a bright blue background. It is beautiful, stylish and elegant, exuding a nice and warm personality.

Jelly

Jelly is a new tech company founded by Biz Stone, Twitter Co-founder. It is a platform where people can ask questions and get responses from other members and it is designed to be used by mobile devices, but allows for seamless integration with the social media websites. Just like Dropbox, Jelly’s logo is ultra clean, stylish and very simple. It depicts a shape of a white jelly fish against a light green background.

Snapchat

Snapchat is now one of the most popular social networks, and it uses a mascot as the logo. The logo is minimalist against a yellow background. The choice of the mascot is derived from the premises of the platform, in the sense that messages disappear immediately after they have been viewed. In this manner, it is like a ghost, since you won’t access the message again, and the choice of the logo has worked very well for the branding and overall success of the tech company.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a startup tech company which allows designers, artists, musicians and other professionals in the creative industry to have easy to build websites. Their logo features a beautifully elegant design, minimalist in nature and it can be easily recognized. The fact that the font is in white against a black background makes it conspicuous enough and it easily stands out from the rest.

Simple

Simple was created with a bold idea of replacing the high street bank. The design of the company logo is as simple as the company’s name – it is a beautiful design which will help you see as you spend your money. The logotype is all in uppercase, looking stern but professional.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a tech company that allows businesses and internet marketers to collect email addresses for purpose such as email marketing, and newsletter distribution. It is one of the top autoresponder companies you will ever come across in the present times. Their logo is a very simple logotype with the name with the name of the company written in a playful font against a white background. It is the perfect definition of minimalism in logo design.

Visual.ly

This is a startup tech company dedicated to creating different kinds of infographics to aid in presenting information in a more interesting way. Their logo features a sweetly designed logo mark which relates to its visual approach to data and it is well suited for the company.

GitHub

GitHub is a tech company that allows for code storage in the cloud and it’s a service that has grown immensely in terms of popularity. They have made it easier for programmers and developers in different parts of the world to share code with one another and also to work on projects together. GitHub’s logo is an interesting and a quirky one, perhaps to depict the personality of the company, which is now the most preferred for people working on open source projects. Their logo is half mascot and half cat and they have named it as “The Octocat”.

Hall

Hall is a communication app designed for businesses. It has various chat rooms that can only be accessed by the people who work for the respective companies. The Hall logo design is simple, clean and easy to recognize.

Check out why Uber’s head of design quit here!

The post The Hottest New Tech Company Logos appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

It is also disgusting to see some half-baked designers overprice their services. Yet, they don’t have the competency to give quality work. As a professional designer, it pays to understand the dynamics of pricing design works so that you are adequately remunerated for your skills and expertise.

Pricing design work features two components: Costing and then the actual price that you will charge your customers. On costing, you will have to consider all the financial facts such as the actual costs you incur in completing the design project.

Pricing, on the other hand, is more of an art than a science. You may have to play around with the figures before you finally settle on one that works best for your services. Presented here are some of the strategies you can employ when pricing design work-:

The Cost Price

As mentioned earlier, the cost price refers to the expenses you incur to produce the work, and this is the foundation of your business. You need to identify the “break-even” point where your expenses will equal your income.

Once you identify this point, you can mark up the price with a couple of dollars so that when pricing your design work, you don’t end up making losses. If everything goes wrong, you should never price your design work below the breakeven point. It won’t make any sense, and you will only be making losses.

The Market Rate

The other method of pricing design work is to use the market rate or the going rate. This is simply by evaluating what you competitors are asking for when offering the same services as you. Using the market rate in pricing design work is very common if you are in a competitive market with lots of designers competing for the same number of clients.

Sometimes you may be compelled to go slightly below the market rate to attract clients, especially if you are a new designer, and you need to build your portfolio and start getting the initial clients. This method of pricing design work will be common if you decide to offer you services as a freelancer in the freelancing marketplaces.

Value-Based Pricing

Value-based pricing is another approach you may want to consider when pricing design work. With this approach, you price you design work based on the value that it will add to your clients. When you use this method to price your design work, you won’t just give a quote for any design work that comes your way. Instead, you will set up a meeting with the clients and find out the particular things they are looking for. This includes the design, the challenges they are currently facing, and how you services are going to improve their operations as a business.

After evaluating these and many other factors, you will present the client with a proposal that will create high value for your business. Since you will be providing them with a high-value solution, you can then go ahead and quote more for your design services.

Credibility Building Price

There are certain occasions when you may want to work with some high profile clients with limited budgets. In such a situation, pricing your design work may not be guided by your need to make a profit. Instead, by a desire to build good credibility with such clients for a future working relationship.

You can decide to work for a slightly lower fee. This way can you build trust with them and make them have you as the go-to designer in case they will need your services in the future. You must, however, refrain from working for such clients for free unless you have decided to volunteer your services. If you work for them for free, there are no guarantees that they will pay for your services in the future.

Discounted Pricing

Discounted pricing is very rampant in the creative industry. When pricing design work using the discounted pricing method, all you are doing is offering discounts so that your prices are slightly lower that what the rest are offering in the market. This is especially important during low seasons when designs works are hard to come by. With your discounted rates, you will be in a position to attract a few of the customers available at that moment.

Retainer Pricing

Pricing design work can also be done on a retainer basis. This refers to a recurring fee that is charged for standardized work. Pricing design work on retainer basis is useful if you are working with large clients who supply you with regular work and you don’t need to have a confirmation for each and every project you do. It leads to a steady supply of work and income, only that it can stop at any time if you didn’t sign any binding contract in the beginning.

Keep your pricing in mind looking at the world’s most expensive logos!

The post How to Price Design Services: Pricing Design Work appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Other than the prizes offered in the design contests, the possibility of landing clients is another reason people enter such contests. This is also why the contests are always swarmed with lots of new designers or the less experienced ones because they hope to win and attract new clients to jump start their design careers.

If you think of contests as a marketing platform, then you are very wrong and you will be disappointed at the end of each design contest. Especially if you are not among the winners, and this will be the case most of the times. To illustrate to you why it is not worth it entering the design contests, consider the following.

You risk not being paid

A typical graphics design contest will attract participants in their hundreds if not thousands. Most of the time, every participant will be required to submit more than one design, with ten being the average number for most of them. It implies that you will have to spend your time working on all the designs and submit them within the deadline. With the large number of participants, your chances of becoming the winner or even the first or second runners up are very slim.

Since these are the people who will be rewarded in the graphic design contests, there are no guarantees that you will make it to the final list. And if you are lucky enough to be among the winners, still there are no guarantees that you will be paid or get the designated prize for the winner. Therefore, there is no need to spend your precious time doing some great work, and ultimately get nothing for your sweat.

No other industry holds contests like the design industry

I know you think of the graphics design contests positively, but have you taken time to think if the same is happening in other industries? Would you go to five different dentists to fill your tooth then decide the one you will be paying? Or would you invite ten different plumbers to clear your kitchen sink then decide to pay the one whom you think did a great job in clearing the clog. Or, would you walk into a restaurant and order ten different dishes, try each one to find the one you enjoy the most then request to pay only for the one which you think satisfy you the most?

This is exactly what is going in with the design contests. Taking part in such contests is allowing yourself to get exploited by some ruthless people who probably don’t even care how your face looks like. It is only in this industry that it happens, and it should be stopped.

Design Contest makes the industry cheaper and also compromises quality

With the lack of guarantee of payment and the fact that not everyone’s design will be picked, there is a tendency for the participating designers to relax and not give their best in the design works. If you want clients to value your work, time, and skills in graphics design so that they can pay good money for your services, then you must stop thinking of contests as the best places to find such people.

Design Contests can be addicting – bad for the psychology

When you enter too many contests and you don’t win, you will get discouraged and disheartened and doubt your skills and abilities as a graphics designer. For many people, this is always the norm until they win one. When this happens, you feel very happy and elated so that you enter more contents, hoping to win again.

This creates a cycle of highs and lows in your psychology such that all your emotions and inspirations will be pegged around the design contests. Eventually, you will lose the focus needed to concentrate on your professions and develop your skills to become a better designer.

Lazy shortcut

Finally, the design contest is nothing but a lazy and time costly shortcut to getting clients. This is because nothing is required to enter the contests other than the click of a mouse, which you can do while sugaring your coffee at home. It comes with no obligations whatsoever, and you don’t have to do the designs if you don’t want.

The Solution

Get yourself out of those contests and work on proper approaches to enhancing your skills so that you can get high paying clients. Simply say goodbye to the contests.

Use these tools for color combination inspiration!

The post Is it Worth Entering a Graphic Design Contest? appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Some of these methods involve the use of decent graphics, choice of words, and sometimes it relies on the core activities that the business engages in. A potential customer may be observant enough to take note of how you conduct your business and then decide to work with you simply by that. Nonetheless, here are some methods you can use to catch your customer’s eye and make them come back to you each and every time.

Give the clients a reason to come to you

Instead of going out and trying to target customers to buy your products or services, simply give them a reason they need to come for your products or services. In most cases, you are likely to be dealing in a niche industry with other several players, but you will always have a particular target customers in that niche.

All you have to do is to tell your audience the specific reasons on how your products or services will address the particular challenges or problems they have in that niche. The product or service must not bring life changing results to the customers, but since it will offer a solution to a pressing need the clients have, they will listen to you and have a reason to trust you if your product delivers on your words. This is the first thing you need to if you want to catch your customer’s eye.

Quality will always beat quantity

Customers care about nothing other than the quality of the products or services you are trying to get them to purchase. You may have the best marketing machinery in the world and hire the best sales team in the whole planet, but if you are selling low-quality products are simple knockoffs, you will never manage to target customers. When the negative reviews start to trickle in, it will spell the end for your business.

The best way to catch your customer’s eye is to offer high quality products and services. Customers always want the best value for their money, and you won’t struggle so much for their attention if you can offer good products or services.

Always be yourself

Being unique or simply being yourself when you want to target customers is vital. When you are trying to stand out from the crowd, you don’t have to bother yourself with trying to conform to trends or fads that are here today and will be gone by tomorrow. The real potential customers will appreciate if you will present them with something concrete that will be there a few months down the line.

In this regard, therefore, it pays for every business owner to realize what they are good at and capitalize on it so that they can use it to catch the eyes of the customers. A clear understanding of your competitive advantage is what will make you stand out from the crowd, and if you can package it well in your marketing message, then you will have no problems when you want to catch your customer’s eyes.

Work with target customers

Even with the best quality products and services backed with a good marketing budget, you will get dismal results if you market to a general audience. Every business is in place to solve a particular need or problem for the client. If you want to catch your customer’s eyes, therefore, it is imperative that you identify your target audience and market to them effectively.

This might imply that you conduct a comprehensive market research so that you unearth who your real customers are and also to come with the most effective advertising strategies to help you catch their attention. Without this, you may be unable to catch your customer’s eye, and all your branding and marketing efforts may not bring any results.

The right pricing

The other effective method to catch your customer’s eyes is to use the right pricing structure. It is important to realize that with the advent of the internet, most consumers do a lot of research and read several reviews before they decide to make a purchase. In most of the instances, they want a good compromise between price and quality, and if you can manage to offer just that to them, then you will succeed in catching the eyes of your customers.

There are other things you could do in your business to catch your customer’s eye, but these are the most important ones. Of course, you also need to be keen on the kind of graphics you use in your branding since human beings are color oriented and will respond to beautiful and high quality marketing graphics.

Learn more about building a brand here!

The post How To Catch a Customer’s Eye appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Breweries are among the oldest companies in the world.

A closer look at some of the most successful ones will reveal to you that it was not the content of the beer in their bottles that made people fall in love with them, but their marketing strategies and branding techniques play an enormous role in setting them apart from the crowd.

And when talking about marketing and branding, logos will always be an integral part.

By just looking at the following liquor brand logos, you will get thirsty and wish for your favorite beer immediately:

Bass Brand Logo

The Bass brand logo is one of the most famous ones you will ever come across in the beer industry.

It features the famous red triangle that you will never miss however drunk you are.

The logo is clear, distinct and highly unmistakable.

One intriguing thing about this beer brand logo is that it was the first ever to be trademarked in the United Kingdom, way back in 1876.

Budweiser

Budweiser is one of the more well known beer brands in the world and whenever you lay your eyes on the logo, you will have a strong urge to get a sip of this refreshing beer.

Other than the remarkable fonts of the writing, the logo has a seal at the center, displaying the names of the four continents – Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, with the America resting beneath it.

Heineken

You will never fail to recognize the Heineken beer brand logo whenever you see it in any country in the world.

The bright red star in the logo stands out in an iconic way when seeing the logo.

It is suggested that now the famous star was included by the breweries in the Middle Ages, and it was believed to have mystical powers to protect the brews.

Later on, Alfred Heineken redesigned the logo to have a smiling letter “e” because he wanted it to look friendlier to the consumers.

Blue Moon Beer Logo

The blue crystal design in the Blue Moon Beer logo is a reminder that after a long day of work, everyone should gather around for some enjoyment.

Though one of the more simple logos, the logo holds meaning beyond what is shown.

Guinness

Guinness is another another beer that is known very well.

The immense popularity of the Guinness beer brand can be attributed to the quality of the drink but its logo may have something to do with bringing in its customers.

The logo has a unique type of harp – the Brian Borus Harp, which s the oldest surviving Celtic harp, and is currently being preserved at Trinity College.

Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle Brown Ale logo is another beer logo that will make you long for the drink whenever you see it.

The beer is one of the most profitable brands among the breweries.

It also has a strong logo to complement its marketing efforts.

The logo has a five point blue star representing the five founding breweries of Newcastle.

In the middle of the star is Newcastle’s skyline merged with the famous Tyne Bridge.

On the sides of the logo, you will see the 1928 International Breweries Award medal, which was awarded to the company during its first year of operations.

National Bohemian Beer

Seeing Mr. Boh winking at you tells you that it’s time to pick up a can of beer and enjoy.

No one knows why the National Bohemian Beer has the image of Mr. Boh with one eye, but it is suggested that you only need one eye to choose a good beer – National Bohemian Beer.

Amstel Bier Logo

Though Heineken acquired it in 1968, Amstel Bier Logo hasn’t changed a lot.

It still maintained the distinctive and contrasting colors of red, white and gold.

Being that gold is a royal color, having it in the logo would show that this drink signifies its royalty.

Besides, Amtel is a renowned brand producing one of the most loved beers in the world.

Carlsberg

Carlsberg is one of the largest brewery groups in the world with a clear and distinctive logo.

The predominant colors in the logo feature green, white, red and gold to signify energy, passion, purity, excellence and the rich tradition that the brand has inked as their own to this day.

Stella Artois

Stella Artois is one of the oldest breweries in the world, and it has been in operation since in 1366.

Surprisingly, the brewery has not altered its logo largely from the very original concept.

It still retains its authenticity and seeing it will give you the desire to have a sip of the sweet and refreshing taste of the liquor.

Check out these 6 popular crowd sourced logos!

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AppMaven LLC or LogoMaven is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on this post. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The post Awesome Beer Logos appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

It’s difficult to actually suggest how much money you should pay for your logo especially if you are planning on getting a custom logo completed. There are a number of big factors to consider in the cost of a logo. Keep in mind that there are definitely budget options available but when it comes to getting a professional custom logo, you will often have to pay a little bit more or at least expect to pay a little bit more.

Some of the most popular logos in history have been designed by large-scale design teams and many top companies often employ entire advertising agencies to handle their rebranding effort. Tying up this amount of resources could mean that a professional logo design may cost thousands of dollars rather than just a few hundred.

You may have seen a number of freelancers online as well as trendy logo generation tools that can help you to create a logo quickly and for a price that’s anywhere between $10 to $100. The problem with some of these services is that you can often end up with an inferior logo especially when it’s compared next to one that has been custom created by a professional designer.

The most common arranged pay for professional logo services:

The most common range fracture getting a professional graphic designer to complete your logo is anywhere between $300-$500. This is normally just for one designer to look at your work and to use professional tools like Adobe Illustrator to create several mockups, one of which will become your logo. While many people would consider this kind of money to be extremely expensive for trendy logo design, the truth is a lot goes into the process of logo design. The average designer needs to not only meet with the client but prepare multiple options using their ideas in drafts. It’s a process that takes hours in the studio as well as several customer service consultations. A designer will also often adjust their prices depending on their experience. A skilled designer will be able to develop a more impactful product as well as deliver on industry trends. Skilled designers are also much more in demand so they require a bit of extra price to reflect their education as well as to reserve time with them based off of the demand in their industry.

In dealing with a larger company however were you will have several designers and marketers available for your custom logo design, you may pay upwards of $1000 or more. This type of design work is usually reserved for professionals because it can eat into an advertising budget as well as take a little bit longer to complete. A full-scale design agency will be able to provide the best product for logo design because they have done the research to examine industry trends. Design agencies also go a step further by putting multiple designers into the product to improve workflow. By working with an agency you might get access to several different design mockups, a bit faster workflow and a far trendier product in the end. Using this option however is usually best reserved for rebranding when you have a highly established company that needs to remain competitive. This isn’t an option that many startups use.

What to consider in the price:

There are a number of big considerations that you can take into account when it comes to justifying the price you pay for a logo. While it is nice to save money in the cost of marketing tools, a trendy logo has a huge impact on the future of your business and may one day be the face of your brand. An investment on front even if it is a little expensive can add extensive value later on. Here are some of the top considerations that you should take into account when you look at the total price of your logo design.

• You will be using your logo for at least a decade: A custom logo design price isn’t something that you have to front too often. So the most iconic brands of only change a little bit even through their 100+ years in business. Most logo designs are used for around a decade so if you divide the cost amongst all of the months or years your logo will be in use, the price really doesn’t seem that bad.
• The service you will be receiving: A $25 logo may be something that you can get quickly but most likely the logo designer isn’t going to take into consideration industry trends, give you multiple copies of the logo or even let you look at several different drafts in the process of creating your logo. $25 doesn’t account for a lot of time or customer service and often these types of logos are created using templates or outsourced work. For a little bit higher price you could be working with an experienced industry professional who will be using the same tools Coca-Cola and other major brands utilize for their logo designs.
• Overall quality: Paying a bit more to have quality that you can stand behind is extremely important. Your brand and your custom logo reflects who you are as a company and with a highly polished, trendy logo you can instill trust in your target market almost immediately. This is worth investment and worth paying the price for.

Keep these top considerations in mind when paying for a logo.

Check out how often you should revamp your logo here!

The post How Much Should You Pay For a Custom Logo? appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

If you are fretting about the cost of a potential rebranding effort or trying to decide if a few hundred dollars is worth the cost of a logo don’t feel as though you are getting ripped off. It’s guaranteed that there are large corporations that have spent far more money on logos than you have. A logo is extremely important for website and for a business and the cost of a logo is heavily contested amongst industry professionals. For the world’s largest companies, any budget is justifiable and for industry designers landing one large client could keep them in work for a lifetime. Large companies are prepared to spend especially when they are guaranteed that a logo will be valuable to their business and help their brand sky rocket to the top. It is this line of thinking that has definitely worked to create some the most expensive logos in the world.

We have created a list of some of the five most expensive logos ever developed. Most of these logos come from worldwide organizations and companies who signed a blank check to get logos that would convert. Here are the five most expensive logos in the world:

BBC:

The BBC underwent a logo redesign in the year 1997. While many people criticize the BBC for spending money on its operations and are a variety of different other pursuits, their rebranding effort is perhaps one of the most expensive aspects of BBC operations. The BBC had a traditional style logo that was displayed on many broadcasts and sometimes at the bottom of advertising. The current logo which was launched in your 1997 still continues to be displayed across BBC advertising, programming and more. The rebrand actually has one of the longest running times that of any other BBC logo ever created. Part of the reason why the BBC has been running the same monochrome logo since the year 1997 is that it cost $1.8 million to rebrand the network and to create just the logo alone. It may be some time before the BBC can actually find executives that will agree to a logo redesign after the last bill.

ANZ:

ANZ is a company that was founded in 1835 and currently operates in 30 countries around the world. The company’s logo was designed by M&C Saatchi and features three main pieces that distinguish the three core markets that the company is in. Although ANZ is still currently one of the largest banks in the world and the third-largest bank in Australia, they paid an astounding $15 million for their logo.

Posten Norge:

This company was founded in 1647 as a Postal Service for Norway. The company still operates today and under the same name. In the year 2008 the post office wanted to rebrand and created a modern logo with the help of a design studio. Tradition was extremely important and the logo had to incorporate elements of Norwegian coloring as well as some of the past logo influences. When the logo was finally created the bill totaled an astounding $55 million. That places it at number three for the most expensive logos.

Accenture:

Accenture decided to rebrand in the year 2000 after Andersen consulting got rid of their contract with the accounting group. Accenture was born as a result of the agreement and they needed a brand-new message to convey that they were moving forward. The goal of the logo redesign was to create an accent on the future  and the price of this rebranding effort was actually astounding considering the minimal changes that actually took place. Accenture may not hold the title for the most expensive logo of all time, but they are commonly referred to as one of the worst and most expensive rebranding failures of all time. The new logo was unimaginative and has been used since the year 2000. The shocking thing is that it came in at the tune of $100 million to create. This simple text logo with a quick accent on top looks like a logo that somebody could have made in an evening but with a price tag like this many design agencies are probably kicking themselves that they weren’t the ones with the contract.

Symantec:

The most expensive logo designing history isn’t one that we can measure and millions of dollars. When verisign rebranded itself as Symantec they wanted to make a statement. The major enterprise firm needed to change its standing in the market and begin providing solutions to mid-market leaders as well as major corporations. It may be tough for any other company to justify spending this much on its logo for some time and due to the costs associated with this rebrand, Symantec is heavily regarded as one of the most astounding rebrands ever. The total cost of this logo creation is estimated at around 1.28 billion dollars.

Your logo may seem like a bargain after all looking at these expensive logo design creations.

Check out how to capture a customer’s eye in this past post!

The post Expensive Logos From All Around the World appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

A new industry trend that is taking the design world by storm is developing logos using a special crowd sourcing technique. Managing a project like a logo development process can be extremely difficult and not many small businesses can actually afford the higher a full design agency.

Agencies handle a number of different creation tasks when it comes to a typical logo design. They can perform research into your target market, looking to trends for your industry select the right color palette for your needs, identify images that stand in line with your corporate culture and select the right typeface/ design elements that will make up your logo. Paying for all these elements from the perspective of an entrepreneur or small business can seem like an unobtainable process.

Crowd sourced logo design is a new tool that many are using in logo creation because a large group or community can work to produce designs and ideas in the same way that a design firm would but in a much faster way.

The way that a traditional crowd sourcing campaign works is you outline your budget and roughly what you need from a perspective logo design. After paying your retainer into a crowd sourcing platform you will be given a number of different options from a series of designers online as well as a limited number of revisions on the logos that you like. Often, you could be presented with 10 to 15 different ideas and you will then be tasked to pick the designer or contributor that is the closest to finding your brand identity.

While crowd sourcing can be a cheaper and faster option than designing a logo with the help of a graphic design firm, it does have a few problems that can make many industry professionals squirm.

Pros:

• You can stay on budget: The average advertising agency may charge you thousands of dollars to produce a quality logo that works for your target market and showcases your brand culture. Most of these advertising agencies also require you to submit a retainer or around a third of the total money owing to secure your project. Crowdsourcing allows you to get results for a budget that you are comfortable with.
• You can have many options: you may not have a clear vision of what your logo should look like but on some sites you could find yourself getting 10’s of options for your budget or even hundreds of options just by posting a request online. Having more options can be useful for improving your train of thought on your logo and for finding something that you really like. Crowd sourced logo design can almost always offer you mockups from multiple design firms without having to risk any extra retainer or capital.
• Building a brand buzz: Just by posting your request online you can get prospective customers excited about your brand as well as have an opportunity for some free public relations by opening up your logo design. In order to get the most feedback and designs possible you can share your campaign to build up the buzz surrounding your product/ brand.
• Pushing the edge of design: many design firms often play it safe so that they can please the vast majority of clients and maintain business relations. Rather than showcasing some edgy designs many of the top design firms often play it safe. Opening up your logo design to a larger crowd could help you find some new and creative designs that push the limits of modern logos in your industry.

Cons:

• No guarantee of experience: When you crowd sourced designs on most websites anyone can submit logo ideas. This means that you can get submissions from those that have marketing backgrounds and graphic design backgrounds and those that don’t. In some cases this means that you have zero guarantee that they have done any kind of market research or that they haven’t use some type of online template to produce the design. When working with an agency you only get access to designers who have education and who have produced successful results with expanding brands.
• Overwhelming choices: Most designers will present you with a few options based off of what is trending in your current market and what they feel reflects your corporate culture. With hundreds of potential designs to sort through and choose from you often won’t be saving any time with crowd sourced designs.
• Fees: Your budget isn’t utilized to the maximum amount with crowd sourced designs. Often they take a considerable percentage of 10 to 20% just for allowing you to post your campaign online.
• Work in advertising: In order to attract the best designers to your project you need to do a bit of legwork and actually advertise your crowd sourced logo design campaign. This can cut into your marketing budget as well as your time as a business owner.
• A big risk: When you stake your advertising budget and the future of your brand on a crowd sourced design you have a far greater chance of failure. Although a crowd funded design can offer you a better chance that a professional logo for a small budget, a crowd sourced logo often comes with far greater risks when widely used to expand your brand recognition.

Keep these pros and cons in mind if you are considering a crowd sourced logo design

Check out these top logos that were crowd sourced!

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Logo design is a skill and profession just like any other career out there. Every designer aspires to use their skills to grow as professionals and also as a source of income. The choice to give away logo for free or offer free logo design services is thus a prerogative of the service provider, in which case, it should never happen. The following are some of the reasons to discourage all graphic designers from giving away logos for free-:

It takes work to design a logo

Even though there are plenty of free logo design tools that can be used to create good looking logos within minutes, it takes more than tools for the creation of stellar logos. A considerable amount of time is expended in planning on how to create a versatile logo that will attract the attention of the target audience. And since time is money, giving away logo for free is just like giving away money or throwing your valuable time to the drains. You should therefore never think about free logo design.

You went to school to become a professional graphic designer

It is true that there are self-taught graphic designers, but this is just an exception and not the rule. Most of the professional designers attended some training or schooling to learn how to design professional logos. Such training definitely cost some money, commitment, and time. Hence, there is no logical reason to undergo all that only to come and give free logo designs. You shall have wasted your time and undermined the sacrifices you made to become a graphics designer.

The equipment and software used don’t come for free

The tools of the trade in logo design are not available for free. You need a computer and various software to make professional logos. You will have to spend money to acquire all these. Even if you rely on free tools from the Internet, you will still need resources to access the internet connection, and these will cost you money. Why, therefore, should you think about free logo design services?

Designing a professional logo is not a child’s play

The process of designing a professional logo takes time and a great deal of creative imagination. You need to think about the colors, fonts, target audience, images, etc. then bring them together to form a design. It is a skill that is continuously improved, and not everyone can comprehend and learn how to make professional logos. Footballers, athletes, doctors, Engineers are all paid for their skills, why should a graphic designer give away a logo for free?

You need to be paid for your experience

Perhaps you can give away a logo for free when you are still an amateur trying to attract clients and get their feet wet with graphics design. But for the seasoned professional, you have spent thousands of hours practicing and mastering your craft until now you can be called a professionals. It not that you started to design logos yesterday so that you give free logo designs. If every professional is paid for their experience, why is a graphics designer specializing in logos not compensated commensurately?

Success in your business will build on the logo

The logo is one of the most powerful marketing arsenals any business can have. Every success you get will be due to effective branding and marketing, of which the logo will play an instrumental role. Due to this, does it make any sense to offer logo design when it has the potential to take the business or the organization to greater heights of success?

Your logo will be there for many years

As the business grows, so does the brand, hence the logo. It implies that your logo will not be in use for just a short period, unless you are thinking of rebranding too soon. It will be there for as long as the business is in operation, continuing to sell your brand to all that sees it. Due to this, offering logo design services will be unfair since it will be beneficial to the business for many more years to come, yet you give it away from nothing.

However, there are certain cases when a designer might be tempted to offer free logo design services. For instance, when you are new in the market, and you are trying to build your portfolio, you can use free logo design as a low hanging fruit to win first customers and build your portfolio. Additionally, you can give free logo design services as an incentive to clients who purchase other graphic design services from you. Also, you can give away a logo for free is you decide to give back to the society by designing a professional logo to help a charity in furthering their course. However, you should never give away a logo for free.

Use this previous article to learn more about protecting the work you produce!

The post Should You Ever Give Away a Logo For Free? appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.