Is it ever a good idea to crowd source a logo design?

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!