Blink Design Studios

Logo design, quality or quantity from your design provider?

I saw an interesting discussion topic pop up in one of the design groups on Linkedin today. The topic poster wanted to ask why designers seem to present lots of cheap logo designs over a single high quality well realised logo concept to their clients. With all the logo design competition sites and other low cost logo companies out there using stock to create generic logos on the cheap…  Is there still a market for the real unique and well thought out logos that designers can provide?

I would say a resounding ‘Yes’ to that. I think some businesses are drawn into thinking that a cheap logo is a good deal. However many know the intrinsic value long term that a good brand has. You only need look at any well branded company to know there is a distinct difference between the one man band with the stock or clip art logo, and larger successful corporations with logo which are works of art. A great and often cited example of logo design would Nike; whose “swoosh’” tick is so synonymous with the brand it works alone and has remained unchanged since it was created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson.

A logo is a companies personality and visual presence. Something which is vital and core to its impression on customers and clientele and which when done correctly – can be an amazing asset to the company’s success. A logo which is comic sans with a clip art image of a paintbrush may correctly show a company to be a small family weekend painting business, which might be exactly what you need. However, if you plan to grow the business or want to give an impression of a professional and reliable company, something more unique and designed may be in order.

A good logo designer will work with the client, sit down and talk about the business, what it does, it’s values and personality, it’s ideals and goals. Research will be conducted into competitors and other industries in the same sector to understand what the customer expects but also to ensure the logo created is unique. For example; If a small burger chain called Mickey’s came to me asking for a logo, a large red ‘M’ would be swiftly struck off the ideas list. This sounds obvious, however without proper brainstorming and research it is easy for companies in the same sector to end up with similar logos. This might end up in court appearances, or it may just mean that the company could have had a much better impact on it’s market had their logo been appropriate to their business and unique.

A logo is something a company sticks with for many years, often they revise and subtlety re brand – but the core elements of the logo remain for generations, from the Lloyds TSB horse to the Barclays’ shield, these ideas are always present and the company brand is identifiable in all guises. Another great example if the UPS logo – through many changes and evolutions it is still recognisable today as it’s core elements and fundamental values are spot on to the company’s values and services.

And I think anyone who is passionate about their company and it’s success will know this. Sure, there are lots of companies who will use design competition sites and get an off the shelf stock logo for £5. The question is – does this take business from real logo designers and brand managers? I think clients who value their brand will always turn to a designer they can collaborate with and trust for a quality product. Ones which will use cheap design sites will always opt for the cheaper option. In short, the customer has always had that choice and these sites and cheap offshore design rates and so on, have just made it easier to see this trend. Word Art or stock logos, these clients will always have opted for this route, and clients who want a logo to be proud of will always opt to find and work with a designer.

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Exerpt from the original discussion that prompted this post was the following:

“The question is, 3 cheap dumb logos to choose from or 1 well designed logo with a strong concept? I strongly believe that when it comes to design a logo there must be always a process of research, conceptualization and sketching to finally create a logo that has a meaning and a strong concept to support it. I despise those “50$ worth – 10 minutes logo designers” that degrade the whole art of creating a logo. Giving the client the option of choosing from more than one option makes the design cheap, lowering its quality.”

My reply on Linkedin – which prompted this blog post:

“I think there is a middle ground here. I can certainly understand your frustration with some aspects of the design community who may offer 5 logo designs each with 5 minutes spent on them, I think that clients who see the value in a quality service will head straight for more professional designers in an instant though.

I involve the client with the brainstorming process and present back three concepts based on that research and idea forming process. These are usually three concepts around the same or similar ideas. There are always more way than one to design a logo which will work for the clients business; You only need give the same brief to five different designers to see how many approaches can be found which all answer that brief correctly.

I definitely agree designs should be well thought out and distinct, each one should be a well crafted and realised idea if presented fully artworked up – or many sketchy ideas can be put together at the brainstorming stage scamped out on paper to help the client choose a direction before you put together the final design. Either way, several ideas can all be ‘right’ and multiple ideas can also be quality work. I often present my preferred route first with the others as secondary if I feel one is stronger, but I will always present ideas which I feel are all valid and correctly meet their brief.

When quoting a logo and branding project I always offer the client a reduced quote for several scamped ideas and one fully realised logo design, or a full option with more research, scamps worked out with them in a brainstorming session and several fully artworked concepts, so they have a choice which route to take. It is never a case of one logo in a set time frame or three logos created in the same amount of time, but always a thought out process whereby each logo is given the full time and attention it deserves. The number of designs and revisions is dependant on the clients budget and scope so the work is always high quality regardless of the number of concepts presented. ”

If you are a member of Design Talk on Linkedin you can follow the discussions here.

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