"Have a logo? It's easy! It's a matter of two or three strokes of the pen and that's it the logo is done."
It's time to get that idea out of your head. A logo takes a lot of work and thought. That's why it should be designed by a professional. But let's not dwell on it, let's get down to business.
Anne-Laure Compain
The logo is essential for the development of a brand, but sometimes it is not enough work. And unfortunately, it is often a question of budget. Today, it is possible to have a logo for 0€ or on the contrary for tens of thousands of euros.
But where does such a difference come from?
Why can a logo cost so much?
And a logo at 0€, what is it really worth?
We will answer all his questions and reassure you about the prices that different logo designers can display.
Of the billions of logos out there, many of them don't work. But what does this mean? Quite simply:
A logo that works has to be creative and unique. No two logos should look the same. And, because we don't redo a logo every 6 months, a logo must be timeless to live in time. Then for the logo to convey the right message, it must be readable and therefore simple. This implies first of all that all the elements can be distinguished from each other, that the colors do not disturb the reading and that the elements do not overlap. Finally, and perhaps the most important element, a logo must be consistent with the brand's field of activity and its values.
For example, for a pediatric logo, we will forget about busy logos, with bright colors and imposing typography. The logo will be soft, comforting and soothing.
The first step to create a logo is to study the competition. But not only! It is important to make a logo that does not look like its competitors but it is even more important to make a logo for a specific target.
A logo for a sports team will have nothing to do with a logo for a music class. And as said above, the logo allows to distinguish the sector of activity. This is done through the colors, the shape and the text.
Be careful, we are talking about inspiration and not copy!
The idea is to brainstorm all the words that revolve around the idea of a brand. Then, with this brainstorming, we create a trend board where we add inspirations of colors, texts, typographies, texture...
Let's get down to business! I'm kidding, the previous steps are all as important as the creation part and in general all as long! For the creation of the logo we start from sketches to pose the main ideas. Then we refine these sketches and we work in black and white. Why this ? Simply because the color will disturb the vision of the logo. By working in black and white we concentrate on one thing: the design and the layout of the elements.
Once the general idea of the logo is drawn, we move on to the adjustments and variations. It is at this moment that we think of all the combinations that can take the logo. With a colored background, without background, with a pattern, in square, horizontal, vertical...
Now it's time to use the logo on a website, social networks, a brochure or a business card.
The price of a logo is not a fixed thing. And if you meet a service provider and he tells you "Your logo will cost you so much" without even listening to your request, you can be sure that there is a wolf. The price of a logo varies according to three things:
It is because of these three points that a logo will cost 500€ while another will cost 10 000€.
Let's talk about expensive logos, the logo of Pole Emploi has been invoiced 500 000€.
First of all, there are a few things you should know. If you work with a graphic designer or an agency, they can bill you on aflat rate basis or on a per service basis. Let's zoom in on the graphic designer. For a graphic designer, the cost of a creation is charged as follows:
daily rate x working time
For a junior graphic designer, the daily rate is between 300€ and 450€ while for a senior graphic designer it is between 450€ and 600€. And, to create a logo, it takes on average between 3 and 4 days. This makes a logo between 900€ and 2 400€.
Here is my advice, choose a service provider who charges you by the time spent and avoid those who tell you "your logo will cost you 1 000€" without even having studied your request. These ready-made prices often hide bad surprises. And I'm talking about little work and research, additional fees applied to each of your returns, final files not delivered to the client or a provider who does not transfer the rights of the logo to the client.
When you have little budget to create your logo, several options are available to you.
The first option that comes to mind is to design your own logo. And as some people think, it's "just a couple of strokes of the pen" so it's within the reach of everyone. If this is the case, there would not be schools that train graphic designers to create logos.
When you want to create a logo by yourself, what you don't know is that it takes time to create a logo and that it is even more complicated if it is for yourself. You will never be satisfied with the final result of the logo and when you will raise the head of your logo, it will have passed several weeks to several months. This precious time, you could have spent it to develop your business.
Today, there are many sites that allow you to create a logo in just a few clicks. To do this, these sites use icons and generic typography and will assemble them to each other and then apply one or more colors.
When you create your logo, the site will ask you your sector of activity and it is, thanks to this information that it will choose the style and colors of the logo.
Please don't do this !!!! A few months ago, I have a client who asked me to work on his website. He tells me he has a logo. Nice! He gives me the source file and the... I see the disaster. Two shapes that should normally stick together were not, the shapes were not aligned and the layout not centered 😱
I ask him who drew his logo and he then informs me that he generated it from a site.
The logos that come out of his generators are generic logos made by an algorithm. There is no reflection, no creativity, just a series of 0's and 1's that perform tasks. If you go through a generator, your logo will be :
Here are some examples:
Your other option is to hire a cheap graphic designer. There are many platforms that offer this. You can even make your logo for 5€. But between us, do you find it rewarding for you? For your brand? And for the graphic designer who worked?
You also have to ask yourself the right questions. Why graphic designer A asks me 150€ for my logo while graphic designer B asks me 1 500€. Once you ask this question, many other questions come up:
For this price, it is certain that you will not be able to exchange with the graphic designer to discuss the tracks and thus improve your logo hand in hand.
A good thing, if your budget for your logo is here! With this type of budget, you can use an experienced graphic designer or a small communication agency.
Working with an experienced freelance designer or agency will ensure that you have a personal, unique logo that respects your choices. They will be there to advise you in your final choice.
Here are some tips on how to choose your graphic designer :
Well, let's be clear, at this price you do not only have a logo! Most of the time, you have upstream of the creation of the logo, a market study and a competitive study of made. This allows the provider to better know both your competitors to not look like them and your target to create a logo that speaks to him.
For this price range, the provider in question is very often a communication agency. And, as for a freelance, study the achievements of the agency, its reputation, its customers and their opinions.
For this budget, in general, the graphic charter is included in the estimate. But it remains of course to check.
A quote allows a customer to have a price estimate for a given mission. Creating a logo is not a trivial thing and asking for quotes allows to :
Thanks to the estimate, the customer knows the price he will have to pay for his logo.
The estimate is a first estimation. Depending on the customer's requests, it may change.
When the quote is signed, the client and the provider are bound and secure.
Following the signature of the estimate, often the payment of a deposit is requested by the provider. This strengthens the relationship between the two.
On the estimate it is written many legal and statutory conditions that allow to mention the conditions of execution of the mission and payment.
I invite you to consult our article on this subject. Discover the compulsory mentions of an estimate.
Here are the minimum requirements that your service provider must provide to you once his mission is accomplished:
As a graphic design professional, I tell you that a graphic charter is mandatory. The graphic charter is a document that lists all the information about the identity of a brand:
Depending on the provider you work with, the creation of the graphic charter may be included in the quote. But it is not automatic. Some can charge it in addition.
At Snoweb, the creation of the graphic charter is included in the price of the logo creation.
Well, no. Unfortunately the work that had to be done for the creation of the logo will have to be done for the redesign. The creation and design time will be almost identical.
No worries, the role of the graphic designer is to listen to you talk about your brand. Then, thanks to everything you tell him, he will be able to start his research and propose you some graphic tracks.
Every designer is different, but at Snoweb this is how we proceed. We discuss with the client his needs and his company. A competitive study is done and then the first sketches are made. We present 6 graphic tracks to the client. For the track which is retained we make adjustments in order to propose an ideal final version.
It depends on what you want. But as mentioned above, the average creation time is 3 to 4 days. Some logos may take a few days while others may take several months, like Instagram for example 😉
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Anne-Laure Compain
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