How important is it to have a well designed professional company logo
To understand the value of a your company logo you need to look at your business through the eyes of your customers. If first impressions really do last then what first impression is your logo giving? It may be that you feel it is wise to first piece together your own logo in Microsoft Word and then later invest money in a more professional image, but if first impressions do last then how many bad first impressions will you give before its time to up the company image. If you look at the cost of a professional logo design compared to what a professional image could do for your business it really is a very small amount when evaluated within your next 5 years business plan. The truth is a poor logo will cost you money by putting customers off with bad first impressions. A logo is the face of your company not just a few shapes and words ‘plonked’ together.
How much should I spend on a professional logo design?
If you go to a graphic design agency through the yellow pages or advert you may be quite shocked at the cost of a logo. You are probably not being ripped off, it is because there is a lot of work involved and the studio will have to cover their own huge over heads. If you go online for your professional logo design then you will probably find prices are a lot lower due to the amount of competition on the web. You may think that the best thing to do would be to find the cheapest logo design company on the web. For example some companies offer logo design of around £25! Now lets see how much time a designer could possible spend on a logo at that price.
A well trained designer would probably want about £20 minimum an hour. Plus a designer will need to pay for licensed software, a good computer and the advertisement or costs of ensuring that you can find their website on the search engines. So either you will receive a logo designed by a professional designer for about 30 minutes or somebody who is not well trained in design will be creating your logo. So the real question must be is my logo, the face of my business worth more than £25 or 30 minutes! It takes time and experience with corporate identity to create a logo that will really work for your business. In truth it will take a well trained designer a good day to create impressive and original initial logo concepts. You will then want to have the opportunity of unlimited revisions so that you can have any changes you want made to the logo design at no additional hidden extra cost. If a logo designer says that they can provide you with a logo design within 24 hours then unless they are willing to drop any other projects just for your logo design you are probably getting a rushed job.
It takes time to develop an original identity. So as a guide of how much should be spent on a logo design would be a minimum of £150 to £450. Some of the larger companies will spend thousands on their image but for small to medium sized business this would be about right.
How will I know which logo design business to use for my logo?
To see which logo design business would be right for your own logo you should look at the portfolio displayed on the designers website or ask to see some example of corporate identity if you have arranged a meeting with a local designer. Different designers will have different approaches on how to design your company image so you should go with the designer that you feel will best reflect your business through their own design. Most designers will be happy to create the logo with you. You can give a designer details of everything you would like to see in your logo and everything you wouldn’t! In fact the more information you can give to the designer the better as although they may be very good at their job they cannot read minds! So remember the more info the better.
Will I be able to use the logo on my website, business cards and sign board?
For different uses of your logo you will require different files. For internet and website use you will require an optimised J-peg file. The j-Peg is optimised for lower file size so that your web pages open quickly when the logo is placed on them. No one wants to wait long periods of time for web pages to load and most of the time they wont.
If you would like your logo to be featured on your company stationery then a designer for the creation of the stationery is strongly recommended. Letterheads and business cards created in Microsoft word only give bad impressions to your clients. You don’t need to spend a fortune on stationery design but £100 for the design of a business card, letterhead and compliment slip would be a recommended minimum. For stationery you will require an Adobe Illustrator file. This is a file created by an industry standard design program and provides the best results when it comes to logo and stationery design.
If you would just like a high resolution image of your logo then you will require a TIFF file.
If you would like a sign board or shop front to feature your company logo then again you will need to give the sign makers the Adobe Illustrator file as this file can be resized to any size without loss of quality.
So be sure to check that you will be provided with the right files for what it is you would like to use your new logo for. It is recommended that you get the Adobe Illustrator file though even if you only want a logo for web use. You never know how much your business may grow or if it will be needed at a later date. Some logo designers offer free printers cooperation services after the logo is design this is most valuable as you do not want to pay extra for files or worse not be able to use your logo for what you wanted.
So which designer do I use?
Go with the design business that offers all the important things mentioned above. If you are unsure what the design service is offering then ask first before committing. I would at this point like to mention that I offer a logo design service through my own business Fire Bubble Design. Although I believe my own logo design service to be one of the best in terms of value for money and customer satisfaction I would advise that you look around for the design service that feels right for your own company logo as different designers have different styles and approaches to corporate identity. If you would like to find details of the Fire Bubble Design website please see the Authors Biography section of this article.
