LOGO DESIGN

March 2, 2014, by Lisa Saville

The recent outcry over the design and cost of Cape Towns’ new logo reminded me of a question we are often asked: “How much does a logo cost?”.  Instead of the answer, about 15 questions spring to mind!  Before you ask the cost of a logo, one should ask yourself the following questions: ‘What do you you want your logo to do for you?’, ‘How much can you afford to spend to achieve this?’.  The answers will vary dramatically from the ‘home baker wanting to sell cookies in the workplace, who simply needs something to put on the invoice’, to the ‘designer of a luxury new clothing range hoping to retail online’, to give two examples.  The cookie maker doesn’t need ten hours of research and the brainstorming of cunning colour concepts to sell her wares better, but the designer selling high end fashion to discerning buyers surely won’t establish a legitimate brand using a logo he banged off in Microsoft Word using Comic Sans as a font!  My point here is that the logo must match the need and the need will determine how much time should be spent on it.  A good designer should not only be creative, but also smart enough to pair an appropriate amount of energy (quantified in billable hours spent) with the real needs of his or her client, to create an effective result.  An experienced designer may achieve this in a shorter time – occasionally even nailing it on the first go, but mostly a logo requires a few edits and in our experience 2 hours is the absolute minimum for a basic logo.  To iron out all the wrinkles and be left with a striking and durable icon that represents its brand appropriately, like good food, will take a little longer. Check our current fees for design.

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