A logo creates immediate recognition and establishes a visual identity for a business. Businesses want to be trusted and viewed as having a superior quality in their market, so a logo should imply trustworthiness and superiority. Your logo is the centerpiece to your brand identity, and consequently a cheap-looking logo will make your business look cheap as well. Considering the magnitude of a logo’s many purposes, why would a business want to spend as little as possible on their logo? Let’s compare some cheap/budget logos with professional logos.

Cheap Logo Design

Here are some logo designs I rounded up from samples on Craigslist.

Notice some things they all have in common: they look like they were created in all of 5 minutes, use basic typefaces that can be downloaded for free, and their logo marks all look like clipart that was downloaded for free from some clipart website. None of them are particularly memorable, either.

Now ask yourself the following questions about the above logos.

• How many of the logos can you remember?
• Are any of them effective without color?
• Are they immediately recognizable?
• Do they convey the personality or message of their companies?
• Would you associate them with quality and satisfaction?

Professional Logo Design

Now look at these professionally-designed logos and compare them with the cheap logos by asking yourself the same questions.

Can you see the difference?

Now you’re probably wondering why they’re so different. What it boils down to is the design process. Professional designers have an actual process that involves researching, conceptualizing, sketching, and refining. This is why a professional designer does not charge $10 for a logo. Pricing for design is based upon a desired hourly rate, and no professional of any field provides their services for $1-2 an hour.

Let’s look at the design process of the average professional designer. A professional designer’s process usually involves the following:

1. The Consultation: They interview the client to learn more about the client and their business.
2. Research: They conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on the client’s competitors.
3. Reference: They conduct research into logo designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that are related to the client’s field .
4. Sketching & Conceptualising: They develop the logo design concept(s) around the consultation and research. The professional is creative and knows how to create a logo.
5. Reflection: They take breaks throughout their design process to allow their ideas to mature, and to get feedback from colleagues and fellow designers.
6. Presentation: They then choose which logo concepts to present to their client.
7. Celebration: They then drink beer and cook a celebratory dinner that includes a solid dessert.

Do you think all of that is only worth $10? And for that matter, is your company’s identity only worth $10? On top of all that work, the software alone for creating a logo costs well over $500, not to mention the computer that this software must be used on.

When it comes to logos and branding, you truly get what you pay for.

I recently took on new branding & identity project for a sports league in Florida called Future Sports League. This is the logo I created for them, and I will soon be posting their marketing materials once that aspect of the project is complete.