Business concept
With apologies to the entire graphic design field, having someone create a new logo for your company is not exactly an easy process.
Debate with me all you want, but I’ve tried it a few times. There’s a lot of back-and-forth, some tension about costs, and insecurity (mostly on the part of the person who wants the new logo) about how it will all turn out.
You might say it is similar to the wedding planning problem. You have lofty ambitions, but then there’s the reality check of how much it actually costs to pay a real designer to make a logo that includes all of the branding, sizes and formats, press kit, and other materials you might want.
Now, I realize some designers have figured out how to remove some of the consternation and hats off to them. In my experience, it’s not quite as smooth as it could be.
As you can guess, technology has improved to the point where there is an answer to almost every problem you might encounter in business. The one I tried out recently is called 99designs, and it proved to be an amazing experience (with only a few small caveats). You submit a proposal and run a contest to see hundreds of possibilities and can pick the one you like.
I started with a simple logo design contest. Prices start at about $299 for a basic logo, but you can run a contest for an entire branding project or even to design a T-shirt.
I like how the wizard works in guiding users through the process of explaining what you need and the parameters. It was also clear that this is all about the contest and that you can decide to stop the process if you don’t like the initial results. There’s a money-back guarantee.
Here’s what I liked about how it all worked. Because there were so many submissions, I was able to provide detailed feedback on at least a dozen designs and ask for changes. In one case, a few logos looked pretty good but I didn’t like the font or the logo design. In a few cases, a logo that seemed okay at first evolved into something that looked much more professional. I can imagine the designers include everyone from professionals who do this for a living to people who just want to work hard and have a visual flair (but might be accountants by day).
I zeroed in on a small handful and asked for more tweaks, but it became pretty obvious at this stage that one particular designer had created what looked like a final design. Once he made a few last tweaks, he delivered the logo in multiple sizes and formats.
I do think 99designs is a good fit for our current situation. I might have liked meeting with a designer in person to talk about my needs. In my case, it was just a logo for a side hobby, but I could see a small business or even a larger company trying to create some new branding wanting to do an in-person meeting. That’s not possible now. I am not sure if my designer could have chatted over Zoom at some point, but it didn’t matter — the result was just right.
As for the costs, there are various packages available ranging from $299 for a simple logo all the way up to several thousand for a complete corporate identity package. I was quite pleased with how it all worked. The reason it worked is because there were so many submissions. Any tension about a designer who wasn’t quite up to the challenge was removed.
The pricing was clear from the beginning. In terms of the tech, it was all online and the images were sized and formatted correctly. I used the app several times to review logos and gave feedback like I was texting someone on my phone. It worked like a charm.
