How Much to Design a Logo? Everything You Need To Know

A logo is the face of your business. It’s what people will see first when they think about you, and it’s one of the most important parts of branding. So how much to design a logo?

The answer to that question is how much will you pay for a result that you are satisfied with.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some options for logos including DIY, templates, generators, crowdsourcing and hiring a freelancer/agency.

How Much Does it Cost to Design a Logo?

There is a multitude of factors that go into determining how much it should cost to design a logo. The first and most important factor is to establish your timeframes and budget. Do you need some quick, simple and cost-effective or do you have the time and budget to put towards a more comprehensive solution?

You may need extra elements needed like stationery or business cards. You may also need to use the logo predominately outdoors as opposed to a computer screen.

Let’s summarise the cost, positives and negatives of each option.

Do-It-Yourself Logo Cost: Zero

1. Positives: Doesn’t cost you anything to create a logo. Can be the fastest way to create your long as long as you don’t procrastinate on it.

1. Negatives: You need some form of good design skills and sense. If you are starting your own business, the time spent learning these skills would be better spent elsewhere.

Logo Generator/Logo Template Cost: Zero – $50

1. Positives: Can cost next to nothing to get a logo 80% of the way there. Great for coming up with inspirations to then either create your own unique design or take it to a professional designer.

1. Negatives: Potential legal issues due to different businesses using the same or similar logo. You still need some form of good design sense to select the right template for your logo.

Crowdsourced Logo Design Cost: $50-$250

1. Positives: You don’t need to design anything yourself, you just need to write a clear and accurate design brief. The cheapest and fastest way to get someone else to design a logo for you.

1. Negatives: You typically need to wait a few days before all designs are submitted.  Some Crowdsourced designers may use generators or templates to save time that could cause potential legal issues for you.

Hiring a Freelancer Cost: $250-$2,500

1. Positives: You don’t need to do any design work. It’s typically the most affordable option to get a professional design.

1. Negatives: Can take weeks or months to get a logo as good freelancers typically book out far in advance. You need to know how to pick the right freelance logo designer for your needs as you can burn a lot of time and money going with the wrong one.

Hiring a Brand Agency Cost: $2,500+

1. Positives: Good brand agencies will give you an end-to-end professional brand and not just a logo. They can help develop your brand strategy, and all elements contained within it, such as your logo.

1. Negatives: The full brand strategy process can take months to complete. If you want to launch your business quickly then it may be better to choose one of the other options. However, once you are up and running, it pays dividends in the long run to have a reputable brand strategy.

The minimum viable logo

Regardless of which approach you take, your logo should tick the following boxes:

Composition

Logo composition can be divided into seven main categories.

Out of all the different compositions, the combination mark is the most flexible. Combination marks allow you to use the icon component without the text in areas where size is limited. This can be useful in places such as app icons or social media profile images.

Having your business name in the text next to the icon allows people to associate the icon with the business name. Megalithic companies, like Apple and Nike, eventually did away with the text from their logos as their icons became *ahem* iconic (sorry).

Size

Your logo should look as good on a highway billboard as it does on your phone’s home screen. This can be hard to achieve with certain brand names and logo compositions. That’s why I recommend going with the combination mark as it gives you the most flexibility when it comes to sizing.

Color

Your logo should contain your brand colors. If you do not know what colors to use for your brand, establish your brand strategy first.

At the least, your logo should be instantly recognizable when it’s either colored or put against a black or white background.

File type

Your logo should be designed in a vector-based design software tool such as Adobe Illustrator. If you are getting your logo designed by someone else, make sure they provide you with the file from their design software. If it was designed in Adobe Illustrator, the file type is .ai

Make sure you get your logo in a small, medium and large file size in both a rectangle and square background. This will make it easier to upload to different online profiles and social media. Make sure you get each file in .jpg, .png and .svg as it will make it easier to work with down the track.

Legality

Whether you are coming up with your own brand name or hiring someone to do it for you, make sure you don’t choose a name that’s already legally registered. If you plan on selling internationally, check the business registrars of each country that you plan to sell into. Additionally, Google the business name that you plan on using and make sure that no one else is using it.

You can use a tool like Namecheckr to check if you can register the domain name and social media profile URLs for the name you plan on using.

Do-it-Yourself Logos

If you have no budget and you are confident with your design skills, the DIY approach may be the best option for you. Create a logo from scratch or take inspiration and tweak it to meet your needs.

The main downside is that you are limited by the knowledge of what design elements work well together, how colors affect perception etc. You also have no guarantee that someone else will want to use this logo for their company as opposed to yours if you decide not to go down this route yourself. The upside is oftentimes these logos cost nothing at all.

This option may be best suited for start-ups with creative founders who feel confident in designing their own brand identity. If you want to try your hand at learning how to design your own logo, here are a few courses on the subject:

• Udemy
• Skillshare. You can get 40% off your annual Skillshare Membership by signing up using my affiliate link here.
• LinkedIn Learning

Online Logo Generators

There’s also a wide variety of online tools that can generate different logo options for you based on your choices.  Some of the most popular include:

• Squarespace Logo Maker
• Ucraft Logo Maker
• Canva Logo Maker

A logo generator will typically ask some questions about your business like your industry and location before offering different logo concepts based on those choices. Let’s say if tell a generator that you are an interior designer from California, it may show an option of a SoCal-themed house with palm trees near the ocean as the icon.

Keep in mind that these generators are not designed specifically for specific industries, so they should only serve as inspiration or as a base to create your own design.

Logo Design Templates

Websites such as GraphicRiver, Envato Elements, or Canva offer a range of premade logo design templates that you can purchase and adjust to your needs.  This is an affordable and easy way to create a logo for your company.

You have the option of buying just one design template or purchasing several, depending on what you need at that moment. GraphicRiver offers over $100 templates in categories such as food & drink logos, social media icons, engineering logos, etc, while Canva gives you access to hundreds of different pre-made logos

Start with choosing from the many options available before designing your own logo. Like the logo generators, it’s best to use the logo design templates as a base to form your own design. Avoid using the logos exactly as they come out of the generators as you may end up coming across another company that has the same logo icon as yours.

Crowdsource Logo Designs

Another option is to crowdsource the design of your logo. This is great for small businesses or startups with a limited budget, as you can get access to many different design options and ideas in one place.

• 99Designs: Write a design brief and submit it to vetted designers all around the world in a few clicks. Designers will submit their intepretation of your design brief for you to select from.
• DesignCrowd: Similar to 99Designs, DesignCrowd allows you to submit a logo design brief to over 200,000 verified designers. You can even task your winning designer to create more things beyond your logo.
• Crowdspring: Allows designers from all over the world to submit their designs where they are judged by peers before being selected for your logo project
• DesignContest: Similar to Crowdspring, but has an added social media element that allows people following your contest to vote on designs they like best

Keep in mind that these websites have submission fees associated with them. Just because it is cheap doesn’t mean it will be good. It may be worth paying a designer you discover through Crowdsourcing $200-$300 instead of spending weeks getting analysis paralysis from all the logo options presented.

Hire a Graphic Design Freelancer

Hiring a graphic design freelancer may be a good idea if you are not a designer and need someone to walk you through the logo design process. A freelancer can work with you to come up with a design that meets your needs.

Some things to keep in mind when hiring a graphic designer are:

• How much experience does the graphic designer have?

• Does their previous logo design style and taste match what you want to achieve?
  
• Are they familar with your culture and lauguage? Can they understand and comprehend your brief fully?

• Does he or she know how long it will take to complete your project?

• A good rule for pricing a logo design is charging about $50-$150 per hour, but this varies depending on the cost of living and other factors.

In general, you get what you pay for and the best designers tend to book out in well advance. Make sure that you budget at least a week or two from initial engagement through to having a finalized logo.

The best place to look for graphic design freelancers online is UpWork and Fiverr.

Hire a Brand Agency

If you want the best results, and you have the budget to afford one, hiring a skilled and highly regarded brand agency may be your best bet.

A skilled and experienced graphic designer from a top brand agency will be able to:

• Create an eye-catching logo that is distinctive, appropriate, relevant, timeless.
• Provide you with design elements such as color palettes or typefaces and many other little details that tell your company’s story in the best possible way.
• Work on all aspects of branding for your company – including packaging designs, stationery templates etc.

A professional graphic designer at a branding agency will understand the importance of developing a cohesive visual identity across multiple mediums which ensures consistency throughout every touchpoint between your customers and your business. This means they can take care of everything from creating signage to designing promotional items like mugs or t-shirts.

Most importantly, the best brand agency will not just provide you with a logo, but an entire brand strategy including brand guidelines and branded elements such as business cards, website banners, social media cover images, etc. That way, your brand can be professionally and consistently represented across all major touchpoints that you will have with your customers.

Conclusion

So there you have it! I hope that answers how much it costs to design and logo.

Now, I’d like to hear from you.

What option will you choose to design your logo?

Will you do it yourself?

Or base yours off a template?

Will you hire a freelance designer?

Perhaps you’ll go the extra mile and hire a reputable brand agency.