How to choose a logo designer

Well, ahem, start with this one.

But if you are still on the fence, I understand. Start with aesthetic. Look at the prospective logo designer’s portfolio. If the bulk of what you see does not fit your target audience, there is no point investigating further. A shared sense of taste is incredibly important, and most specially regarding the taste of the audience—more on that later. I was once hired based primarily on an intelligence test, not that I’m all that smart, but to the company better than the average bear. The boss put this first above all else. The problem was, he often did not like my work. This is doom for both the client and the designer. All I’m saying is make sure you like what you see for your target audience, because chances are that’s what you are going to get.

Style

Another note on style. Many designers show a consistent style across their portfolio. On the surface, this is a good thing. You know where they tend to go for a solution. For a fine artist, this is even more important. But let’s take a deeper dive. Logo clients have various purposes, audiences and tastes. The audience is paramount. Let me say that again, the AUDIENCE IS PARAMOUNT. The brand—and the logo as part of it—must be compelling to the end user. If it isn’t, you are wasting time and money, as well as making efforts to appeal to an internal company aesthetic, or worst, injecting your personal tastes at the potential sacrifice of turning off your audience.

For example, say you love the art deco (1919 to 1939) period. You would love for your logo to reflect the art deco style. By the way “art deco” is specific to that general time period and aesthetic. It is often applied incorrectly. An example many people are familiar with is JOB papers. This is not an endorsement, but many are familiar. Okay, rant over, back to the point. The problem is you produce a product for teens currently. The art deco style will likely not appeal to them. The logic is obvious, do a product mark that is teen friendly, not what you like.

Versatility

Look for a well-rounded portfolio. You should see a mix of minimalist and illustrative styles, and everything in-between. Some will be clean and modern. Some will be rich and intricate. Why? Because the AUDIENCE IS PARAMOUNT. One style will not appeal to everyone. The logo needs to reflect them, not you or the designer.

Now, let’s assume you find several companies who fit the bill. Well and good. But if all else is equal, how do you make the choice? Here is where money is often the deciding factor.

Capability and fit

Let’s say you have an enterprise-size company, and plan a large product launch or international campaign, you may be inclined towards a large marketing firm or ad agency. Logical, yes? But the great thing about logo design is that it is not dependent on those massive capabilities. You may indeed need them in the next step, but not necessarily logo design.

Or let’s say you are a mid-sized company looking for value. You might consider a design studio with a good reputation. This may indeed be a good match. But the price usually includes a fair amount of overhead. Happens all the time. If you can afford it, go for it.

Or let’s say you are a budget-minded startup. You may be looking for as much free stuff as possible. I get that. But don’t step over a dollar to pick up a dime, as the saying goes. Rarely does a young family member who is a budding artist produce something you can be proud of. These days, many turn to Artificial Intelligence or AI to generate ideas. Someday, this might be viable for a finished product, but it’s not yet as of this writing. I’m not sure AI will ever be capable of equaling human creativity. AI doesn’t get hungry, or the need to brush its teeth or any of the other basic human needs we have. So, though it may be able to emulate or mimic certain aspects of humanity, it can’t experience BEING human. Therefore, it does not experientially understand our needs and wants like we do. Therefore, eventually, you need human oversight in the creative arena. I believe this applies to logos, based on the AI generated output that comes to me from clients and prospective clients.

Artificial Intelligence, currently

I fix a lot of AI generated ideas. But it’s not bad for giving you what you ask for. But you may not be asking for things in the broader context of the market. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the AUDIENCE IS PARAMOUNT. But the cool thing is, you can put audience preferences in the prompt—if you think about it. The problem is, what happens when you need to put the logo on a huge sign, or print it on a commercial press in a flyer? That’s where an experience designer can produce the appropriate formats for production.

Who to pick, or should I say, what to pick?

How do you know what’s best for you and your audience? The kind of creative company can help narrow it down.

But which KIND of company is best for your logo creation? So, what is out there? mentioned some possibilities before. The types below all have their pros and cons. Some should be actual convicts—back to kidding.

1. Marketing Agencies (fka Ad Agencies) I (Lee Dean) have worked in agencies. Chances are you will get good work, as the positions are quite competitive, and always have been. That may be all you need to hear. But there is a lot of overhead, the billing is sometimes murky, and the upsell will be there whether subtle or not. Bottom line is it will tend to be the most expensive route, unless you have a lot of media to buy.

2. Design Studios These tend to be smaller than agencies and therefore have less overhead. The logo work might even be better, as they tend to concentrate on branding and the visual aspects of marketing. However, the larger ones are almost indistinguishable from agencies—in fact, that’s how some agencies start out. This will still cost you, but probably not as much as an agency. Again, great work comes out of design shops.

3. Online Freelancers This could be the sweet spot in the mix. Freelancers tend to be self-starters, talented, and well-rounded in graphic design. Most have experience in agencies or design studios. Here is where the cost tends to drop, so that individuals, startups, and small businesses can afford a great logo and personal service. Cons would be the veracity of the portfolio. Ask questions about specific pieces and the involvement of the freelancer.

4. Free Online Services Okay, we’ve said it before, you get what you pay for. You may find a great logo, only to find someone else has the same one. If you’ve already invested a lot of money on items with your new logo, you may have to invest more to start over. Or sue. Or be sued. There can be several unpleasant things consequently down the road. But hey, it was cheap, right?

5. Artificial Intelligence programs Maybe someday, but it’s not there yet. I see job boards full of customers that have an A.I. produced logo that now need it fixed. Lines that should be straight are curved. Odd artifacts, that is, funny little shapes that don’t belong are generated by the program, and so on. We’ve used A.I. as an adjunct for certain purposes, but it must be staged just right, and still manually adjusted.

6. Your nephew You think that’s a joke? I wish it was. Look, don’t cave in to family pressure on something this important to your business. A good logo and brand can put your business in a class far above what amateur work can. The analogy I often use is, you don’t send your salesperson out in a shabby suit. It reflects on them and on you. It might make for an uncomfortable holiday dinner, but the kid will get over it. Encourage them to go to school, put in their dues in internships and entry-level design/production positions. If they are serious about graphic design, they will do that and most likely succeed. Meanwhile, you will have a competitive edge over those who have fallen into the “wanna be” niece artist trap, by instead using a career designer. The same goes for office personnel who have no experience or credible work.

Obviously, there are many choices in the marketplace. One I left out of the mix above is in-house marketing departments. I have worked in several. What I’ve noticed is the talent level is no different than what I experienced in marketing and ad agencies. If you have such an asset, take advantage of it. The only caution to bring is that if the creative staff has been there for a long time—just like any staffer—they may succumb to the myopathy of the corporate culture. They KNOW so-and-so will turn down an idea because he/she has done so before. They may be right, but an outside influence, such as yours truly, might be able to offer a more objective point of view, concentrating on the audience. The in-house people are already doing that if they are not beaten down by upper management, but they may not have the influence a third-party might. The hard truth is, there is a perception that in-house talent is not as good as agency talent. I say that perception is false, but here is where a freelancer can come in and influence those hard to convince executives. Even if it’s not me, you need someone who can present and think on their feet during a presentation. Ideally, it’s someone with experience in the market or markets your company is in. Even so, universal design principles can often win out over expected push back.

Reviews & testimonials

Okay, so reviews. I have been—and continue to be—a reviewer and a reviewee (if that’s a word). I have been blessed, in that most of my reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. You can find them on my site of course, but also on Upwork and Google. I had them on Thumbtack too, but that platform became too expensive to be viable for me.

For a long time, I had a 5-star average on Upwork, (out of five stars) and promoted that fact. Then of course, one day, a nut job came along with unrealistic expectations, new to working with graphics professionals. The first review was 4-star, the next was 1 star, wrecking my average. I have mostly recovered since and can happily report my Upwork profile shows “100% Job Success” and “Top Rated Plus” at the time of this writing. What is somewhat odd, and maybe a good thing, is Upwork doesn’t show an overall star rating.

I suppose the point of all that is I’ve become much kinder in the reviews I write. But more importantly, if a company is not a perfect 5-star or whatever the top echelon is, I don’t necessarily avoid them or expect bad service or products. I’ve learned how easy it is for one bad review to crush an otherwise good or even perfect rating.

But you may ask, what about…

If you have done searches for creative talent, you may be wondering, what about Behance, Dribble, Fiverr, and Clutch. I am on all those sites but have yet to be contacted by a viable client from any of those, for several years. Most of these are quite large, and hard to navigate. I imagine if I paid in more, I might get something, but it’s not worth it, yet. Some Upwork clients have even told me after visiting a couple of those sites, they gave up, and came to Upwork, because of Upwork was easy to navigate. By the way, I’m not a paid Upwork booster. I’ve just had a good run with them.

After those sites, there are things like Vistaprint, Designhill, Trustpilot, and the Better Business Bureau. Vistaprint turned me down, “say it’s not so!”, but yes, they did. They said I could reapply in four years or something like that. Yeesh. I don’t know anything about Designhill. I’m going to find out. I just joined Trustpilot, because I’ve heard of them before, and I’d like people to trust me. I’ve just sent my first review test for that. As for the BBB, I’m not sure how relevant they are any longer. If you are younger, you may not even have heard of them. Also, it’s expensive to join.

Some concluding thoughts

• Do look for good reviews, but don’t expect perfection.
• Define your brand beforehand—I assume most people have something in mind before they contact a designer. If you don’t, you should.
• Definitely look at the designer’s work. I’ve had people call me from a Google search, and they’ve never seen the work on my website. As explained above, there are lots of reason to look at the work first.
• Ask about the designer’s process. I have a whole page dedicated to this.
• Ask about experience and experience in your industry. I should qualify this statement. Some designer’s may not have any experience in your industry, but design skills transfer. Just make sure they know enough. I have a Creative Brief for just this kind of thing.
• You should be offered several initial concepts. I offer a minimum of three separate concepts. Coming soon will be several packages, with increasing amounts of options to buy.
• You should be provided with vector files and bitmaps. I explain that stuff in the glossary.

Give Logo Hammer a call!

214-697-9849 lee@logohammer.com