Pricing a logo by Michael Murphy
This blog was created by myself due to the ever increasing world of online logo creation. This blog is regarding just the logo design and not the actual implementation of the logo on stationery, clothing etc.

I think anyone designing a logo should first consider these 3 things:
1. How much experience does the designer have?
2. Does the size of the company reflect the budget they can spend?
3. What are they planning to use the logo with?

Below are some more of my thoughts on this topic and what you should be looking for…

Cheap logo design
They're all over the Internet – Logos for £50 here, logos for £25 here and you can even find cheaper than that on eBay.

But you should be wary of cheap logo designs, some designers may use clip art. An image which cannot be copyrighted and can be used by any company on the planet as their logo design. Be sure and check out the designers portfolio. At £49 each, do their logos all look the same? A good way of telling a cheap design…does it have a swoosh or capital letters in it?!

Some designers will just want a flat fee and they will design you a logo with no strings attached and it will be emailed to you within 2 days. Can you imagine Richard Branson purchasing the Virgin logo for £25? It works the other way though, you wouldn’t expect Georges Fruit Stall to pay £750 for a logo. That’s his budget used up.! All companies are not equal in size, budget and scope.

Some logo designers also charge additional costs for extra colours, revisions and extra initial designs. Do you really know how much you’re going to end up paying?

How much is a logo really worth?
Why not call the Marketing and PR department at Coca-Cola, Virgin, Nike, Samsung? Not every company is as large as these but every company should have a logo that is easily recognizable and stands for the integrity of that business.

A logo is used for years and is placed on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, web sites, vehicles, buildings and products. Do you see the difference in value to a company? A logo has more value than just the hours spent on creating it. It becomes the companies identity.

With that said, shouldn't a logo be worth more than just the time involved in creating it? Professional graphic design rates average anywhere from £30 to £75 per hour. If you see a logo design priced at £150and that designer charges £50 per hour for design work, do you assume that they spent 3 hours on your logo? That price would include the time spent to contact you, the research done on your company and competition, the initial ideas, revisions, the finalising of the logo, the file prep for each different format, sending the logo, invoicing and allowing you to have all legal rights to the design. So how much time was actually spent creating your logo?

A fair logo price
I'm not going to give my exact prices for a logo design because each logo designers circumstances are different. Beginner logo designers charge much less to get into the industry but they should slowly increase their prices as they gain knowledge become more creative with their work.

An individual or small company with small to average uses should be prepared to pay anywhere from £300 to £3000 for a top quality, professional logo design.

My conclusion is that a logo should reflect value. Beware of companies charging under £150, as with everything else you may just get what you pay for.

Thanks for reading.