One of the most important things to consider when starting a business is the logo that will coincide with it. Logos do a ton of heavy lifting when it comes to creating brand recognition of a company. For instance, below are a few examples of companies that have logos that help distinguish themselves from marketplace competition:
- Nike: The Nike Swoosh
- Apple: The Apple
- McDonalds: The Golden Arches
- NBC: The Peacock
And those are just to name a few. All of the above companies have logo designs that speak louder than any words could. No one needs to be able to read the name ‘McDonalds’ if they are able to see the golden arches that have become a staple in society. Still, that fact does not provide a good answer as to what logo design actually is:
What Is Logo Design
Simply put, logo design is the creation of graphics and logos. That may be stating the obvious, but there is much more that goes into the creation of logo design. Like mentioned above, a logo does a lot in terms of brand recognition. Tailor Brands points this out with their 7 reasons Why Logos Are Important:
- It grabs attention
- It makes a strong first impression
- It is the foundation of brand identity
- It is memorable
- It separates from the competition
- It fosters brand loyalty
- The audience expects it
But with all that being said, that does not do much if the tools to create said logo are not in place.
Realistically, a person can go and learn about the creation of logos and graphic design all they want. Whether that is through online resources such as YouTube and Canva, or through a graphic design degree from an accredited university.
From there, someone could start their own independent design firm, do freelance work, or apply to the numerous graphic and logo design companies out there. Then the question becomes how much does one charge for a logo design.
How Much To Charge For Logo Design
There is a huge sliding scale for how much people pay for a logo design. A logo design could cost anywhere from $0 to thousands of dollars. Just take a look at NIke, for example. Owner and founder of the company, Phil Knight, paid graphic design student Carolyn Davidson $35 back in 1971 for the Nike Swoosh: a logo that is now worth billions of dollars.Still, that is just one scenario. Not every company turns into Nike, and not every logo ends up being as iconic as the Nike Swoosh is today.
But back to the question at hand: how much should one charge for a logo design. Like it was mentioned, prices for a logo design have a very wide range. A lot of it depends on the company/the portfolio. For example, Carolyn Davidson most likely could have charged a boatload of money to design a logo (considering she is the creator of the Nike Swoosh).
So, with that being the case, the level of experience is very important when pricing out services. According to Deluxe.com, there are essentially three tiers of logo design payment: a reasonable logo, an intermediate design, and a complex logo design.
For reasonable logos, a fair price sits at around $100. Then when it comes to intermediate designs, the price range bumps up from somewhere between $400 and $700. Finally, on the higher end of the spectrum, one could charge upwards of $1,000 for a complex logo design.
Still, at the end of the day, the price of a logo is up to the designer. Realistically, a person could ask for millions of dollars for a logo design. Would someone ever give them that amount of money? No, but that does not take away the fact that the price of a logo design is at the discrepancy of the designer.
In summary, to stay competitive in the logo design market, pricing a logo design at around $100 will be helpful in getting a foot in the door of logo design. From there, one has to continue to build out their profile and create their own brand recognition in order to start raising the prices of their designs. No person or company will willingly pay a college student $700 for a logo when there are a number of recent college graduates offering to design that same logo at $100 (unless said college student’s portfolio is out of this world).
