There are tons of designers who will do logo artwork for $150-200. I would suggest doing the typography yourself in Inkscape or Illustrator if you can, and then if you feel the need for a nice vector drawing to add to the text, pay someone later.
Ask HN: What to do for logos?
21–30 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
"you'll be doing the whole design community a favour by not asking for free work." This is a free market. Supply and demand. If people are willing to do quality work for free, let them. If someone is looking for quality work and they find it for free, they should take it. Doing a group of professionals "a favour" does not enter into the equation. "If someone came to this community and asked to build them an app for f…
I agree with your first point in as much as people are free to work or not work as they please. That said, here's some perspective from the design side which may help you understand how designers may think about these kinds of things, even if you disagree or find it a touch extreme: http://www.no-spec.com/faq/ As for your second point, how much would you say the brand equity of Apple, Coca-Cola, or Nike is worth? The…
"brand equity of Apple, Coca-Cola, or Nike"
The last time I checked, Fortune 500 companies weren't shopping for logos on 99designs.
"They would simply be selling electronics, sugary water, and shoes if they didn't have design and marketing experts building and executing their brand"
We're talking about logo design for startups, not marketing strategy for large retail corporations. Apples and oranges.
"good design does require reasonable skill, training, and experience."
I absolutely agree. It takes a lot of skill to be a good designer.
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#23I'm an aspiring Designer/Developer. I've had some experience with logo design, and I'm always looking to expand my portfolio. You can check out some of my work at http://donaldlivingston.com/portfolio
Feel free to contact me via http://www.donaldlivingston.com/contact/
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with your first point in as much as people are free to work or not work as they please. That said, here's some perspective from the design side which may help you understand how designers may think about these kinds of things, even if you disagree or find it a touch extreme: http://www.no-spec.com/faq/ As for your second point, how much would you say the brand equity of Apple, Coca-Cola, or Nike is worth? The…
In the early stages of a company, the logo contributes very little to the company's success. All it does is signal that the company is somewhat professional. It requires little uncommon expertise to achieve this goal. The comparison to Apple, Coke and Nike isn't applicable. You're describing a different product than most startups are looking for. Exhibit A: http://techcrunch.com/2006/07/15/is-twttr-interesting/ Exhib…
Here's another example: the GoDaddy logo.
http://www.dotweekly.com/the-story-behind-the-godaddy-name-a...
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really have to disagree here. I think this is absolutely the wrong attitude to have towards the design community. If someone came to this community and asked to build them an app for free they would get shut down. Instead of putting up $300 on 99 design have a look around for a designer that makes logos that you like the look of and send them an email and ask what they can do for that amount. You might only get a f…
"you'll be doing the whole design community a favour by not asking for free work." This is a free market. Supply and demand. If people are willing to do quality work for free, let them. If someone is looking for quality work and they find it for free, they should take it. Doing a group of professionals "a favour" does not enter into the equation. "If someone came to this community and asked to build them an app for f…
I have to disagree with you, saying that making a web app takes more skill than designing a logo is simple not true. Both developing web apps and graphic design are highly skilled professions, graphic designers can take years to develop the expertise to design something truly great just as it can take years to develop the skills required to develop successful webapps.
Your logo is the single most important part of your brand and it drives the graphic design of the rest of you website. It is true that anyone with a little time can create a logo by choosing a typeface adding some colour and a drop shadow but making a logo that tells you something and holds a message is much much harder. I would be tempted to say that logo design is probably the hardest aspect of graphic design to master. For an example of a very clever logo that hold a hidden message take a look at the FedEx logo, see if you can spot the hidden image. Designing both a logo and a webapp are about knowing the audience and what makes them tick.
With that said something like 99 designs is actually a good way to get a first logo for your webapp. You can always iterate on the logo when you know the market is ready for your app, just don't underestimate it's importance.
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
"you'll be doing the whole design community a favour by not asking for free work." This is a free market. Supply and demand. If people are willing to do quality work for free, let them. If someone is looking for quality work and they find it for free, they should take it. Doing a group of professionals "a favour" does not enter into the equation. "If someone came to this community and asked to build them an app for f…
I agree with your first point in as much as people are free to work or not work as they please. That said, here's some perspective from the design side which may help you understand how designers may think about these kinds of things, even if you disagree or find it a touch extreme: http://www.no-spec.com/faq/ As for your second point, how much would you say the brand equity of Apple, Coca-Cola, or Nike is worth? The…
"ADDED: I guess I should be clear that I'm rebutting the assertion that design is necessarily less valuable than software development, not that startups require Fortune 500 branding."
It's possible to have a very successful web app with no professional design. Look at Craigslist.
It is impossible to have a successful web app that consists only of design and not the underlying code. I'm not saying that design is unimportant, or that it can't make or break a product, but you can't with a straight face make the assertion that it's as important as the product. It's the icing, not the cake.
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#27twitter bought its logo for hella cheap, but go find an online graphical design community. Most of them are looking for any type of work to add to their portfolio and most will do it for free or on the cheap.
I was just trying to say that there are talented graphic design students willing to do stuff for free to get the experience. Just go talk to some.
With the current economic climate today I think there are a lot of unemployed artists, especially the newly graduated who at the moment maybe at a dead end job, but would be willing to design a logo for the experience. I've gotten free work from artist many times. I am well connected so they may do it for me for a future gain, which I don't mind.
Furthermore, the strength of a brand and logo is dependent on how well you execute and meet the expectations of the customer. Nike, coke, etc are well know because they offer satisfying products that meets or exceeds the customers expectations. Kotler and Jagdesh Sheth both teach this. You can have the coolest logo in the world but your app, for example, sucks shit your logo means shit.
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#28You don't care about a logo.
You need to care about your brand, and this should be an intrinsic part of what you're doing. It defined who you are, as a company.
If you're doing things right, you'll already know a huge amount about your brand, but most business and tech people are not used to expressing this.
Even if you have a crappy, hand-made logo, what matters is the brand, and being honest with it. If you're 2 guys working out of a garage, maybe a home-made logo does represent your brand better?
99designs and other sites are purely for eye candy. You won't get a well thought out logo that reflects your brand. It's purely visual design.
Source: I'm a Designer & Brand Consultantw
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#29You can get a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and learn to draw. Proceed then to design the logo you have in mind.
Re: Ask HN: What to do for logos?
#30twitter bought its logo for hella cheap, but go find an online graphical design community. Most of them are looking for any type of work to add to their portfolio and most will do it for free or on the cheap.
Oh yeah, web designers love when people ask for free work because they "love to do it anyway" or because its "good for their portfolio" /sarcasm
Or because it could result in more sales, if they do a job the customer likes? I would not do a big job for free, but I have often done small "sample"-type work, including logos and quick and dirty letterheads, for new businesses, in the hopes of more work when they grow to need it. (My design work was on paper, back in the 1990s, I haven't done any graphics design on computer, I'm not set up for it.)