99 Designs? Seriously? Yeah, it's no surprise you're not happy.
You're cheap. You want "great" but, you don't want to pay for it.
You get what you pay for.
I unknowingly entered a logo design competition years ago.
I won, but I was pissed when I found out it was a competition and that I didn't just have the job.
Good for you but that’s actually not decent lol. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just nuancing dumbass here thinking every project is worth an enormous amount when it depends on what you’re doing and the project and time needed. 1k is more than decent for SOME projects.
How much time are you expecting someone to spend on it, and what is the going day rate for a designer where you are? How many rounds of feedback are you willing to pay for, or are you prepared to take someone's first shot at a logo? Look at it like this and you might realise 5K is not very much.
Work out your budget and what day rate you want to pay, then you'll be able to say to someone (for example) "I can afford 3 days at $350. = $1050" And get them to do what they can in that time, including rounds of feedback. That might be enough for a logo, but nobody's going to be able to write an entire brand guide in that space of time.
No established designer would work for that amount. 5k is actually fairly reasonable for a logo and brand/style guide. I would say make the job smaller and just ask for a price for a simple logo so you can get the company started then once you start making more money you can get the full fleshed out brand guide.
It'll probably be not much more than a logo.
Brand design / graphic language / guidelines / templates etc etc are way outside of a 1k budget. 5k is pretty reasonable for a seasoned pro.
I mean… yes, you can get A LOGO for $1000. In fact that’s better than most of the folks I see on r/DesignJobs who have a budget of $250 and folks are clamoring for the work. But the thing is… it’s not really about the logo. There are plenty of successful businesses with terrible logos (see: most of the landscaping business in my area). But $1000 will get you ONLY a logo. And while a cool logo on its own might look cool, how it’s being used in context is crucial to developing your BRAND. I am not going to call you cheap because that’s not nice and we need to be nicer to each other on the internet. But a logo is just a very small part of developing a brand. The $5k quote is to develop the work necessary that goes into developing the context for making that brand successful.
$1k is the lowest I’d charge for a basic logo. The amount of time to just do competitor research, design exploration and logo iterations gets you to that price point. I’ve tried to do it for less and it’s never worth it. You do get what you pay for it and I think you are finding that with 99designs.
Yes, you can. Find a talented Jr. Contact your local college and ask the professors there for a recommendation. If you are in Toronto, DM me.
Keep in mind that $1000 at $20 an hour is 50hrs. Even at that cut rate, you are only paying for a little more than 1-week of FT work. That’s not enough for “great.”
So on your end, be extremely clear about the deliverables to ensure no time is wasted. Since neither you nor the Jr is really knowledgeable, expect it to take lots of back and forth, and lots of unexpected bumps.
God no. I've charged 30k for brand guides alone (big ones, granted). I know some solid boutique shops that are able to occasionally deliver an impressive logo for 5k. But without a brand guide. 1k? Do you have any idea the amount of hours that goes into thoughtful brand design? You do not.
Can you get a *great* logo & brand guide for $1K? No. As you've observed, the quality of work you recieve is almost always going to be tied to what you spend. Your logo & brand is going to be one of the most important decisions you will make for your business. Your logo will be on everything. Your branding guide will help you maintain your brand's voice and first impression to potential customers. This is not an area where you want to pinch pennies. My advice would be to divert funds where needed to get a really good designer to establish a logo and brand that you can be proud of and immediately communicates what your company is about. $5K is probably the minimum you could expect to spend for a high quality designer to take on this project and do a good job with it. Contest sites like 99design are all about speed of the work for the designers because they get paid so little for what they produce. The faster they can throw something up there, the more money they make. And doing something like logo & branding fast rarely results in good work.
Have a cheap budget? Run a cheap contest? Get cheap results.
Either respect the fact that somebody went to college for years to get a degree that was very expensive, and deserves to charge what they wish, or deal with cheap looking logos by cheap designers.
Yes you can but you need to understand the different styles that these designers get pigeon holed into.
You need to go through a couple of hundred profiles and narrow them down to someone who impresses you on the style you are seeking.
I saw people charging $1500 and the same type of work was available for $250.
You also need to direct them to do tweaks.
There is also a logo (symbol) and a word mark (the word or name is the logo) or a combo of those.
My terminology may be wrong but Apple and Nike don’t need words with the symbol.
So my advice is to target a few and send them a GOOD brief and then interview them to see if the get your vibe.
Then it’s up to you to make them work to the talent level you thought you saw.
I think it depends on the level of polish, thought and expertise you are expecting someone to have for the project. For example, I’ve been doing this for 25 years. 1k would get you less than a day of my time.
Some tips for you: be clear on what you want, with clearly defined deliverables. Be clear on what you want as far as style, color, and typography. Be clear on your timeline and feedback cycles.
Those will help you reduce (or at least be more accurate about) the cost of the project.
A while back someone posted a company getting sued by another larger company for stealing their logo, a reputable company will not just make a mark but will also provide the due diligence to cover you in this kind of situation.
A CONtest?!
But then there will be nonwinners who spent all that time. Oh well those who choose to participate do so at their own will. I think personally $1K is good for me, but you’ll get people putting in as much time as they think to balance out the profit.
So for $1000–if I spend 20 hours on it, that’s like getting paid $50/hr which is ok.
Or 10 hours for $100/hr, normal—or it’s going 5 hours or of speed-design $200/hour.
But for a contest to do—People will aim for the 5-10 hour design window because they want to maximize profit without spending 20 hours on it when most of that design process you won’t get to see anyway and though it is a big investment on your end, it’s just circumstances
Not likely. $1k is more “alright” range for a logo and brand guide. If you want great, you have to pay for great, and that IS gonna be in the multiple thousands.
This is constantly the bane of us designers’ existence, is folks with the “it’s just a quick logo, what do you mean $100 is too low?”-type attitudes.
We’re professionals. It’s a professional skill we possess, and that isn’t free!
99 Designs? Seriously? Yeah, it's no surprise you're not happy. You're cheap. You want "great" but, you don't want to pay for it. You get what you pay for.
I unknowingly entered a logo design competition years ago. I won, but I was pissed when I found out it was a competition and that I didn't just have the job.
Depending on the project and company size, 1k for branding and logo for a small company is not that cheap… it’s decent.
Yup I’d take that $1K
Depending on the project I take it with ease. The problem is not the amount of money but the project for that amount of money.
Yup agreed and I get why people create these contests but probably better off just hiring someone they can work with one-on-one
I paid someone on instagram £25 for my logo :)
Good for you but that’s actually not decent lol. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just nuancing dumbass here thinking every project is worth an enormous amount when it depends on what you’re doing and the project and time needed. 1k is more than decent for SOME projects.
99 designs is a scam, and predatory both for clients and designers.
You’ll get 99 designs but good ain’t one.
How much time are you expecting someone to spend on it, and what is the going day rate for a designer where you are? How many rounds of feedback are you willing to pay for, or are you prepared to take someone's first shot at a logo? Look at it like this and you might realise 5K is not very much. Work out your budget and what day rate you want to pay, then you'll be able to say to someone (for example) "I can afford 3 days at $350. = $1050" And get them to do what they can in that time, including rounds of feedback. That might be enough for a logo, but nobody's going to be able to write an entire brand guide in that space of time.
This is a great exercise for any project.
This is the right answer
99 designs is for assholes, by assholes. You will get the results you deserve going there.
Lol if that was their slogan
No established designer would work for that amount. 5k is actually fairly reasonable for a logo and brand/style guide. I would say make the job smaller and just ask for a price for a simple logo so you can get the company started then once you start making more money you can get the full fleshed out brand guide.
It'll probably be not much more than a logo. Brand design / graphic language / guidelines / templates etc etc are way outside of a 1k budget. 5k is pretty reasonable for a seasoned pro.
I mean… yes, you can get A LOGO for $1000. In fact that’s better than most of the folks I see on r/DesignJobs who have a budget of $250 and folks are clamoring for the work. But the thing is… it’s not really about the logo. There are plenty of successful businesses with terrible logos (see: most of the landscaping business in my area). But $1000 will get you ONLY a logo. And while a cool logo on its own might look cool, how it’s being used in context is crucial to developing your BRAND. I am not going to call you cheap because that’s not nice and we need to be nicer to each other on the internet. But a logo is just a very small part of developing a brand. The $5k quote is to develop the work necessary that goes into developing the context for making that brand successful.
$1k is the lowest I’d charge for a basic logo. The amount of time to just do competitor research, design exploration and logo iterations gets you to that price point. I’ve tried to do it for less and it’s never worth it. You do get what you pay for it and I think you are finding that with 99designs.
You *can* but that’s about half what I’d expect to **start** at.
Better answer than most of what is written here. Also depends a lot on company type and size.
Yes, you can. Find a talented Jr. Contact your local college and ask the professors there for a recommendation. If you are in Toronto, DM me. Keep in mind that $1000 at $20 an hour is 50hrs. Even at that cut rate, you are only paying for a little more than 1-week of FT work. That’s not enough for “great.” So on your end, be extremely clear about the deliverables to ensure no time is wasted. Since neither you nor the Jr is really knowledgeable, expect it to take lots of back and forth, and lots of unexpected bumps.
Cheap, good, fast. Pick 2 max. Now imaging people paying 300% less for a direct competitor of yours. They get what they pay for right?
God no. I've charged 30k for brand guides alone (big ones, granted). I know some solid boutique shops that are able to occasionally deliver an impressive logo for 5k. But without a brand guide. 1k? Do you have any idea the amount of hours that goes into thoughtful brand design? You do not.
Can you get a *great* logo & brand guide for $1K? No. As you've observed, the quality of work you recieve is almost always going to be tied to what you spend. Your logo & brand is going to be one of the most important decisions you will make for your business. Your logo will be on everything. Your branding guide will help you maintain your brand's voice and first impression to potential customers. This is not an area where you want to pinch pennies. My advice would be to divert funds where needed to get a really good designer to establish a logo and brand that you can be proud of and immediately communicates what your company is about. $5K is probably the minimum you could expect to spend for a high quality designer to take on this project and do a good job with it. Contest sites like 99design are all about speed of the work for the designers because they get paid so little for what they produce. The faster they can throw something up there, the more money they make. And doing something like logo & branding fast rarely results in good work.
Have a cheap budget? Run a cheap contest? Get cheap results. Either respect the fact that somebody went to college for years to get a degree that was very expensive, and deserves to charge what they wish, or deal with cheap looking logos by cheap designers.
For a small company or nonprofit it would be $25-$50K depending on the complexity maybe more.
Yes you can but you need to understand the different styles that these designers get pigeon holed into. You need to go through a couple of hundred profiles and narrow them down to someone who impresses you on the style you are seeking. I saw people charging $1500 and the same type of work was available for $250. You also need to direct them to do tweaks. There is also a logo (symbol) and a word mark (the word or name is the logo) or a combo of those. My terminology may be wrong but Apple and Nike don’t need words with the symbol. So my advice is to target a few and send them a GOOD brief and then interview them to see if the get your vibe. Then it’s up to you to make them work to the talent level you thought you saw.
I think it depends on the level of polish, thought and expertise you are expecting someone to have for the project. For example, I’ve been doing this for 25 years. 1k would get you less than a day of my time. Some tips for you: be clear on what you want, with clearly defined deliverables. Be clear on what you want as far as style, color, and typography. Be clear on your timeline and feedback cycles. Those will help you reduce (or at least be more accurate about) the cost of the project.
A while back someone posted a company getting sued by another larger company for stealing their logo, a reputable company will not just make a mark but will also provide the due diligence to cover you in this kind of situation.
A CONtest?! But then there will be nonwinners who spent all that time. Oh well those who choose to participate do so at their own will. I think personally $1K is good for me, but you’ll get people putting in as much time as they think to balance out the profit. So for $1000–if I spend 20 hours on it, that’s like getting paid $50/hr which is ok. Or 10 hours for $100/hr, normal—or it’s going 5 hours or of speed-design $200/hour. But for a contest to do—People will aim for the 5-10 hour design window because they want to maximize profit without spending 20 hours on it when most of that design process you won’t get to see anyway and though it is a big investment on your end, it’s just circumstances
No
Not likely. $1k is more “alright” range for a logo and brand guide. If you want great, you have to pay for great, and that IS gonna be in the multiple thousands. This is constantly the bane of us designers’ existence, is folks with the “it’s just a quick logo, what do you mean $100 is too low?”-type attitudes. We’re professionals. It’s a professional skill we possess, and that isn’t free!
No.
If one takes their brand seriously, even 5000 is a bargain. Industry standard for professional design.
Shit, I’d do it for you for $1k. Hit me up
Do you have a brief? 5K is pretty reasonable for a logo and a BASIC brand guide. Hit me up if you'd like some help. I'm looking for some extra work.
Hello I can work for that amount, please dm me
Try up work