A few days back, I met a friend, who came up to me to have my suggestion on whether he should hire a freelance logo designer or a logo design company for his start up business. Similarly, most of the people who want a logo for their business come across this very same situation – A situation of immense confusion!
However, you don’t need to be confused; you just need to do a little analysis of your requirements and your budget, afterwards, search for both the categories accordingly to get the best possible solution for your confusion. Yes, there’s a lot to choose from and you have to be sensible. To start off with:
Gather your Specifications and set a Budget: First of all, you as a business owner have to gather your Specifications. What exactly do you want? You need to figure out, what are the elements that you require besides the logo. You might need designs for your business cards and letterhead as well. Moreover, there is a possibility that your business needs an online presence and for that website design is what you should have. If that’s the case, where you require a complete package of design services, you need to make an appropriate budget. Once you are done with that, start searching for freelancers and logo design companies for your project.
Start Searching: The next step is to start your search for the freelance designers and the logo design companies, both online and offline. Make a list for both the categories keeping your requirements in mind. Of course your search should have the criteria of the price according to the budget set. You would ultimately shortlist two or three of them to choose from. I won’t rule in favor of any one of them since there are top class freelancers serving the market and there are specialized logo design companies with very affordable yet professional design services.
However, there are some known advantages and disadvantages associated with freelance designers and logo design companies, which I want you to go through before finalizing any of them for your logo design.
FREELANCE DESIGNER
There is a mushroom growth of freelance designers these days. However, it is said that hiring a freelance designer is a risk as most of them are mere starters and don’t know much about graphic designing as such. Well, it all depends upon the budget as well; if you have a big budget set for this project, you can go for a freelance designer, who is renowned and is the best in this field. An expert designer’s guidance would be of enormous support in delineating your logo and there is no comparison to it.
Advantages:
The following are the advantages of a freelancer:
- Renowned freelancers are reliable to work with
- They focus on few projects unlike big design agencies
- They can be cost-effective and they can be
- Minimum turnaround time
- Can be an expert in logo designing
Disadvantages:
- They may disappear for some time, they are less accountable
- Sometimes low price indicates low quality work
- You can’t have face to face meetings with your freelance designer
- One designer means less concepts or similar concepts
- Your freelancer can be a teenage amateur
- Credibility is one issue
- Can use a design template
- Don’t offer money back guarantee
ONLINE LOGO DESIGN COMPANY
Type ‘logo design’ in any of the search engines and you will get a list of design companies offering various features at different prices. Set your priorities straight. Go for the best option. Check their design galleries and then take any decision.
Advantages:
Online logo design companies are getting very popular each passing day and a lot many businesses are contacting them to get their logo designed.
- Cost-effective
- Expertise in logo designing
- Professional and accountable
- Renowned logo design companies are reliable to work with
- Handle large number of customers
- Have a battalion of professional logo designers
- More designers signify more logo concepts
- More designers indicate broader skill set
- They are secure to work with. They won’t disappear anywhere
- Fixed turnaround time
- 24/7 customer support
- Most of them offer money back guarantee
Disadvantages:
- No face to face meetings with the designers
- Not suitable for entire branding projects
Are you still confused of how you would go about it? Or do you think I have missed out on a very essential point? Don’t hesitate to put forward your feedback in the comments section. It’s always a pleasure knowing what you think. Take care!
This is guest post from Ben Johnson of Logoinn, custom logo design service provider based in UK.
http://www.logoinn.com
2 Comments
If you’re going to work with a freelancer, you should definitely check them out, look at their samples, see what people are saying about them on their website and on the Internet. Do your due diligence, but don’t be afraid to work with a freelancer.
My company trains freelance graphic designers and I work with freelance graphic designers on a regular basis. I’ve gotten very creative, beautiful results, even from beginners. And, 99.9% of the freelancers I’ve worked with have been very reliable and offer quick turnaround on my projects.
One thing I can recommend is to communicate with the freelancer before the project begins. Talk about your expectations, your budget, the number of revisions included, ETA for completion, and how you can reach them in an emergency. I typically establish my budget upfront, then they let me know whether or not they can work within that budget.
You can find AWAI-trained graphic designers and copywriters, web writers, and other writers online at http://www.DirectResponseJobs.com. It’s free to post a job listing and AWAI never takes a fee from you or the designer or writer you hire.
I recently researched all the differences between inexpensive logo design and the top professionals. I documented them all in the post linked to this comment. No matter what level of logo design someone chooses my post will provide them with very specific questions to ask to ensure they are happy with their results.
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