Designing a logo might be one of the simplest but hardest task to do for a designer. It has to capture the client's needs, target audience, feel of the company etc. but most importantly, a good logo has to be recognizably different even at the slightest glance. It's like when you look at Nike's swoosh and "BAM!" it's the essence of Nike captured there, flavorful and full of finesse.
I receive orders for logo design quite frequently from my friends, family members and sometimes I get lucky with companies. Most of the time they are all unpaid voluntary work, but when a real order comes, it's always hard to set up a price that will satisfy the client's need, especially when they are referred by close acquaintances. Being a novice designer myself, however, I tend to overlook the fact that I am underpaid or even not getting paid at all when doing these works. Why? I see it as a long term investment. I can testify that my work deserves to be pitched at a higher price and I am very open about this. Still, I feel that the good connection with client and an affordable price will keep orders coming in the future, which I believe outweighs the benefit of enjoying a few extra bucks now. (hopefully, *hint hint*)
Having said that, it will be great to educate people about the economy behind design and artworks. I personally do not have an influence big enough to start giving lectures about why people should pay designers more. One of the things I have always trying to wander upon though, is there absolutely no fixed formula to correlate the visual stimulation produced to the deserved price of the design itself ? Is it legitimate to measure brain activity, popularity amidst the crowd, artist's fame or the time spent to determine the appropriate fee? I tried to look for an answer, but such attempt to put logic into the abstract harbors a fruitless result. Can we quantify that experience, that fame then? By using facebook likes? By winning real life competitions and converting them into virtual points that allows a designer to so-called "level up"? Would that diminish the value of art? What if we can do it, and designs can actually contribute some form of concrete economical impact instead of just "looking nice". I don't know, but I hope to find the answer within this lifetime.
Anyway, I shall stop being all philosophical and douche-y. Planned to post this compilation of logo and suddenly turned into an endless rambling *apologetic bow*. And well, just as a weird tips to fellow novice beginner, the more constraint you are set for a design, the easier it is to come up with ideas. That's why when dealing with clients, ask as many questions about how they want it to look like and do some prototype designs for them. If possible, ask them to fill in a free survey monkey form. I generally do 2-3 alternatives so that the client will be able to choose and you don't have to redo it later on. It also shows that you are serious and professional about the order, which means you are subjected to even better connection in the future. That's it for now, ja ne and keep the artistic spirit alive!
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