What to know before hiring someone (a human) to design (with their own brains) your new (not AI) logo.
I, like everyone with eyes, see AI generated ‘branding’ everywhere these days. They’re hard to miss—a square or circle shaped graphic with the name of the company, the tagline, their incorporated date or six other random lines of words, plus an oddly illustrated person/place/thing. And the common problem around these AI-generated logos, besides them all looking alike and being un-copyrightable, is that they aren’t actually logos. they’re graphics.
Ornate, super colorful artwork with full backgrounds may be eye-catching, but what happens when you have to use it as a profile pic or small on a business card. A pen? A rubber stamp? A good logo that works across the board will be legible at any reasonable size, and can be easily recognizable in one color. You may not be worried about all the potential usages for your new logo right now, but a good designer should be. Please hire a human designer. :)
So how should you pick an artist?
Budget: A big one obviously is price. What’s your budget? Decide that first. (You might need to spend more than you think, so budget this into your marketing plan as soon as you can.) Designers that are “cheap and quick” may be desirable, especially when you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of money to spend, but this is one of those times where you generally get what you pay for. I say this as someone who has been hired for many, many people’s rebrands. Generally, the cheaply created files work until they don’t, and then you find yourself having to pay for the printer/t-shirt shop/publication’s time to make themselves a usable version.
Timing: Good logo design is a process- it’s listening to the client’s needs, combining them with creative knowledge and ideas, and marrying the two in a way that actually works, both technically and visually. This takes time! My logo design process takes anywhere from days to weeks, including sketches, digitally creating them, option changes and revisions, and final file gathering.
If someone can turn a logo around overnight, it’s probably going to be quite generic, if not AI-generated completely, and may even be exactly the same as a handful of other businesses out there in your same shoes. Not the best representation of your business, especially for long term usage, but doable for short term in a pinch. I get it. Once you’ve got the budget for personalized, thoughtful branding, you can always upgrade.
Experience: If the graphic artist/designer doesn’t have a website showing examples of their work, make sure and ask for some. Their style is important—do you like their work? If you look through their portfolio and can’t see anything that you stop and “ooh, I love that!’ over, you’re probably not going to like what they provide you. Artists have different styles- pick one that has a style you are comfortable with.
Files Provided: Make sure you know what type of files you’re going to receive from them. At the very minimum, you need vector based CMYK files for printing (generally eps or pdf), and RGB png. or gif. files with transparent backgrounds for web. You don’t have to understand the difference between these, but your designer sure needs to. Printers and web designers will need them. Make sure they’re included.
Long Term Needs: Do you want a designer to hand off files and disappear, or would you prefer to work with them in an ongoing capacity? There’s no wrong answer- but you do need to know your preference. Some designers only do logos, and others provide a wider array of services. If you will need ongoing occasional work, like business cards, fliers, brochures, etc, you probably want to find a designer that does all of that (like me!).
Remember that once a designer works with you on a project, they get a feel for your needs and likes, and that’s going to get even more accurate with time. Keep in mind that every time you switch designers, you start that process anew, and that can get both frustrating and expensive for you!
Ready to talk about your project?
I love working with small businesses and solo-owner/operators, and work hard to keep my pricing reflective of that. Check out my logo packages here and book a virtual meeting with me from there to discuss more! Can’t wait to hear about it!
-Pam
I’m the one on the right.
