Getting a Logo for your New Business, Website or Blog Need Not Be A Hassle
By: Matt Mickiewicz
The traditional route of getting a professional logo design can be long, arduous, and downright painful. Writing a “request for proposal”, searching for designers to send it to, attending “needs assessment” meetings or conference calls, reviewing proposals and quotes, and finally crossing your fingers and selecting a designer for the job. It’s no wonder that many entrepreneurs simply shrug their shoulders, type in “free logo maker” into Google and generate a generic, clip-art based logo for their business.
Thankfully, there is a much better way to get a great outcome, for less money. Over the last two years, the emergence of “Crowdsourcing” as chronicled by Jeff Howe in his book and in Wired Magazine has enabled website owners, entrepreneurs, and business owners to tap into a global pool of talent.
Here’s how crowdsourcing, frequently dubbed design contests, works:
- You go to the website of one of the design marketplaces. 99designs is the biggest and most popular, with over 52,000 designers registered, but there are many others.
- You write a “creative brief”, outlining in simple terms what you’re looking for in a logo design. Tell the designers about your company, your brand, how and where your logo will be used, and what kind of image you’re looking to portray. Are you looking for a “professional” corporate style logo or something playful and whimsical? Are there any colors that you like or dislike? Giving the designers examples of professional logos that you like can be very helpful in guiding the direction of your design contest.
- Set your budget. That’s right — rather than receiving bids or proposals, you tell the designers how much money you want to spend. The more you offer, the more designers will participate in your design contest. On 99designs, a typical amount to offer seems to be in the $195 – $295 range.
- Post your project! Within hours, you’ll start receiving design submissions from designers all over the world. Rate them from 1 to 5 stars, provide written comments and suggestions, and after a week select your favorite and that designer will get your budget — minus any fees charged by the marketplace that’s hosting your logo design competition. A typical project will see 70 – 200 design concepts, but 500 or 1000 is not unheard of.
Best of all, design contests can be used for more than just logos. Pastor Rick Warren who wrote “The Purpose Driven Life” which sold 30 million copies has used crowd sourcing to get a design for his next book, as has NY Times #1 Bestselling author Tim Ferris. Even DISH Networks used 99designs to re-design their nationwide fleet of 4500 installation vans.
The power of the crowd will astonish you!
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Wow, what can I say take what is often a horribly complicated and expensive proposition and turn it into a concise article that solves the problem in an affordable fashion. This information is invaluable, great article. I would be curious if some people who have used the service would comment and put links to their logo and mention what they paid for it. It would be great to see this.
Having an presence to identify with is most important when marketing. I have heard some of the outsource house can do inexpensive work as well as high priced design houses.
In the past, I have had good luck with gotlogos.com. They are pretty inexpensive and turn out good concepts. You do not have much control over things other than color and if you are creating a simple, first time logo, they may be just right for you. In the past I have paid about $35 for a logo.
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The two most important things to do when running an open design project at 99designs.com:
1. Clearly describe what you want – make it easy for the designers to understand what you are after. Even if you don’t know exactly – give them something to start with.
2. Stay involved – As designers submit designs continue to provide them feedback and encouragement. Open communication between client and designer is a key piece of the design process.
Here are some more great tips to help you get the best results at 99designs.com:
http://bit.ly/TFyJh
Here are some client experiences and testimonials:
http://bit.ly/8cpreu
Cheers,
Jason Aiken
99designs.com