New business owners often want a logo early on. Good idea. This image shows the client who you are, shares your name, and is useful for putting on everything from business cards to the social media accounts you are creating.
However, many cash-strapped business owners turn to inexpensive, online services. We don’t recommend those services for many reasons. But one of the most important: more people pay attention to your logo than you think.
Logos Talk
I found this highlighted in a recent podcast episode of the show 99% Invisible. In No. 251, the host spoke with graphic designer Michael Bierut. Bierut is a well known designer, who designs for national companies and presidential candidates. Part of their discussion pointed out that years ago, no one paid much attention to your logo. Maybe the logos of large companies had hidden meaning, but people did not sit around discussing them. Today, if a company changes its logo, people react, often loudly. Perhaps you remember the outcry after Gap changed its name design.
Avoid Online Design Services
Our graphic designer recently shared this Facebook post from another graphic design studio discussing online services. In the post, the author explains many other reasons to avoid online logo services, such as copyright violations. As he says, “It exploits small business owners and neuters a healthy relationship between creative people and clients. One-off services with no regard of facilitating marketing, or continuity moving forward.”
Why a Raleigh Business Owner Cares
You’re not Coca-Cola or Gap. Your business might be just you or a handful of employees. While your design probably won’t make news headlines, the design still matters. Here are five reasons to hire local for your logo:
- Shop local. You’re a small business owner and you may be shouting “support local” as part of your efforts to compete. Do the same. Support a local graphic designer.
- Support value. Online services tend to be a race to the bottom, people lowering their prices more and more to compete. A Raleigh resident cannot create beautiful designs for $5 each. A logo is important to your business. Give it that respect.
- The big marketing picture. Having someone in another country create your logo means it’s just that — a logo. A logo should be part of your overall branding and part of your marketing picture. Even if you hire a marketing agency just for the logo now and come back later for more services, at least that company will have some history with you and an understanding of who you are.
- Quality. The person churning out logo designs for $10 each is probably creating dozens a day. He or she may be copying many of them from each other. Your logo should be unique, should connect to you as a person, and as a company. By working with a local designer, you can share your vision and your passion, both of which will come across in the design.
- Logos talk. When someone asks you about your logo (and they will), you can share with pride the story of its creation, the thought that went into it, and the back-and-forth you had with a designer to birth this pictorial representation of your company. You can share that person’s name and applaud his or her hard work. If you hire online, you can say, “Oh I hired someone on that design site for $99 and it was done in a day.”
Is your business ready for rebranding? Contact us to today about logo design and how it fits in the bigger picture of your marketing.