Discount Logo Design - 'cheap' or even 'free' logos. Realities & drawbacks

How can it be that some logo design companies offer logo design for under a hundred bucks? With unlimited revisions? And, what they claim is a full money back guarantee. In essence, free logo design. Or how about those $25 dollar logo design contests? Why do some companies pay thousands for their new brand, when they could have a great new logo for $25? Why do successful companie avoid these methods like the plague? Is there something that they know that we all should know? Is there really that much difference between the artwork that you'll can get as $30 logo templates from some obscure website than the one you'll get working with a professional design studio (not neccessarily The Logo Factory but it would be nice). Turns out there' a world of difference. And as our Mama always told us - "If its sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't". And Mama is seldom wrong...

Free and discount logo design - obtain little value at great risk...

Brand development can be expensive. It requires a lot of time from a well-trained and talented designer. Someone who’s going to pour their heart into a company logo build, and then turn this creation (and all reproduction rights to it) over to you. This will require a potentially exhaustive process, hours and hours of studio time (not to mention the years of experience and training), to get it right. Market research. Technical prowess. Something like this should cost $100s of dollars, if not $1000s. How can it be that some design companies offer logos for under a hundred bucks? With unlimited revisions? And, what they claim is a full money back guarantee. In essence, free logo design. Or how about them $100 logo contest? Sound too good to be true? Alas, it probably is.

Discount logo design - how saving a few bucks can cost you in the long run...

The story starts out something like this – you’ve spent about a hundred bucks on a logo for your new company. After days of Googling – you found a discount priced designer on the Internet. Or maybe the service was advertised via a junk e-mail that others refer to as ‘SPAM’ (but, hey, they never discovered your source of discount graphics).

Sure, there were some reputable studios that you bumped into - their work was top notch– but they wanted double (or more) than your cheapo design house. You were promised unlimited revisions. Money back guarantee. Maybe they’d even throw in a free coffee mug. Oh sure, there were a few wrinkles with your discount designer - you’re not sure were the company is (there’s no phone number listed and all communication was by form or e-mail) but does that really matter? After all, this is the Internet, and e-mail is the medium of choice. But despite a few communication hiccups – hey, they can happen to anybody – the project went pretty smoothly. The logos initially presented weren’t what you had envisioned (or even asked for), but the designer had made some decent points about why the logo was perfect for you. And he had to be right, after all – he WAS a designer, no? At least, that’s what the website said. And now, you have all the file formats they told you that you’d need.

Why knowing the 'heritage' of your cheap new logo is crucial...

What could possibly go wrong? You’ve ended up with a great icon design that is about to be embroidered onto staff shirts. Your letterhead, business card and envelopes are coming back from the printer. You're just putting the finished touches on a great brochure design and have ordered your new presentation folders. You’ve spent another few thousand on a website – but that’s okay, the central visual is a 3D animation of your logo, animated in Flash, complete with interactive buttons, music and a kick-ass navigation system. The flash movie was expensive, but well worth it – you’ve duplicated it as standalone screensavers that can be shipped out to new and established clients alike. You’re ready to make your big company launch.

Then the postman arrives. Bearing a certified letter from some formal sounding company who’s cleanly laid out (where did they get their logo?) letterhead announces that they are a rather large legal firm. Slash M. and Trash M. They’ve enclosed some photocopies of something that looks vaguely like your new logo. In fact, it’s exactly like your new logo. The accompanying letter is frank and to the point. The logo that you’re about to launch on thousands of dollars worth of collateral graphic design material belongs to someone else. And the lawyer has sought, and has been successful, in getting a ‘cease and desist’ order against you. Quite frankly, you’re not allowed to use anything with your new logo on it. Nadda. No logo T-shirts, letterheads, nothing. You have 48 hours to take down your new web site. And anything that you’ve sold that features the logo, has to be accounted for. You see, the real owner of the mark gets all the profits. And when that’s all finished – the original owner is threatening to sue you for damages – apparently they feel that your business is not a good reflection of their company. They claim that you’ve damaged their good name, and want some serious money to make them go away.

Of course, you’re gonna fight this. You’ll get right on the phone to your $200 a hour lawyer, hoping that he’ll set these guys straight. That doesn’t go quite according to plan. He tells you that the cease and desist is legit. They’ve do own the mark after all. He mutters something about trademark and copyright. Looks like Slash M. and Trash M. have you dead to rights. At the very best, you’ll have to destroy ALL the material bearing your new logo. They’ll probably take an offer on the damages – they probably don’t want a legal battle anymore than you do – so that’s only going to cost you a few grand. But don’t you worry – your lawyer tells you that you're gonna sue your 'designer' for everything they’re worth (or at least all the out of pocket expenses their knockoff logo is going to cost you). You’ll go after the punks that sold you this bootleg, rip-off, knocked-off copycat logo. Just tell him where to send the notice. Or a phone number. You have neither. Turns out the company is outside North America and well out of your grasp. You burrow through their web site, looking for some contact information (other than that infernal form) but there’s none to be had. And to make matters worse, your new logo is featured in their portfolio, and there’s even a testimonial about the project that’s attributed to you (trouble is, you never said it). What can you do?

The recovery from a cheap corporate identity crisis? Start over...

Ahm. Nothing. The company is more than likely a shell from another company (companies that use spam, either through e-mail or search engines, are notorious for hiding their true identity) and you’re stuck with a painful, and quite expensive lesson. But how realistic is this? Very. At The Logo Factory, we’ve been around since 1996 (a lifetime in Internet years) and our artwork has been copied dozens of times. We've had to intervene in multiple design ownership disputes (one company even had their logo copied by their own T-shirt printer, and the resultant shirts, complete with rip-off logo embroidery, offered for sale). We’ve even had our name, ahm, appropriated (The Logo Factory® is a registered logo design trademark, in the US, Canada among others). Our design work is always ending up in other people’s graphic design portfolios (until our lawyer has a little chat). And you just know, that if a shady design house is willing to lay claim to other people’s work – they’re more than willing to sell you a logo thats heritage is questionable. Or if yours is the original work, what guarantee do you have that your logo won’t be sold to someone else? (and then *you* will have to hire Slash M. and Trash M. to sort out the mess). How to avoid potential problems down the road – pick your design company wisely (here’s a checklist of reputable logo design companies). Make sure your logo is original and not a multi-owner logo template. Avoid a so-called logo contest at all costs. Make sure your design house is a REAL company (not some shell name for another entity altogether). If you can’t contact them directly (those ‘send us this form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can’ don’t cut it). If they’re this dodgy about revealing themselves when they’re trying to impress you, imagine how tough it could get once they have your money? And besides, if a business is trying to hide their contact information (even something simple like a phone number) you have to ask yourself - why are they hiding?

At the end of the day, you do get what you paid for. And if you're a little light in the pocket book, we've even assembled a bunch of free logo design that you can download from our site, complete with realistic promises and caveats. If you can't beat 'em. Join 'em.