Logo Design Advice

[SAS25]

Hey guys. I am thinking about getting into logo design (freelance) and was wondering should I just use my name or create an actual company brand?

[Mitch Bartlett]

I'd advise sticking with your name if you haven't started yet. It doesn't seem like it, but turning yourself into a company is a big step, and I'd wait until you've been working for 1+ years before considering it.

Small-scale developers and entrepreneurs will tend to go for solo tradespeople, as apposed to design firms. This is a good thing for you as you're just starting out.

All the best!

[SAS25]

Hmmm. Would you say graphic design contest sites are a good way of starting out?

[Boss Hog]

Hmmm. Would you say graphic design contest sites are a good way of starting out?

Yes if you want to work for nothing 99.9% of the time.

[Paul Murray]

Forget design contests, they give you no real experience of working with clients, plus the vast majority of entries submitted are not original or clever, often infringe copyright, sometimes are exact copies and 99% of the time are complete shite. Plus, as Boss mentioned, you won't be getting paid for it, so why do it?

If you're going to work for free, ensure it's for a charity, non-profit organisation or local community group that could genuinely benefit from you, rather than someone who's looking to save money by using an exploitative service.

Read about good branding and identity design, understand what it is, what works, why it works, what doesn't, why it doesn't, and follow these simple steps:

1. Sketch, sketch, sketch
   Ensure the design works on paper before you move onto the computer
2. Work in black and white until the design is finalised
   If it doesn't work in black and white, it's not a good logo
3. Design it using vector software
   This will enable you to scale it up without losing quality
4. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
   The best logo designs are simple and clever. Gradients, glows and other bells and whistles just date and clutter a piece.

Designing a logo is hard, designing a good one is even harder, but like anything, practice and experience are the key, so keep at it.

[SAS25]

Great advice. However those design contests do pay you. Here check these out:

Choosa Home

Logo Design, Web Design and other Graphic Design Contests - DesignContest.com

These sites are the only ones I have found that do not take a commission on how much you earn for each logo :)

[Boss Hog]

If 100 designers all enter and supply logos and there's obviously only one winner, who pays the other 99 designers for their time? Most, if not all the time you will be in the 99 group not getting paid....

[SAS25]

Hey I agree with you mate just saying they do get paid that's all.

[Mitch Bartlett]

Sure, the winner gets paid. Are you going to be the winner every time?

You can waste your time by entering 20 times and still not ever win. Meanwhile your host gets supplied with hundreds of designs they didn't pay a penny for. Things like this are undeniably wrong, and no singular person will gain a benefit that equals the work they put in, unless they're winning every single time. Ultimately and inexorably, you won't be winning every time.

Also, I'd be willing to bet high that they don't pay industry-standard prices for the winning entry. It'll probably be a fixed price, which gives no value to the certain qualities within each individual logo.

[SAS25]

I see. What are the industry standard prices?