Topic: Logo design

[L.E. Falcone]

I've commissioned a comic book artist to design a logo for me (this is writing related, believe it or not) and was wondering how much to pay him. Since we're friends we're both like: what do you want to pay? I don't know, what are you asking? So, we're not really sure how to approach this.

My request wasn't too detailed: only a smidgen of color and more of just a sketch of an animal.

So, my question, for those who may've done this sort of thing: What do you charge? How do you charge? Or...what have you offered?

Gotta dash.

[Lyon]

Payment is based on usage in this case. How do you plan to use the logo, what is the projected audience? That sort of thing. Asking how much to charge for a logo is kind of like asking how much to charge for a car. There's the Yugo and then there's the Rolls Royce.

[Verla Kay]

I wonder if just a "range" of prices would help? Like... logos can cost anywhere from $ to $$$.

[AdamV]

At my company, we've probably paid anywhere from $75 to a couple thousand dollars for a logo, and you could pay more. If this is something like a publishing company logo that you'll put on your title page, and your friend isn't a well-known illustrator, I'd put it at the low end of the range.

I had a similiar situation when I was paying a friend to illustrate The Dreamcatcher Adventures, and it is kind of awkward, isn't it? What I did was figure out a price that I could afford and could possibly be profitable for me and presented that to my friend. He accepted it and was happy with it. Work together to figure out a price. An unhappy artist does not produce good work, but you are in business.

[MysteryRobin]

I just had a logo designed and she charged by the hour. It ended up costing just under $200.

[L.E. Falcone]

I wonder if just a "range" of prices would help? Like... logos can cost anywhere from $ to $$$.

That would help immensely. The two of us can work out the particulars later but I'd like an idea, even if it's a vague idea, of where to start, and to stop.

Thanks, Verla.

[L.E. Falcone]

At my company, we've probably paid anywhere from $75 to a couple thousand dollars for a logo, and you could pay more. If this is something like a publishing company logo that you'll put on your title page, and your friend isn't a well-known illustrator, I'd put it at the low end of the range.

I had a similiar situation when I was paying a friend to illustrate The Dreamcatcher Adventures, and it is kind of awkward, isn't it? What I did was figure out a price that I could afford and could possibly be profitable for me and presented that to my friend. He accepted it and was happy with it. Work together to figure out a price. An unhappy artist does not produce good work, but you are in business.

That's exactly what it's for. I don't want to low ball him because I've asked him to do some cover work for a future project.

[L.E. Falcone]

I just had a logo designed and she charged by the hour. It ended up costing just under $200.

How much detail was involved?

[MysteryRobin]

In the finished logo or the back and forth? If you PM me I'd be happy to share the logo with you.
It was a high contrast logo so I could shrink it to thumbnail size if need be, or blow it up. She showed me a few different versions and I picked the one I liked best, and she finalized that one. It's similar in level of detail to the Starbucks mermaid... I'd say...

[JennaWren]

It's similar in level of detail to the Starbucks mermaid... I'd say...

Huh. A Starbucks logo, you say? Imagine that you'd know that level of detail for Starbucks. Shocking!  :snork

[MysteryRobin]

It's right up there with my childrens' faces. Actually, the logo changes less often, so I may know it better.

[evilrobot]

I've done logos from between $90.00 and $450.00 the price for me depends on how long it's going to take me and for who I'm doing the work for. If it's a big company who is going to use the logo for everything I'll charge more than if I was doing the work for a person or small business. I don't know how much detail you're talking about. I just did this logo for $90.00 because it was black and white, it's a small start up business, and it didn't take me long. If your logo has a similar amount of detail I'd say it's in that range for payment. If it has more detail than this up the price.  I try to get at least $40.00 an hour for this type of work. Hope this helps. http://community.imaginefx.com/forums/storage/737/402252/Finished-Logo.jpg

[L.E. Falcone]

That helps immensely, evilrobot. Thank you.

[TanjaW]

One of my favorite graphic designers, Jessica Hische, wrote an excellent post about "The Dark Art of Pricing" which discusses various scenarios about negotiating usage rights which can also help how to determine what the price for the art (or in your case, a logo) would be...regardless, you can also consult The GAG’s Ethical Guide for Pricing, for a ballpark amount on what a designer would consider charging for logo design.

http://jessicahische.is/thinkingthoughts/aboutpricing/

- Tanja

[L.E. Falcone]

Thanks for the link, Tanja. That's very informative.

[Anthony]

Just wanted to comment to say that there shouldn't necessarily be a direct correlation between "level of detail" and "cost". Think of the Nike Swoosh. Lots of detail? No way. High value logo? Absolutely. With logos, simple is often better. You need to consider how large your company is, how prominent and pervasive the logo is going to be on your products, and how well it represents your company. A good logo has a lot of value to a company, independent of the time taken to create it.

[AJSchumacher]

I've done logos from between $90.00 and $450.00 the price for me depends on how long it's going to take me and for who I'm doing the work for

I determine price the same way evilrobot does. Of course with friends you want to be fair as an artist, but be mindful of the time and labor that will go in to the design. I've done quick designs for friends for as low as $50 however anything lower than that is too low IMO.