portfolio & design blog of logo & identity designer, Graham Smith
The title is not entirely accurate, but for the purposes of this post it serves a use. This post is to draw attention to a very common situation faced by designers, a client preempting project negotiations by saying “we don’t have much money”. However, I must also say this, regardless of the budget, if a designer chooses to take on a lower paid job, that designer needs to treat that job as they would a more lucrative project.
To clarify
The logo design, the visual identity, it’s the one thing that represents who or what the business stands for. Of course it’s not the only thing and is dependent on so much more, but it’s a solid start.
The logo is the one constant in the marketing and advertising armory.
It will be around when the last brochure becomes out of date, when the business moves location, when the website is due for a system wide redesign, when the CEO or MD retires, when staff come and go, when clients come and go, when the Conservatives get back in power…
Yet when it comes to the crunch, the logo design often gets the lowest priority when it comes to the allocation of these critical advertising and marketing expenses. It’s easier to part with the business cash when it’s about how you are perceived as a person rather than the business.
Some generalities
Let’s conveniently and naively forget that the logo represents your company for one moment. Now lets get on board with the true western affliction, lets prioritize on the material things that seem a much better use of the companies coffers opposed to inanimate objects like a logo: the company car you drive, the clothes you wear to work, where you take your own clients out for lunch, corporate outings, the latest leather briefcase and stupidly expensive fountain pen. But it’s not just material things is it, the need to be liked and viewed by the community as an outstanding and caring business: sponsoring the local rugby team or ensuring the company name is planted in pretty flowers on that large sponsored roundabout on the edge of town.
And the esteemed logo designer is faced with, “well, the client has a low budget for this.”
Awareness
So here is something to bear in mind, and sorry if this sounds at all patronizing. If the first thing you say when you approach a designer is along the lines of “we don’t have much money”, you are hinting that you don’t value what you are asking them to do for you.
Instead, see if there is another way you can express to the designer, the financial limitations you might have. Not making it sound like a preempted attack to cut costs at all costs is the key focus here. Just being aware of this will help in negotiations, without running the risk of really alienating yourself with the designer from the outset.
The generalised examples and hot air mentioned above are just the varied thoughts that bump around in my head on an ongoing basis.
Categories: Logo & Brand Identity, My Views
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The problem with Logo design is that it’s subjective and typically what makes a good business leader does not usually make one good at having a vision for identity. CEO’s approve investment for things that can be measured, and Entrepreneurs invest in things they can control – identity typically falls into neither category and thus, unless you are a significant B2C brand or a company run by a marketing person, identity falls into a black whole of designs ruined by committee. While you get what you pay for, most often it’s only a good designer that recognizes the difference. Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills.
The problem with Logo design is that it’s subjective and typically what makes a good business leader does not usually make one good at having a vision for identity. CEO’s approve investment for things that can be measured, and Entrepreneurs invest in things they can control – identity typically falls into neither category and thus, unless you are a significant B2C brand or a company run by a marketing person, identity falls into a black whole of designs ruined by committee. While you get what you pay for, most often it’s only a good designer that recognizes the difference. Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills.
The problem with Logo design is that it’s subjective and typically what makes a good business leader does not usually make one good at having a vision for identity. CEO’s approve investment for things that can be measured, and Entrepreneurs invest in things they can control – identity typically falls into neither category and thus, unless you are a significant B2C brand or a company run by a marketing person, identity falls into a black whole of designs ruined by committee. While you get what you pay for, most often it’s only a good designer that recognizes the difference. Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills.
@Matt – So true that Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills. This is something that I have found some companies don’t seem to grasp.
And it is so true that the typical CEO personality will often not be able to value the non-tangible labor put into a logo concept. But I think the higher up the corporate ladder you go then the mindset of those clients may also be more evolved in that respect.
@Matt – So true that Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills. This is something that I have found some companies don’t seem to grasp.
And it is so true that the typical CEO personality will often not be able to value the non-tangible labor put into a logo concept. But I think the higher up the corporate ladder you go then the mindset of those clients may also be more evolved in that respect.
@Matt – So true that Photoshop and Illustrator skills are not the same as design skills. This is something that I have found some companies don’t seem to grasp.
And it is so true that the typical CEO personality will often not be able to value the non-tangible labor put into a logo concept. But I think the higher up the corporate ladder you go then the mindset of those clients may also be more evolved in that respect.
You hit the nail on the head with your statement about clients opening project negotiations – logo or anything, really – with “we don’t have much money for this” really lowers the perceived value the designer feels the client has for the project.
So often in these situations you run into clients that feel they are helping the project along by offering their input, or ‘heading up’ the creative aspect, while you just go to town in your Adobe programs. In reality, the designer feels unappreciated, undervalued, and just angry that they took the project on in the first place. To our professional personalities, it’s a step backward in our growth because the only value for us is suddenly “well, they’re paying me SOMETHING at least.”
It’s a good way to kill what could have been a long-lasting designer/client relationship.
You hit the nail on the head with your statement about clients opening project negotiations – logo or anything, really – with “we don’t have much money for this” really lowers the perceived value the designer feels the client has for the project.
So often in these situations you run into clients that feel they are helping the project along by offering their input, or ‘heading up’ the creative aspect, while you just go to town in your Adobe programs. In reality, the designer feels unappreciated, undervalued, and just angry that they took the project on in the first place. To our professional personalities, it’s a step backward in our growth because the only value for us is suddenly “well, they’re paying me SOMETHING at least.”
It’s a good way to kill what could have been a long-lasting designer/client relationship.
You hit the nail on the head with your statement about clients opening project negotiations – logo or anything, really – with “we don’t have much money for this” really lowers the perceived value the designer feels the client has for the project.
So often in these situations you run into clients that feel they are helping the project along by offering their input, or ‘heading up’ the creative aspect, while you just go to town in your Adobe programs. In reality, the designer feels unappreciated, undervalued, and just angry that they took the project on in the first place. To our professional personalities, it’s a step backward in our growth because the only value for us is suddenly “well, they’re paying me SOMETHING at least.”
It’s a good way to kill what could have been a long-lasting designer/client relationship.