Why even bother with a designer? Just do it yourself
You don’t really need a designer. I mean a logo? Comon really? That is pretty easy to do. Just a couple simple lines and shapes here and there, throw in a nice font like Helvetica. You could really just do it in Microsoft Word or even MS Paint.
Why in God’s name would you ever hire a designer and pay him/her outrages amounts of money when you can do the same or better job yourself. I mean who knows what you want more than yourself? These designers running around with their fancy MacBooks charging people money for things they can do themselves are crazy.
Well, lets look at some “do it yourselfers” compared to some professionally designed logos:
Do it yourselfers
Professional
There is a clear difference between these two categories. The “do it yourselfers” usually start off with a good idea, but good ideas are a dime a dozen. Tons of people have good ideas. What matters is the execution. How does it actually come alive? How does it actually present itself in the ‘real world’? How is it going to be a benefit to the construction of your brand?
Things to think about
Designers go through an education program for a reason. There is a lot behind logo design and every other form of brand identity design. It’s not as simple as you think. Your logo or brand identity designs are the face of your company. It’s one of the first things people see. Do you really want the first thing people see be made by someone who has no background in design at all?
Let’s take a restaurant for example. A restaurant absolutely has to have an appropriate interior design. There are certain colors and furniture and other things that will improve the atmosphere of the restaurant and reach certain goals according to the target market. It is very important for a restaurant owner to hire an interior designer so that they can make the space you have to work with most effective. The interior designer knows how to use colors, shapes, variety, and other basic principles of design that will benefit your goals. It may be expensive at first, but you have to look long term. The same goes for logo design. Every aspect of your company or organization matters. Just because you can do it yourself and you believe that you can do a better job than a professional doesn’t mean you should.
Notice how people actually like to wear the professional logos shown above. A lot of people buy certain products based on the packaging or logo. Whether you think this is foolish or not, it is a fact and it wouldn’t hurt you to use it to your advantage.
The professional logos in this post are clearly made properly by someone in the graphic design field who knows what they are doing. They represent something good, a properly formed brand. One that portrays something to be respected. They are simple and can be applied to a variety of mediums such as T shirts, mugs, cups, shoes, the web, variety of kinds of paper, hats…anything really. These are designed by skilled professionals, for skilled professionals. I won’t go into analyzing each one as this would be a long read.
These companies are successful because they did not cut corners. They understood there is no shortcut to success. They hired the appropriate people to do things that they did not have enough proper education background to know they are doing it right.
Don’t let your pride get in the way of building a successful brand. Hire the right people, and pay accordingly.