Opting for a cheap graphic designer could cost you and your company more than you realise. In my line of work I face this problem day in day out, where new business owners are looking for anything as long as it comes with one rule and that is…it must be cheap.
There are two different kinds of graphic designers for you to choose from when hiring someone to design that all important company logo, stationary, marketing material, or website. You could choose to hire a qualified professional who has spend years on obtaining their degree or masters in graphic design, or you could choose to hire an unqualified individual who may only be working on a part time basis to earn some extra cash and who also uses services such as clipart logos or premade templates for stationary and websites.
Now I don’t think I need to tell you which service is going to cost you more than the other, but which one may cost you more in the long run will come as an unpleasant surprise.
Picture my next sentence in your mind. You have found a designer who is prepared to design you a logo for your new business and at a fraction of the cost of any other designer you may have gained quotations from, you feel like you have gained a real bargain and you are happy with the look of your logo too, you then spend a good proportion of your limited budget on printing all of your company stationary and maybe even sign writing your company van, but how does it then feel to maybe see a competitor with the exact same or very similar logo on their door sign as you drive past their office?
I can imagine it would leave you feeling pretty bad, ripped off, and feeling left completely at square one all over again. Below you can see a screen shot taken from a website offering free logo templates.
There is nothing wrong with using such services. All I am trying to point out is that cheaper is not always better when you are launching a new business and maybe looking for something unique in design. A unique design doesn’t need to cost you the earth either, but will cost you a tad bit more and that is to be expected when you can now see the amount of work that goes in to both options of design. I hope that I have left you with plenty of food for thought before hiring a graphic designer.
About The Author:
 Michelle Kirkbride | Michelle Kirkbride has many years of experience as a web developer & consultant, she currently lives in Yorkshire, UK with her two beautiful children and loving partner. She spends far too much time at her computer and is currently addicted to her work. |
Great post, Thanks Keep up the good work
I agree with you, template logos shouldn’t be used unless you don’t really care about your business image.
Yes it’s true, but it’s the company owners who does the mistake of trying to get work done at a very low rate.And yes using templates is the worst idea one can make.
Yes, I too believe that a starting business must invest on its materials and especially their logos because what they put in there together with the name will be the one that the customers will buy. It wouldn’t have so much impact if they’ve seen the logo elsewhere.
If only other webmasters would do what you have done and build a really worthwhile site on the subject. Most of them load the pages with junk, but this is exactly what I was looking for – Your company is worth more than a bag of chips. Thank you from a very grateful Carrie Mason
which software should learn me for my great career in graphics design.?
You could definitely say the same thing about picking up the right coder. You pick them on a freelance (eg. GAF or RAC or any other), but you should first read who they are, what other projects they’ve done in the past and so on. Pick a cheap one and in couple of year’s time you will see your website starting to perform slower and slower, because such a cheap coder will bring you their lack of experience and cheap code. Not to mention the worst of everything: vulnerabilities in the code could get a novice hacker into your server in no time at all, and then your website is gone, your customers and orders database is gone, ALL YOUR PRIVATE INFORMATION IS GONE. And your hosting will probably also suspend your account until you fix the problem. Picture that, how would you feel like ?
I agree with you 100% Drailean and I have also taken the time to see some of your own work and I must pay you the highest compliments as it is of an excellent standard
I really enjoyed reading your post, keep up writing such exciting posts.
Thanks for the valuable information!
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbour were just setting up to do some research about this. I am very grateful to see such great information being shared freely out there.
Hi, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and it’s easily one of the most resourceful places I use. I was just wondering if you guys offer a subscription service? If so, how do I subscribe?
We sure do
its right above you…the little panda with rss on its back 
Well, this is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!
Interesting, never thought of it like that