$400 for a logo? Why are you so expensive? | Hacker News Reader

$400 for a logo? Why are you so expensive?

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56 pointsdan_sim27 comments

I'd personally prefer this sort of link not be posted here. To me it seems exactly the sort of thing that Paul's referred to as dangerous in the past: amusing, but with no actual meat.

I suppose it's a stretch, but there is the implied point of many people seeming to think that the software 'does all the work', in a sense. You see it all over the place, too - how many old-school rock fans believe that electronic musicians are talentless because "it's all done on the computer"?

I agree. This is fit for reddit, but don't really think it belongs here

Maybe just a one-time mention of the originating blog.

Why so much 'hate' for Reddit and/or Reddit users around here? I'm just curious

It isn't hate. HN and reddit have different goals and concentrations. Both have a place.

Seems to be a trend lately.

I'm on the fence about it. I'm always looking for good analogies to explain what I do and how I do it to clients, family, friends, etc...

See http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html for an amusing and related story told in emails.

The software equivalent I find goes like this:

Business person rings up to ask us to develop a software package to run his business. The spec is always somewhat vague and very idiosyncratic. The businessman then explains that once we have developed this software for him then we will be able to sell it to lots of other businesses and that he will only ask for half the income in exchange for his amazing business knowledge. Plus, of course, we will be able to use his (free) implementation as a reference site.

We usually manage to contain our enthusiasm and decline these wonderful offers.

I used to turn those around and make it in to: how about I give you a 30% discount on what I'll charge everybody else for the package if I believe it has the market potential you cite. Several pretty good lines of business resulted from that (webvod, webpay), and the respective customers went overboard to help spec 'their' package.

You can't blame a guy for trying, it is up to you as a front line contact to try to negotiate the best deal, declining them outright is not always the best course of action.

That story is hilarious, thanks for sharing!

Many people around me show contempt for building website, I always reply with "Google is just a website too". Non-tech people usually have difficulty in seeing the difference between a highly complex webapp and a static web page.

Google is just a website the way a library is just a room full of broken trees.

I don't really agree with this.

Google is more of an application, which is accessed primarily via their web UI (other options for access are clients such as you find on various mobile devices and desktop widgets).

A static web page is much much different than Google or a similar webapp. Not to say that developing a static site that adds value for a business isn't worthy, but it's quite different from Google.

I think you misunderstood me. I mention Google just to show them an example that a website can be much more complex beyond its web UI. Non-tech people usually have difficulty in seeing the difference between a highly complex webapp and a static web page.

Logo is one of those things that you just can't get done to someone else. I spent $200 on a provider once, and I had useless logos designed.

If you must outsource the design, you should pay more than $400 and reiterate probably 5 - 10 times to get what you want.

I have deep inroads and personal connections into the design industry, and it recently cost me $1500 to get a preliminary, temporary identity done, not including any printing costs or anything. That's a rock bottom price for good work.

We actually spent $400 for a logo using this site, but you can get something decent for even less. http://www.crowdspring.com/

can we see the logo? mind sharing?

This is the one we chose, we had several options from different designers at Crowdspring. You can give feedback on various designs that people can adjust until your deadline is reached.

http://assets3.sportspyder.com/images/common/logo_hi.png

It looks just like a logo you paid $400 to crowdspring for. Uncanny!

maybe, but he's happy with it.

Great... but does it work?

Some interesting stats for you on the company you used: http://www.specwatch.info/raw-numbers3.html

I can't scream from the rooftops loud enough to stay away from spec work. Some bad things happening from it on all sides.

Anyone have a good experience with http://99designs.com/ ?

It has a "contest" model and I am leaning towards trying it out ($39 is not recoverable if the contest is a disaster).

I've talked to too many people and am one of the most vocal critics of the 'spec work' model.

Asking someone to complete work for the chance of payment is downright evil in my book. I view it as the pyramid scheme of the design world.

Best thing to do is look at other contests, find a designer you like and contract them.

http://no-spec.com/

Customers suck.

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