Custom logo designs are logos designed specifically, uniquely, and creatively for a business. The competition between the different logo design service providers is fierce. There is a flood of service providers listed everywhere from local phonebooks to online search engines. The competition does one good thing; it brings the prices of these services down. However, there is a side effect to this benefit. Lower prices may result into low quality services.
The logo design companies that provide cheap logo design often use templates. They are often blamed to use sets of templates for different type of businesses. When a client orders a logo they provide their template with little, or sometimes no modifications at all. This kind of practice kills the basic purpose of a logo.
A logo is an important (some say it is the most important) part of a businesses’ brand identity. With effective marketing and advertising, a logo becomes a business and a brand’s visual representation in the minds of the existing or potential customers. Such a marketing strategy where you want to make your product visible aggressively needs something that does not left the impression of deja vu. A logo that is based on template will give this impression. It will remind the viewers of similar products they have seen before. This in fact may lead to comparison and unfavorable publicity.
So, how businesses in general and small businesses in particular can make sure that they get their money’s worth? Whether, they should go for the cheap services, or affordable logo services. The cheaper one might save them a few bucks but there is also a risk of adverse effects. An affordable design service provider would cost a few bucks extra, but can offer a really good peace of mind and high quality service.
This brings us to the ultimate question:
How do you judge the quality of a Custom Logo Design?
There is no strict set of rules for that, however if some good practices are followed and checked then it is possible to easily catch the poor quality. For example, avoid the logo designs that represent the stereotype. Creativity is subjective but you should try your best to see how creative the stuff is. Special attention should be paid to the style consistency; fonts should match the style of color palette. Illustrations should be drawn not to offend your business values. A small business should also think about the customers and their values. If the logo will be marketed to middle age people then the design should respect this factor in the style.
Then there is also the technical factor that businesses should keep in mind when hiring service provider. Technical factors include but are not limited to issues that may restrict your usage either technically or legally. It should be made clearer that once you have approved a custom logo, then it is the property of you and the design company or the artist has no rights whatsoever. Some cheap and even some affordable logo design companies may impose some silly copyright restrictions over the usage of your logo. For example, they can claim to own not your logo but the design of it. This is a difficult to win argument if presented in a court of law.
