We ran an interesting Facebook poll yesterday, asking all of you what you thought the average cost of a company logo was. It’s a question that a lot of business owners have – how else can you determine what is good value? But, at the same time it can be a bit of a trick question. Why? Well because there are actually different averages for different kinds of company logo.
What your guess was – £150-£500
In our poll we gave 5 options
- £0-£50
- £50-£150
- £150-£500
- £500-£1000
- £1000
64% of you guessed that the average cost of a company logo would be £150-£500.
The rest of the votes were split between £50-£150, and £500-£1000.
The Answer
If we were to extrapolate all the various kinds of logo design £150-£500 would probably be about as close to a mean average as we could get. In reality though, it is deceptive to say that you can calculate one single average cost for company logo design as the outliers are quite simply huge. What is far more useful is to give the average costs based on the size of the company.
The average UK Start-up spends £150-£250 on their company logo.
The average Small Business spend is higher, closer to £500-£750.
The spend for Larger sized corporations is £6000-£10,000
Big brands vary hugely, but the final cost of their company logo often ends up in the millions.
Why is it so hard to work out the answer?
There are a number of variables that make working out this kind of average particularly hard.
- Freelancers charge very different rates to design agencies
- Some logo designers charge by the hour, others charge one set price, and others still will include logo design as part of a package
- It is very hard to know how many companies are using free, or other very low quality & low price options (especially start-ups using free logo makers, or trying to design their own logo)
- There are some companies (especially big brands and corporations) who spend a disproportionate amount of money on their company logo
- Prices do vary across the UK
How do you make sure your company logo is good value?
The reason why the prices vary so much between different sizes of company is because you are paying for different levels of service. The key to getting a good value logo design is to make sure that you aren’t paying over the odds, and that the price you put in is a reasonable investment for the benefits you will get.
Free logos, or logos which are incredibly cheap will usually be stock templates. Not unique and not at all worth bothering with.
Professional logo design between £50 and £250 will vary hugely in quality. There are a number of reasons why the prices are low – you could be restricted on the number of revisions, you could be restricted on the amount of total design time, you could be using an inexperienced designer (a risk that may, or may not pay off). However, there are reputable companies who offer promotional prices on their logo design services which are exceptional value for money (including British Design Experts). Check out the logo design portfolio, and the customer reviews to make sure you are getting the best service you can for this price.
From around £250 to £1000 you should be paying for the more traditional design agency service. This includes consultation, market research and a far more comprehensive service. Make sure you talk to a number of local agencies about what they can offer you. Some will charge by the hour, and others will offer various packages. It will depend entirely on your specific needs who will provide best value for you. Our sister company Snowflake Creative is an example of what kind of design agency offers this level of service.
Above this price, to a certain extent, you’re going to be experiencing a diminishing level of returns. Is a £1 million logo design really one thousand times better than one that was £1000? It’s also worth bearing in mind that some of the most famous brands in the world had their logos designed for next to nothing. The Nike swoosh was originally bought off of a graphic design student for just $35 and has been lauded as one of the best logos of all time, whereas the London Olympics logo cost £400,000 and most people hated it.
Sources and research restrictions
Sources are listed below, but the averages listed above are also based in part on our own knowledge and experience of the UK design industry. There have also not been any comprehensive surveys of the UK design industry since 2009, and a lot of the most detailed data about the average spend on a company logo is American research and pertaining to the US business market.
http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/Documents/Documents/Publications/Research/DesignIndustryResearch2010/DesignIndustryResearch2010_FactSheets_Design_Council.pdf
http://www.graphicdesignblog.co.uk/freelance-graphic-design-rates-new-survey-is-a-guide-to-what-to-charge/
http://cole007.net/blog/86/freelance-rates-survey-2011
http://www.logolance.com/average-logo-spend
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1553545/Olympic-chiefs-under-fire-for-puerile-logo.html
http://stocklogos.com/topic/famous-logo-designs-and-how-much-did-they-cost
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