Do Simple Logos Cost Less?

May 25, 2012 | Branding, Design Basics, Logo design

I can’t tell you how frequently clients come to me and say:

I just want a simple logo. Nothing fancy or complex, just simple.

The expectation is that a simple logo design will cost less than a complex one. Let me explain why this is not usually the case.

1. First of all, the mark of a well-designed logo is its simplicity. While this is not always true, it is true more often than not. If you look at the iconic logos of our time, they are universally simple. Think of FedEx, Nike or the Apple logos. The work of a professional designer is to distill the elements of a logo to it’s simplest form, yet still keep it unique and recognizable. Often, a less trained designer, and therefore less expensive designer, is unable to do this.
2. To design a strong brand identity, we need to start by doing a full exploration. The process for creating logos can take a long time. In our studio, we generally have more than one graphic designer doing sketch work to generate ideas. Both on paper and on the computer, multiple people are trying out different ideas to help us explore different ways of expressing the brand. From there, we review these internally and knock some out and further explore the strongest ideas. This is all before the client sees anything. Then, we usually present at least 3, and sometimes many more designs to the client. To get the best nugget, you do have to pan around in the dirt awhile!
3. Finally, the fact that a logo is simple does not mean that it was easy to get to that simplified form. If you look at our case study for the ClaimVantage logo, you’ll see that we explored many, many options before refining one direction. And after a first round design was chosen, we tried numerous variations before finalizing the logo.

Unfortunately, a simple logo is not any cheaper than a complex one. In fact, you will probably find that you pay more for the experience and breadth of ideas you’ll get from a graphic design studio who will create a very simple logo for you. Yet, you probably already understand why simple, iconic logos are so powerful—and worth the price!