How to Find a Graphic Designer for Logo

[Consilience]

Hello actualized.org fam, 

For those of you who are entrepreneurs with experience starting businesses, or have worked with logo designers on passion projects, YouTube channels, instagram accounts, websites, etc... is there any advice for picking a good logo designer? 

I have a pretty clear vision of what I want out of a logo, but finding an artist to actually actualize that goal is so foreign. I've realized I have no idea what I'm doing and don't want to waste 100s of dollars because I don't understand the nuances of working well with an artist and perhaps most importantly, finding the right artist. 

So far, I've scoured on r/DesignJobs subreddit and while there are a lot of artists out there, it feels a little unprofessional trying to randomly find a good artist on reddit. Perhaps this is a story I'm telling myself, but I can't shake the hesitancy of using reddit. 

I did find an artist's work that I loved and fit exactly the style I was looking for, but she was charing a flat rate of $3300 for logos, which is way beyond my budget. I'm willing to spend some money if it means getting it done well, but nowhere near that amount is reasonable with where I'm at right now financially. 

- How to find an artist that's a good fit?

- What if you begin working with someone and they're just not producing material that feels aligned?

- Where would one find high quality graphic designers with affordable prices/good websites for this?

- Any general feedback/advice? 

Thank you. 

 

[Average Investor]

https://www.fiverr.com/

A good logo won't be 5 bucks, but this a good place to go. 

 

[Yarco]

Fiverr on the low end if you have little/no income coming in (under $100.) 99designs on the high end if you can afford to spend a couple hundred dollars.

You said it yourself that you don't understand the nuances, so there won't be a difference between a $100 logo and a $2,000 one.

- How to find an artist that's a good fit?

Look at their portfolio and find something similar to what you're looking for

- What if you begin working with someone and they're just not producing material that feels aligned?

It means you didn't explain what you were looking for well enough. Take 30 minutes or an hour to research some basic design terms, Google "How To Talk To Your Graphic Designer" and read all the articles on the first page of Google results. Then as long as the artist is decent and listening to you, there shouldn't be many problems.

It's the equivalent of going to a barber and not knowing what length blade on their clippers you want them to use, or terms like fade or taper, and expecting to get the haircut you want.

Most artists also allow for 1 - 3 revisions if it isn't exactly what you were looking for the first time.

- Where would one find high quality graphic designers with affordable prices/good websites for this?

High quality or affordable -- pick one.

(The good news is most artists drastically undervalue themselves and logos are more of a commodity anyway)

- Any general feedback/advice? 

YOU DON'T NEED A LOGO TO GET STARTED.

THINKING ABOUT LOGOS AND MESSING AROUND WITH WORDPRESS SETTINGS FOR HOURS IS MEANINGLESS BUSYWORK BECAUSE YOU'RE SCARED TO ACTUALLY WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS. STOP PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE.

FOR A YOUTUBE CHANNEL THAT MEANS RECORDING AND EDITING VIDEOS. FOR INSTAGRAM IT MEANS UPLOADING PICTURES EVERY DAY.

IN EVERY BUSINESS, ONE TASK DELIVERS 90% OF THE RESULTS. FOR A BLOG THAT'S WRITING BLOG POSTS. FOR A COMIC ARTIST IT'S DRAWING COMICS. ALWAYS PRIORITIZE CREATING YOUR DELIVERABLE PRODUCT FIRST.

One of my websites I had no logo for the first year. Some of my other websites it's been like 3 years and I still haven't bothered getting a logo lol. No one cares about logos and flash, they care about good content.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Yarco

[Consilience]

@Average Investor @Yarco Appreciate the feedback ??
 

 

[flume]

On 30/11/2021 at 7:31 AM, Consilience said:

- How to find an artist that's a good fit?

- What if you begin working with someone and they're just not producing material that feels aligned?

- Where would one find high quality graphic designers with affordable prices/good websites for this?

- Any general feedback/advice? 

Hey, I just recently looked for someone to do my logo so I can emphasise.

I tried "upwork", which is a good website for what you're looking for. You can describe your ideas & visions in detail and then browse through artists pages & invite them to take a look at your offer. You can also put a max. amount of money you want to spend.

The cool thing is, they will actually pitch you, come with proposals and will let you see some ideas before you have to pay anything.

As for them maybe not producing what you want:

• Let them send you proposals
• Check out there portfolio
• If you love both of those you'll probably get a good logo, but there's always some risk involved

In the end though, it's still online and it's still people you don't know at all and who don't know your brand at all.

So I actually didn't go with anyone on that website in the end, it seemed to impersonal and like a bit of a mass - production if you know what I mean. Even though the site is high quality.

I just remembered a girl I knew years ago who's into illustrations and got her e-mail from a friend. I sent her my proposal and we're both happy to work with each other now. Feels a lot more relaxed & personal. Plus I feel good about supporting an independent artist.

If that resonates with you, just put it out there that you're looking for someone who knows how to make logos. Tell your friends. Tell people you meet. Someone will come your way quickly. You could even write a post here that you're looking for someone? Not sure if that's allowed but I know there's a few great artists on this forum. Could be a cool collab.

Whoever you go with, it's good to have these things ready to send to people:

• logos you like
• colours you like
• story & values of your brand
• maybe a website if you already have one.

If you need anything, just PM me. I can show you what and how I went about the process. I don't know what style you're going for. But if you show me what you're looking for in more detail, I'm sure I could connect you to some people 

Good luck!

[Javfly33]

@Yarco 2000$ a logo? Cmon...

And I've done graphic desing. A now there are nuances between a 20$ logo an a 200$ one..But 2000$> woah

[Danioover9000]

@Yarco

On 11/30/2021 at 8:27 AM, Yarco said:

Fiverr on the low end if you have little/no income coming in (under $100.) 99designs on the high end if you can afford to spend a couple hundred dollars.

You said it yourself that you don't understand the nuances, so there won't be a difference between a $100 logo and a $2,000 one.

- How to find an artist that's a good fit?

Look at their portfolio and find something similar to what you're looking for

- What if you begin working with someone and they're just not producing material that feels aligned?

It means you didn't explain what you were looking for well enough. Take 30 minutes or an hour to research some basic design terms, Google "How To Talk To Your Graphic Designer" and read all the articles on the first page of Google results. Then as long as the artist is decent and listening to you, there shouldn't be many problems.

It's the equivalent of going to a barber and not knowing what length blade on their clippers you want them to use, or terms like fade or taper, and expecting to get the haircut you want.

Most artists also allow for 1 - 3 revisions if it isn't exactly what you were looking for the first time.

- Where would one find high quality graphic designers with affordable prices/good websites for this?

High quality or affordable -- pick one.

(The good news is most artists drastically undervalue themselves and logos are more of a commodity anyway)

- Any general feedback/advice? 

YOU DON'T NEED A LOGO TO GET STARTED.

THINKING ABOUT LOGOS AND MESSING AROUND WITH WORDPRESS SETTINGS FOR HOURS IS MEANINGLESS BUSYWORK BECAUSE YOU'RE SCARED TO ACTUALLY WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS. STOP PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE.

FOR A YOUTUBE CHANNEL THAT MEANS RECORDING AND EDITING VIDEOS. FOR INSTAGRAM IT MEANS UPLOADING PICTURES EVERY DAY.

IN EVERY BUSINESS, ONE TASK DELIVERS 90% OF THE RESULTS. FOR A BLOG THAT'S WRITING BLOG POSTS. FOR A COMIC ARTIST IT'S DRAWING COMICS. ALWAYS PRIORITIZE CREATING YOUR DELIVERABLE PRODUCT FIRST.

One of my websites I had no logo for the first year. Some of my other websites it's been like 3 years and I still haven't bothered getting a logo lol. No one cares about logos and flash, they care about good content.

   I mean a case can be made for thinking about a topic a bit more than engaging with the activity, as neuroscientists have found that the brain can't differentiate actual actions or skills you do in the outer world versus thinking about that action, aka visualization from 3rd to 1st point perspective of such activities, from the inner world, and the neurons firing the pathways attributed to such actions from merely thinking them into action. Having said all that, I do agree that if you do an inner check, in your mind reality, and you can't quite perform the action exactly as if you're performing in the outer world, like for example, if you can't perform cooking because you're missing other sensory experiences to re imagine and engage in the action, then you are justified in taking more action on cooking more. Same with drawing, which happens to be on my ballpark, I used to struggle visualizing with more senses on the actual drawing process of using a pencil, how it feels, sounds, and what lines that are being made(not the final images, that's a bit easier for me) in that case I do more drawing, until I have no trouble replicating that experience inside of my mind.

   So, if thinking more about a field of interest is unproductive, I'd pin it down to having thoughts that are not related to the process or outcome you want, and having those thoughts frequently throughout the activity. In that case, I'd narrow the problem down to slight lack of focus, mindfulness, and maybe even something to do with the subconscious mind, maybe not a strong enough vision.

[ThermalTide]

I used fiverr for my brand and so far have had good results. I recommend buying multiple though, I had 4 people design a logo for me and I picked the best of the bunch. One of them was pretty bad lol just shop around.