Are you in creating a logo for your business, but unsure whether to go for a custom-designed or pre-made option? With so many trends in logo design circulating online, it’s difficult to know which path to take. Although most logos are custom made, there are still distinct differences between a pre-made and custom-designed logo, particularly in terms of price, content, and variety.
While pre-made logos can be a quick and easy solution, custom-designed logos offer the opportunity to tailor your brand’s message to your audience and establish a unique identity that truly represents your business. Let’s inspect the benefits of custom-designed logos and why they may be worth the extra investment.
#1 Price
When you buy a logo online with 30 “pre-made” logos for cheap (which usually results in thoughtless crap), the reason it’s much less expensive is that the work has already been done by the designer. The designer has already picked the colors, typefaces, shapes, and symbols that are involved in the logo’s creation. Therefore, the time and energy you have invested in everything created, and all that needs to be done, is to assign the brand name.
If you get a logo custom-made, it will obviously take up much more time and money to do to get the logo produced because there are many factors involved in creating a logo. The designer has to ask you specific questions and take the time to play Q&A so that the designer can give you the best possible outcome.
Let’s say you run a small bakery and you need a logo. You could purchase a pre-made logo for $30 that has a generic bakery-related design and simply add your bakery’s name to it. This might be a quick and easy solution, but the design might not be unique or representative of your business’ brand identity.
You could work with a graphic designer to create a custom logo that incorporates specific elements that represent your bakery, such as a particular type of pastry or a unique color scheme. This custom logo would take more time and cost more money, but it would help set you apart from competitors.
#2 Content
The content is king, as you may have heard, and it still holds true for logos. A custom-made logo is asking to cater to your business with all the correct symbols that relate to the specific culture. Understanding your industry, your audience, their personal tastes or preferences, the prejudices they like, what they don’t like, are all factors that need to be considered in the overall message.
When you use the right symbols and have a definite feeling and meaning, it has a more effective chance of hitting the mark every single time people are exposed to your logo, creating a brand. As customers take a glance at your logo and attach their experiences to the logo itself, the actual goal of a logo is to connect specific feelings to people based on their recent experience with your product or service.
For example, let’s say you run a yoga studio and you need a logo. You could purchase a pre-made logo for $50 that has a generic yoga-related design, such as a lotus flower or a silhouette of a person doing a yoga pose.
However, a custom-made logo will improve your specific brand identity and target audience.
If your yoga studio caters to beginners, a custom logo could incorporate soft colors and gentle imagery to convey a calming and welcoming environment. If your studio caters to more experienced yogis, a custom logo could use bold colors and strong imagery to convey a sense of strength and power.
#3 Variety
I will admit that buying a pre-made logo for anywhere between $25 to $280 is much easier and gratifying when you have plenty of options to choose from, giving you a luxurious pick of the litter. When you’re getting a custom-made logo, we’re looking at somewhere around 2 to 3 off, but the reason for this is the tailor-made process as discussed above in creating the logo. The difference between having a ready-made logo versus a custom-designed one is ultimately based on your preferences, usually of quality and budget. It’s up to you what you choose. What I recommend is to have one custom-made.
Why? Because you’ll know that everything will be deliberately picked to help you find and relate to the actual customer mindset that you’re trying to appeal to in your industry. And if you don’t give a damn about customers, then you’re wasting your time!
If you run a tech startup and you need a logo. You could purchase a pre-made logo for $100 that has a generic tech-related design, such as a computer or a circuit board.
This pre-made logo might be visually appealing, but many other tech startups, which could dilute your brand identity, could also use it. A custom-made logo could incorporate specific elements that are unique to your startup, such as a particular software tool or a color scheme that matches your website. This custom logo might only offer a few design options, but it’s tailored to your business and could help set you apart from competitors.
This isn’t even scratching the surface when selecting a logo. However, I wanted to give you a brief glimpse into some things you would need to consider when determining what might be involved in selecting a logo for your budget. If you’re going to have a logo made, just make sure it’s the one that most meets the brand you’ll represent. If you have questions, leave your response in the comments or shoot me an email to giftboxcreative{at}gmail{dot}com.