How much should I pay for a logo design?

Willingness to pay. Ability to pay. What is on offer. Need. There are variables you need to consider before you can decide how much to budget for designing a logo. All price ranges are available to service those variables and budgets. Yes, quality will vary.
If you want to know the options available, I can safely tell you that you will find a logo designer for every price range. Even free.

But then you get what you pay for or as they say in India “Mehenga roye ek baar, sasta roye baar baar”, which, crudely translated, means, “The expensive buyer cries but once, the cheap customer cries again and again.” There might be some exceptions to that rule but the time you spend looking for those exceptions would probably be better invested in readying your brand for launch. With a logo in place.

It is impossible to disregard price as a decision-maker. But driving down price just so you can save some money from the budgeted amount is just going to give your grief in the long run. Research the market, decide on a budget and then stick to it as much as possible.

Know that all ranges of budgets can have an available solution. then decide what value you would attach to your brands’ identity. What is it worth to you, your brand, your company, your employees, your stakeholders? Then try to ascertain a range of real money value on that worth. And then search for a logo designer. Within the first handful of inquiries, you will be able to judge how skewed your valuation is in relationship to the quality you expect and then you can revise your budget or defer the decision till you have sufficient funds. Or you can settle for less. For now.

The last option is not something I’d suggest against. If you get a so-so logo and apply it all across your advertising and marketing material and media, it will cause more harm than using a simple, clean typeface till you can afford a logo your brand deserves.

Working with an experienced logo designer who has an extensive portfolio is going to be more expensive than working with a student fresh out of design school. I would love to say that the more experienced designer will obviously deliver a better logo as well but that is true only partly. I know of enough ‘designer’ who have been delivering the same shit for a whole decade. At least they were students before that decade began.

I’d say the difference lies in a person’s ability to handle a novice client. In this area, the student is more likely to flounder. But a student might also be able to deliver a fresh perspective to your brand – take more risks than an established designer might not. Again, that does not mean your drive down prices so much that the student develops a hatred starting with his / her first logo design engagement.

As a responsible client, ascertain average hourly rates for graphic designers and pay the student. If you have had a logo designed earlier, you will probably be more aware of what the process involves and you could actually guide the novice logo designer.

In either case, the more time you invest in the engagement, the more likely you are going to be satisfied with the end result. Of course the student lacks experience but every designer has had those handful of clients who took a risk with a newbie.