When it comes to branding and marketing there are 3 schools of thought:
Modulus Media Toronto // Website Design Toronto, Internet Marketing, Design, Programming, start-up business, small business, startup, quality
The first school...
The first school doesn't see the value in branding, and usually doesn't have a long term forecast either. From a logo development perspective, companies in this scenario just want something that works... put my logo on it (anything representative of my company will do), just give me something better than simple clip art.
Example cost for a logo... $750
Where's the time spent?
Taking copy and images the client provides and making them look their best within budget, limited revisions, thought, and effort put into creativity. Limited to 2 design options, 2 revisions, 5 colour reworks, limited time spent on developing the concept and working with the client to understand their branding goals.
The second school...
The second school... believes a brand can be achieved without spending a fortune. Iconization of representative imagery, colours and style selection become indicative of your company... This is where we like to work (pulling from the last school where required).
Surprisingly, to generate the "right look" can take a significant amount of time. For example our $1,900 logo development, we include the stationery package design (business cards, letterhead, envelope) in the cost. With this option we limit the creative to 5 concepts (sometimes we nail it within 2-3 concepts and put the additional time into developing the entire package, which includes paper selection, sizes, typefaces, ink colours and how the ink can accentuate the design, special finishing techniques will be considered which may accentuate your brand...).
Example cost for a logo... $1,900 Where's the time spent? Creative conceptualization sessions (copywriting, storyboarding, and rough mock-ups), creative graphic design, thoughtful & unique production techniques, usability testing (in-house), client revisions/feedback integration
This third school...
This third school is aggressive and intelligent. The brand is THE most important aspect their a business. It takes lots of effort to create the right mix of elements that portray a professional, stylish image representative of your company. Think of maintaining your image across your marketing collateral as imperative to presenting a clear, consistent, and established marketing effort.
If looking at just logo design companies spend $100,000 ++: Nike, CIBC, City of Toronto... their brand identity costs a fortune, BUT, translates into a fortune.
Example cost for a logo... $TBD (Custom Quote) Where's the time spent?
Creative conceptualization sessions (extensive copywriting, storyboarding, and detailed mock-ups), creative graphic design (illustration, 3D development, visual effects), thoughtful & unique production techniques (considering the various applications for imprinting your logo like newsprint, billboards, apparel), market research (market profiling, focus groups, consumer preference & usability testing), measurement strategies and follow-up, legal work (copyright, trademark, various searches), revisions based on client and market feedback, test runs...