Graphic Design and Business card Design in India

[A790]

Originally posted by CompletelyNumb
I will. Maybe I just got lucky I've only used it (and similar sites) about a dozen times.

I used to use them a lot for clients that needed logos. However, I started noticing a trend among the logo submissions I was receiving. Reverse image searching some of them showed me that I was not the only one with that exact logo...

Very frustrating. I now avoid and work with individual designers instead.

[ExtraSlow]

This seems somewhat related. I have some idea for a logo, but I'm no artist, I have a guy who is going to be working on this for me. However, I want to find out if something similar has been done. How can i search a logo effectively using only words?

Example, A plant growing out of the top of an oil derrick.

[Mitsu3000gt]

What does it cost to have a basic logo done locally if you pretty much know what you want and just want it digitized? I have used some free DIY logo sites like shopify and graphicsprings but creativity options are extremely limited obviously. I'd pay someone in India $5 but I don't want to end up with someone else's logo Then again what I want is very simple and there are bound to be similar things out there.

I looked at completed jobs on 99designs.ca and there is literally no difference I can tell between the $399 and $1699 designs haha. What I need would probably take someone 10 minutes who knows what they're doing, but I do kind of like the idea of picking from ~30 or so submissions.

[InRich]

I just use VistaPrint for all my shit. cheap and its works!

[ExtraSlow]

VistaPrint is my preferred printer too, they've been great to deal with. However, that's not a "design" service.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Yeah, those overseas graphic "designers", are all just stock logos, or stolen. Makes it difficult for people like my wife where her clients are saying "Well, I can get the done in India for 50cents a piece, why are yours so much?"

It's fine if you don't care, but you gotta pay if you want truly custom.

Yea, because someone wants $1k to do a logo design that takes them all of an hour here, that's where the problem comes in.

I've been willing to pay $200-$400 for a simple logo design. Nobody will take it. Like, f*&k right the f*&k off. I don't care how amazing of an "artist" you are, I'm not paying you more money than I make in a day of work for 1 hour of work. I simply refuse to do it

It's not a matter of "you get what you pay for" either, some people on this forum seem to think that a logo magically makes your business amazing, it most certainly does not, customer service, fair value, and ability to deliver are what makes a good business, not some logo

[Maxt]

http://www.dirtykustoms.com/

[InRich]

anyone wanna take a crack at redesigning my logo? been thinking about a redesign for a long time now. here is what im using now. Tik-Tok lets see what your wife can do with it, if she has some time to kill that is. let us all see some skillz

» Click image for larger version

[Mitsu3000gt]

There is so many logo's out there, what's guaranteeing that the 'truly custom' designs don't look anything like any other logo out there? A google image search? What if the custom artist's idea happens to be the same as someone else's?

I'm leaning toward the India idea now lol. The name of the company is somewhat unique, so to some degree it won't be the same as anything else even if similar colors or symbols are used to something else without my knowing. Also it would just be a tiny personal company, not some giant enterprise recognized everywhere.

On the other hand I'd be happy to be proven wrong or to pay a fair price for a locally designed logo, but there is no way I'm hiring the real estate agent equivalent of a graphic artist for what I need.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by broken_legs
Mods: not sure where to post this...

Had a friend of a friend who showed me an amazing company logo and business card they had designed online by someone in India. apparently it cost $4.99 and took less than a day to get it.

Ive been Google searching this but cant seem to find the same type of cheapo service.

Anyone done this before? Got a link or a name I can chase?

Thx

Fuck that.,.I hate people like you that use these services and make it hard for people here to compete. I ran into this problem with my render business and it was one of the main reasons I got out of it. They run bootleg software so they charge peanuts.

Hope you use them and get fucked over!

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by InRich
anyone wanna take a crack at redesigning my logo? been thinking about a redesign for a long time now. here is what im using now. Tik-Tok lets see what your wife can do with it, if she has some time to kill that is. let us all see some skillz

Did you just ask to have people redesign your logo for free, and to publish their work on the internet, again for free?
Shit guy, that's two levels more cheapskate than using the Indian designers.

If you care about the logo at all, pay someone to design it. If you don't care, use the one you have. For your business, I don't see any value in anything in between.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Lex350


Fuck that.,.I hate people like you that use these services and make it hard for people here to compete. I ran into this problem with my render business and it was one of the main reasons I got out of it. They run bootleg software so they charge peanuts.

Hope you use them and get fucked over!

Out of curiosity what would you charge or have charged for a simple custom logo design?

What I'm starting to find is that I would be happy to pay a reasonable price for something that probably takes the artist 10-20 minutes, and some places want $1,700+ for what would appear to be the same quality of work as $5 from India. I also don't know how it can be guaranteed original beyond passing a google image search test, which is far from guaranteed. Again, I'm new to this, so I'm happy to be educated but the price differences are insane at face value.

I also feel like with any business, if there is cheaper competition, you either need to A) Differentiate yourself or B) raise your quality to a level that makes people willing to pay the premium. If people still choose the cheaper option then chances are there is no good reason the expensive place should be getting paid more from a creativity/quality standpoint. If there are so many people who can bang out a similar quality logo in 5 min for $5, that would suggest it isn't that difficult to do and isn't that valuable of a service. It seems like a lot of artist related jobs get reduced like this though.

[RealJimmyJames]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
... something that probably takes the artist 10-20 minutes,

I doubt it's taking a design professional 10-20 minutes to build a logo from scratch.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by RealJimmyJames
I doubt it's taking a design professional 10-20 minutes to build a logo from scratch.

In my case I basically know what I want (probably 75%), and I even have crappy versions I've done myself with free online tools. From what I see on YouTube I find it very hard to believe it would be time consuming. Now, if I wanted weeks of consulting, proof after proof after proof, constantly changing my mind, etc. then yeah I could see the higher costs being realistic.

I just need a simple logo compatible with business cards, invoices, etc. Pretty much just the name and a little symbol or two to dress it up.

To give you an idea where I am coming from I was watching videos like this, and the time in Photoshop from start to complete logo from scratch (more complicated than what I need) is about 12 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xs7GqdUwQ

Just one example of course, but these are the kinds of things I've been looking at trying to figure out what the service is worth.

[InRich]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Did you just ask to have people redesign your logo for free, and to publish their work on the internet, again for free?
Shit guy, that's two levels more cheapskate than using the Indian designers.

If you care about the logo at all, pay someone to design it. If you don't care, use the one you have. For your business, I don't see any value in anything in between.

I wanna see some beyond skillz... I'd pay if I liked what I saw. I dont mind the current logo and use it in everything from uniforms, to jackets, to business cards.

[Hallowed_point]

Originally posted by InRich
anyone wanna take a crack at redesigning my logo? been thinking about a redesign for a long time now. here is what im using now. Tik-Tok lets see what your wife can do with it, if she has some time to kill that is. let us all see some skillz

» Click image for larger version

Did you pay someone to do that or did you design that yourself? Because that green X reminds me of the Grinch's hand.

[ExtremeSi]

This thread is an example of why I decided to not pursue a career in graphic design and just do it on the side every now and then. There's so much competition out there and no one thinks it's worth much.

International competition that has very lax copyright laws and/or doesn't care about them doesn't help. Plus as someone mentioned these other people are probably running bootlegged software and have no start-up costs.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Out of curiosity what would you charge or have charged for a simple custom logo design?

What I'm starting to find is that I would be happy to pay a reasonable price for something that probably takes the artist 10-20 minutes, and some places want $1,700+ for what would appear to be the same quality of work as $5 from India. I also don't know how it can be guaranteed original beyond passing a google image search test, which is far from guaranteed. Again, I'm new to this, so I'm happy to be educated but the price differences are insane at face value.

I also feel like with any business, if there is cheaper competition, you either need to A) Differentiate yourself or B) raise your quality to a level that makes people willing to pay the premium. If people still choose the cheaper option then chances are there is no good reason the expensive place should be getting paid more from a creativity/quality standpoint. If there are so many people who can bang out a similar quality logo in 5 min for $5, that would suggest it isn't that difficult to do and isn't that valuable of a service. It seems like a lot of artist related jobs get reduced like this though.

I didn't do a lot of logo work because there wasn't much money in it. Not enough people understand the difference between getting a log and doing proper branding for a company. That's where the difference generally lies. I did more architectural 3D visualizations for office. I started at $500 up to $30,000. I was good at it. I did photo realistic renders but I also had the design background so I got popular with architects in the Eastern US. I was expensive but so is Auotcad and 3d studio...unless you live in places like India where you can buy bootlegs for under $15.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I sent a couple guys on fiverr their $5 to see what they come up with as an experiment - if I don't love them, I'm only out $10. They also guarantee original work and have money back guarantees so if they fail a google image search I can just have them changed or get a refund. One of the guys is in the USA and the other is from Poland, but there sure are a lot of options from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

[Kloubek]

I think that's the way to go, Mitsu. With this kind of work you generally don't get quite the customization and fine tuning you would with a professional designer. You also may not likely get the same "quality" of work. However, it's a small price to pay to take that chance. Consider it a logo insurance premium. At worst, they might give you a few idea of what direction to go.

...and all this is coming from someone who has done design work in the past. At long as you're willing to play the "hit and miss" game, it's worth a shot.

As for the Legacy Exteriors logo goes - yes, redesign it. It isn't good at all. I think the colours are effective, though, and at least there was some attempt at stylization with the "X". (Though what does that really convey.... a couple of haphazard slaps of paint?)