A logo is essential for any business. Without their logos, Nike, Starbucks, and Apple wouldn’t be the household names that they are now. That’s why you should invest in a good logo design that your target audience will recognize from one look. And you need to hire a professional to create a logo. One of them is a graphic designer, which can specialize in logo creation. Then, how do you hire a graphic designer for a logo? Here’s our handy guide!
Things to Remember Before Hiring a Graphic Designer for a Logo
1. Search for Logo Design Styles
Before you hire a graphic designer for a logo, it’s important that you already know what you want before working with them. You don’t want to waste any precious time during the searching and hiring process. Fortunately, you don’t have to search for which logo design style suits your business. You can choose from the following styles:
- Wordmark (Google, FedEx, Coca-Cola)
- Lettermark (CNN, P&G, IBM)
- Pictorial mark (Target, Shell, McDonalds)
- Abstract logo (Spotify, Mastercard, Olympics)
- Mascot logo (Pringles, KFC, Wendy’s)
- Combination logo (Pizza Hut, Burger King, Adidas)
2. Research Competitor Logos
Another step before hiring a logo designer is researching your competitor's logos. For instance, if you are in the tech industry, you need to know how their logos are designed. Some use a minimalist or wordmark style. You can adopt this design style, too. If you're in the beauty industry, you can make your logo colorful or elegant like your competitors, depending on what you're offering.
Some graphic designers will ask what your competitor's logos are, too. This way, you're prepared to show how their logos appear, and they can make a unique design.
3. Prepare Your Logo Design Brief
The next step after researching is preparing your logo design brief. It’s another way to be ready before finalizing your choice of which graphic designer to work with. Here’s what’s typically inside a logo design brief before you pass it to your chosen graphic designer:
- Business name
- Brand goals
- Target audience
- Competitors
- Brand personality
- Deliverables (file types, e.g., JPG or PNG)
- Budget
- Timeline
These are pretty much the essentials in any logo design brief. Your graphic designer will appreciate learning more about your business and can start working on your logo design project immediately.
4. Find a Platform or Service
After completing your logo design brief, finding a platform or service is the best way to hire a graphic designer for a logo. Fortunately, you have endless options for finding various graphic designers. That is also the downside. That's why you should narrow down your options. We have a list below, which you can use as a guide or reference to find graphic designers.
5. View Portfolio
Viewing the portfolio is a surefire way to check a graphic designer's expertise and skills during the finding and hiring process. Some designers may specialize in design styles, while others specialize in niches. The good thing about many platforms or services is that you can see portfolios upfront and decide immediately.
6. Choose a Designer
Once you've looked at the designers' profiles or designers, the next step is to select the designer. Most hiring processes are easy when you're hiring a freelancer. You can submit the design brief, and they can work on your projects immediately. However, if you hire a graphic designer full-time besides logo creation, you must do the hiring process, such as interviews and design tests. That could be a tedious process, so some businesses hire a freelancer or subscribe to a service, which is much easier in the long run.
Top Sites to Hire a Graphic Designer for a Logo
1. Penji
Although Penji isn’t a freelance platform like the others we’ll list below, Penji is a subscription-based graphic design service. One advantage of Penji from the other services on this list is that you don’t need to do any more hiring. Penji has done the hiring for customers and future clients. They guarantee you’ll work with the top 2% of the designers in the industry. Plus, you’ll get multiple options and switch to different designers to get various design styles.
Pricing:
- Starter - $499/mo
- Marketer - $995/mo
- Agency - $1497/mo
2. Dribbble
Dribbble is a portfolio platform for graphic designers. However, the platform has expanded to offer job or project searches, allowing potential clients to find their designers in one place. Some designers are available on the designer search feature. They showcase their portfolios, and businesses can choose from there. However, companies can also attract talent by posting jobs for free or paying monthly, depending on their needs. Additionally, you can use the built-in search option on the landing page to find logo designers. Some designers post their contact details for faster communication.
Pricing:
- Free
- Post a Job - $150/mo
- Hiring Suite - $300/mo
3. Creativepool
Creativepool is another place for businesses to find multiple options for hiring graphic designers for logo designs. You can hire employees, freelancers, or agencies. You can post jobs for free, which lets you attract talent to your advertisements. You can pay to get featured advertisement placements on the platform. A featured job starts at $95. However, if you're not finding a full-time graphic designer on the team, you can pay for a monthly pass to browse freelancers. However, if you want to work with an agency, you need to fill out a form before connecting with them.
Pricing:
- studiogigs - Free
- Standard - Free
- Premium Featured - from $95
- Talent Pass - $49/mo
4. Upwork
Upwork is another great place to hire a graphic designer for a logo. You have thousands of options before selecting your preferred designer. Two main options are searching on the search bar or looking for projects. However, if you need more help, Upwork can assist you. The designers charge hourly. Plus, you can hire designers starting from $10/hr.
Final Thoughts
Looking for graphic designers is an easy process. However, hiring a graphic designer for a logo can take some time since you need to browse multiple options before choosing the ideal fit. Fortunately, you have various options to consider before saying yes to the best designer to create a custom logo for your brand!
