Great! I felt assured we would be a good fit. My boutique agency specializes in branding luxury startups. After a couple of back and forth emails, he told me he had some designs done with other graphic designers, but they all looked generic or similar to everything else he himself found on the web. So I asked him to go ahead and send me the work and tell me what he didn't like about them. I promised I would offer my candid and honest feedback on the work.
I assumed he trusted my taste, since he had contacted me through my website.
He sent me the logos.
I noticed in the screenshot of his email, he had used one of those "design on spec" logo websites.
For all you who are not familiar, these are websites where you fill out a brief questionnaire, you set a price of what you want to pay and get designers from all over the world to submit their own designs. Some designers will even do multiple edits based on your feedback. Most of the designers on those sites tend to be younger and tend to be from countries where pay for design is quite abysmal. The designers do not get paid until you choose their design as the winner. I vehemently disagree with this whole spec design model, but that's for another day and another blog.
Let me explain why this spec kind of design mostly does not work when it comes to a luxury brand or service.
If you are starting a (luxury) business that serves a local community, that means your business carries a regional component to it. For example, if I am opening a luxury boutique on Melrose Place, a chic street here in Los Angeles, I better have the right architectural design, the right visual language and the right aesthetic to be able to compete. Naturally, I must also have the goods to back me up. In simple terms, there are certain standards that need to be adhered to and a local design language that needs to be used, to connect with the intended clientele. American standards and cultural design sensibilities are very different from say, Indonesian ones.
So, let's go back to the spec design concept for a moment. Say your freelancing designer who is pitching for your business lives in Jakarta. He or she has never set foot in the United States, let alone LA. They propose a logo idea for your regional luxury business. How well do you think their 2 day "turnaround" time they spent on their design will connect with you and the market it is intended for? It's like going to a fast food joint expecting a Michelin Star meal and not willing to pay for it.
We as branding designers have to take into consideration many factors when coming up with a logo or a brand identity of sorts. Firstly it's research. Discovery. What's the target market? Why should anyone care? How well do we know the market? What are the plans for the next 5-10 years. Will the company remain local? How about a franchise? Will it expand internationally? Is it located in Irvine or Malibu? To a foreigner both Irvine and Malibu are considered to be part of the sprawling "Los Angeles" area but let me assure you - they are very different. And yes, experience does matter.
In large metropolitan cities of the United States such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami the well-heeled are not only very well informed but have seen it all. They have been to the most luxurious resorts on earth, flown on the swankiest private jets, dined at the finest restaurants, driven the fanciest cars and taken cruises on the largest yachts. Starting a new business under a shody logo and trying to convince this segment of affluent consumers to trust you over the existing competition, can be quite a feat.
If you are starting a (luxury) business that serves a local community, that means your business carries a regional component to it. For example, if I am opening a luxury boutique on Melrose Place, a chic street here in Los Angeles, I better have the right architectural design, the right visual language and the right aesthetic to be able to compete. Naturally, I must also have the goods to back me up. In simple terms, there are certain standards that need to be adhered to and a local design language that needs to be used, to connect with the intended clientele. American standards and cultural design sensibilities are very different from say, Indonesian ones.
So, let's go back to the spec design concept for a moment. Say your freelancing designer who is pitching for your business lives in Jakarta. He or she has never set foot in the United States, let alone LA. They propose a logo idea for your regional luxury business. How well do you think their 2 day "turnaround" time they spent on their design will connect with you and the market it is intended for? It's like going to a fast food joint expecting a Michelin Star meal and not willing to pay for it.
We as branding designers have to take into consideration many factors when coming up with a logo or a brand identity of sorts. Firstly it's research. Discovery. What's the target market? Why should anyone care? How well do we know the market? What are the plans for the next 5-10 years. Will the company remain local? How about a franchise? Will it expand internationally? Is it located in Irvine or Malibu? To a foreigner both Irvine and Malibu are considered to be part of the sprawling "Los Angeles" area but let me assure you - they are very different. And yes, experience does matter.
In large metropolitan cities of the United States such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami the well-heeled are not only very well informed but have seen it all. They have been to the most luxurious resorts on earth, flown on the swankiest private jets, dined at the finest restaurants, driven the fanciest cars and taken cruises on the largest yachts. Starting a new business under a shody logo and trying to convince this segment of affluent consumers to trust you over the existing competition, can be quite a feat.
You skimp on the logo and people can tell.
You will say the logo itself does not make your brand. I agree, but it certainly is the point of entry to your brand. So when you are starting out it's important to have as many of your bases covered.
To all clients needing "logo" design, there are undoubtedly, boatloads of talented designers around the world willing to offer their services. And if you happen to find someone who you can connect with and create a viable logo design, great! All power to you!
But in some cases, especially here in the United States, hiring an experienced American or a local designer who understands your target audience and the complexities of going beyond a mere logo design, may be better suited for the job at hand.
I love that saying - "When you pay peanuts you get monkeys."
(Smiley affectionate emoji goes here).
PS. The potential client never emailed me back.
You will say the logo itself does not make your brand. I agree, but it certainly is the point of entry to your brand. So when you are starting out it's important to have as many of your bases covered.
To all clients needing "logo" design, there are undoubtedly, boatloads of talented designers around the world willing to offer their services. And if you happen to find someone who you can connect with and create a viable logo design, great! All power to you!
But in some cases, especially here in the United States, hiring an experienced American or a local designer who understands your target audience and the complexities of going beyond a mere logo design, may be better suited for the job at hand.
I love that saying - "When you pay peanuts you get monkeys."
(Smiley affectionate emoji goes here).
PS. The potential client never emailed me back.
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