At Creative Fire, we fully understand how important it is for you and your business to make a profit. In order to ensure you keep your finances looking healthy, you will obviously aim to minimise your expenses. Sadly it is all too common for the skimping to start with your branding and marketing.

Great design requires knowledge, skill and experience

It’s all too easy to have a go yourself. It’s possible to fashion a ‘logo’ in almost any software. Even MS Word has a WordArt facility which does exactly what it says. Adequate for some primary school coursework (though I would personally avoid it myself) but unsuitable for much more than that. So what’s the alternative if you’re not a designer?

You may have heard of a website called Fiverr; a place where you can get a logo, animation or unbelievably a website for as little as $5 (£3.60).
Seems too good to be true? Well, yes and no. You may get lucky and find someone who knows their way around Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop but they won’t know anything about your brand and all the intricate details that help to formulate it. It’s like meeting a stranger in a bar and asking them to look after your bag whilst you go to the toilet; it’s dangerous territory. Sure, your initial investment is minimal but do you really want to take that risk and lose precious time, ending up with a logo that doesn’t connect to the rest of your company’s identity?

It’s encouraging to see someone wanting to get involved with design. It’s pretty easy to get ahold of cutting edge graphics software these days. Many people are gifted with artistic flare and vision, but on that basis alone, does that mean they should design your logo? Many aspects need consideration during the design process such as your company values, your target market and your competition and without substantial research, your brand identity is simply going to come up short.

Along with this, it’s also important to consider that design has its limitations. Graphic designers understand the constraints and pressures that clients are put under to deliver. In the design world we are often asked two questions; “when will it be completed” and “how much is it going to cost me”. The reality is, as you are undoubtedly expected to deliver an outstanding piece of design and therefore add this criteria to the equation, it is impossible to be a combination of all three.

Great design takes time, planning and a budget

With investment in time and planning, you benefit from the application of the latest techniques and fine tuning. With a reasonable budget, the best ideas can be explored. But if you are really looking for something with brand power to help do the selling for you, you need to bring all of this together.

There are many small details a graphic designer has to know about, which when combined, can help create a strong logo for your brand. But neglect them and you can end up with the very opposite.