I Wish I Knew This When I Started: Logo Design

Lessons learned from starting a design company. How to charge more for a logo design. Why do some designers feel guilty about charging for creative services? Why charge $50 for a logo? Why did you continue to charge so little?

On this episode, Ben Burns joins us on the show as he recounts stories about getting started in design and charging clients $50 for a logo. He was happy and felt a sense of validation.

Later on, he heard about other designers like Aaron Draplin charging $20k and thought "Wow! That's amazing. But there's no way I could charge that."

Is this a problem you're facing? Then watch this episode.

Find MrBenBurns here:

Annotations:
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2:40 First logos and competing to work at spec via O Desk
5:18 Q: Why didn't it occur to you to ask for more money?
8:47 Q: Have you ever run into a situation where clients ask you for more?
9:59 Value your time as more than a commodity, and don't give it away for free.
12:00 Lack of symmetry in logic
14:18 The Difference is confidence in the value that you provide
15:20 You can do the same work, but you have to position it differently to charge more.

AIGA Pricing Guide + Ethics:

Media Drop:
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Aaron Draplin - Making it in the little leagues (TedxPortland)

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The PROCESS
Credits:
Executive Producer– Chris Do
Hosts– Chris Do
Director– Aaron Szekely
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Show Open– designed by William VanSkaik, animated by Bara Kwon
Annotations– Isaiah Nwukor

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[Kenyatta.M]

Man. This is like therapy for designers.

[GofelipeGraphicDesign]

charging $50 for a logo and spending 10 hours or more on it, you really ended up paying the client to design their logo because time is money, not to mention time you could have been doing something more productive or creating memories with your love ones. If you are going to sell your time it should be worth it.

[quantinabeck-jones]

Instantly subscribed when you said "no amount of money can buy your time back..." Thank you for this!

[mmazz]

This channel has completely flipped my life around in the best possible way...

[SergheyKatastrofenko]

I don't know why but Chris's speeches never fail to blow my mind every time. Even in a free conversation, the ideas are so well structured with examples and everything that he makes it look way easier than it is. And these ideas can be applied anywhere, not only in the design field of work. Love these.

[ExploreElegance]

I think the best advice is to explain why you will charge $200 for a logo design? You will do research, creating a moodboard, sketching, prototyping, colours experimentation, presentation and REVISIONS. If the client can't understand all this, so good luck for him with the $5 fast food designers.

[SorryAboutYourMom]

I absolutely love the raw honesty from Ben throughout the interview. This is a great session for beginners/intermediates to really learn from!

[vampirizza]

''IT WAS JUST MY TIME'' I'm literally crying.

[BhagirathyJPanth]

I'm a design learner from India and i'm very glad that a series as informative as your exists. I've been learning so much about the industry of the world and thank you for this.

[Carson]

How Ben was talking about basically is "Work harder to get more" but what Chris did and probably what people should also do is "Work smarter to get more."

[westwaterproductions]

Where are these clients at that will actually pay $5000-$20000 for a logo design? I'm all ears...

[MetroversalDesign]

This video has the potential to change the life of many people. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[nyashamajuta]

Two years later this is still relevant, I really needed this, definitely felt like Chris was talking to me directly.

[armandocabrales]

I was doing logos for free then 150$ now am up to 1500$ for logo, thanks to the valuable information from The Futur videos. am still searching to make a logo for $20k, I know the client is out there.

[GabieRetana]

Perfect timing. I'm just starting and today I got asked to create three logos (the guy's family has three companies) and they want to give them a fresher look. I've been freaking out all day because I don't really know how much I should charge or even how to say it but oh my god this video is gold. THANK YOU!

[venomous]

This is so damn eye opening... because I’m doing my very first graphics design job right now and I have no idea what to charge but now I feel confident knowing that my value is so... so much higher than what I was thinking about charging.

[ajithr]

It's amazing how this video about freelancing is 7 years old and still so relevant and valuable and super insightful ❤

[shevtan]

Thank you for making this video. As a student designer, it has taken me a few years to realise that my self worth is important to my craft and knowing that it should be valued as such. I wish I saw this video earlier but I'm glad I'm seeing it now; building on my self-confidence and allowing my clients see how much my design is worth is now my number one priority. Thank you!

[NXDNXRD]

Thank you guys for the video! As a self taught designer, I gained a lot of perspective and some very valuable insight from this interview! In order to deliver on your commitment and to mitigate your client's expectations; it's incredibly important to value your work, time, and to manage your energy.

[AZTigerMMA]

Artist have high agreeability and high compassion - this makes it’s hard - we also think that everyone is where WE are.. and assume people do not have that money - we also think about “TIME”