Help me find a good Logo!

February 26, 2008 11:15 AM

My church is looking for a new logo. Help me find a good designer

Looking through previous threads, it seems the consensus for finding a good designer is to look locally. However, in the middle of Iowa, options are limited. How do I find a good firm online?

What I really want is someone who will work closely with us to craft a logo that fits us well, and not just a mix and match of some clip art they have laying around.

I suspect our threshold of pain is around $1000 - is this reasonable? I'd also like to avoid just picking a company at random from Google, but would appreciate a reference of someone you have had a positive experience with

posted by jpdoane to media & arts (14 comments total)

Try posting in communities you're a member of - like, for example, this one!
posted by By The Grace of God at 11:23 AM on February 26

I am not a designer, but I play one on the internets (and in my mind ;P

Do you have any concept/sketchs/ideas of what exactly you are looking for in a logo? Colors? what feeling it expresses? old-school or new/trendy?, other logos you like or want it similar to.

I would imagine its akin to shopping for a tattoo. You need to give the artist something to work with and I would think they could 'gen' up a few ideas fairly quickly .
posted by jmnugent at 11:23 AM on February 26

I'm an architect and graphic designer. Feel free to e-mail me anytime.
posted by AnyGuelmann at 11:33 AM on February 26

I don't normally do this, but a friend of mine runs this company that specializes in church communications. I think they may be what you are looking for.
posted by internal at 11:33 AM on February 26

I haven't used this firm - but I have heard good things about them. They farm out the work to a network of designers, and they seem to work cheaply. That said, I think you should definitely give any any interested MeFi member the first shot.
posted by COD at 11:34 AM on February 26

Check my profile for a link to my site. Heck, I'll even throw-in a MeFite discount.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:40 AM on February 26

I'm a graphic designer and art director. I've worked for large design firms and I've designed identities, brands, and websites for several large corporations, and I've done independent work for small companies and groups (like churches) and a few MeFites. I'd be happy to work with you, or I can refer you to another designer. My email is in my profile--matt at fandango dot net.
posted by fandango_matt at 12:40 PM on February 26

Start a jackpot contest at Worth1000 - it's the best photoshop site on the net. For a few hundred bucks you can choose from tens of logos by experienced designers.
posted by Psychnic at 1:06 PM on February 26

offhand, here's what i'd look for in a logo designer's portfolio:

1. RANGE: Some designers have a single look; you want someone who can grasp what you want to communicate and make it into an icon, not just some dude who turns out stuff that 'looks cool'.
2. ILLUSTRATION SKILLS: a logo really needs someone with some illustration ability. Photo composts are not going to cut it.
3. PRINT EXPERIENCE: your logo has a VERY good chance of being printed, in many different sizes. Did the designer anticipate this? Are there two treatments if necessary? Did you get an EPS or vectorized format? If a designer has zero or limited print experience, it's almost guaranteed there will be something wrong with your deliverable.

BONUS: MARKETING SKILLS: With your limited budget I'm assuming you don't have a PR or marketing guy. It would be useful to find someone who could help you figure out exactly WHAT you are trying to communicate (ie, are you looking for something that says "hey, we're a hip, edgy church', or are you looking for something that says 'we are very formal'?).

I think $1000 is a reasonable budget to have someone create a logo, but not nearly enough to have them create a brand. It may benefit you to read up a little on branding and marketing so you can make some informed decisions about what you're looking to get.
posted by fishfucker at 1:27 PM on February 26

Search LogoPond for "church" or similar; find a designer you like. It's like flickr but the submissions are by logo designers.
posted by fourstar at 3:53 PM on February 26

posted by Psychnic Start a jackpot contest at Worth1000 - it's the best photoshop site on the net. For a few hundred bucks you can choose from tens of logos by experienced designers.

Before you spend money at Worth1000 or any other "spec" (speculative) work site at which you set up a "contest" for your logo design, you should be aware you'll get what you pay for. The problem with holding a logo design contest is the nature of a contest--anyone can enter.

Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I've worked with companies who have purchased their identities from online spec-work or "logo contest" sites, and their logos are almost always difficult to use well, they make the company look amateurish and cheap, and the logos lack the sort of foresight for usage and expandability an experienced designer builds into the design of a good logo.

The issue of spec work is part of a larger debate and it doesn't belong here, but should you decide to hold such a contest you will want to make sure you will be provided with an Adobe Illustrator vector version of the logo when they give you the final design and artwork. You'll also want to make sure you will be buying all the rights to the logo, and that you new logo hasn't been stolen from an existing trademarked design or someone else's portfolio.
posted by fandango_matt at 6:00 PM on February 26

My husband is a graphic designer, and has worked with more churches than he normally admits to. You can check out his portfolio site here:
posted by rintj at 9:31 PM on February 26

The link didn't work. Sorry. here
posted by rintj at 9:35 PM on February 26

I haven't used this firm - but I have heard good things about them. They farm out the work to a network of designers, and they seem to work cheaply. That said, I think you should definitely give any any interested MeFi member the first shot.
posted by COD at 11:34 AM on February 26

Logoworks and their designers steal work by other designers, jeopardizing their clients in the process. That's why they're so cheap.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 4:59 AM on February 27