You know how people don't get why cakes cost so much? because they've never made a cake & just don't realize how much work everything is?

Well, I'm like that about logos!! I don't get why they are so much! I mean, the cheapest (with good quality) I could find out there (online) is like $200 and you don't get many choices/revisions.

What about a logo creating program? I got one and it comes with some good templates and a whole lot of choices. The program I got is AAA Logo Creator.

I made this just now as an example Took about 5 minutes.

You might want to try going to a local graphic arts school.

Students are always looking for a way to get their work showcased and start up a portfolio.

Chances are you may get it dirt cheap to

My husband is a graphic designer/illustrator, and just like cakes their time and creativity doesn't come cheap. Most of the time when you pay $200 you will get a couple of different options. You have to think that they will probably put at least a few hours into doing this. Also, think of it as an investment. A lot of time new businesses want to skimp on marketing when that is an area that can really boost business.

They are expensive because graphics take forever to do, just like baking. Things that seem simple can usually take several hours

I had a friend who is a graphic artist do mine. I think your point about cakes and people not understanding the price is well put. I watched him turn a general description of what I had in my head into a logo I LOVE!

I have spent countless hours, weeks, months, years learning the things that go into decorating and carving a cake. A friend watched me make two cakes for her twin boys. I said "see its not as hard as you think" and she said "are you kidding? I saw you do it, but I know I couldnt do it" Certainly she could if she devoted the same amount of time learning, practicing, buying tools etc.....to me some things now seem simple but in reality thats just because im used to them.

The same applies to graphic art. Jason worked quickly to design my logo, maybe it helped that our families are so close and he knows me well. Who knows. All I know is that my logo doesnt represent a total of 2 hours of initial design and 3-4 hours of "tweeking"...it represents months and years of practice to make it look easy. Just my 2 cents.

Also I agree that online logo generators may work for your design or you may end up disappointed by the lack of personalization

Hopefully that logo will represent your business for years and years to come. I know it may seem expensive (and I am very cheap normally, never walk into michaels without a 50% off coupon LOL) but I think its worth it.

I spent $20 on e-bay for a logo designer to do mine. It is perfect.

I just posted it on here today. Here is the link

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-652507.html

I can give you their name if you want. The whole process took about two weeks with the revisions and I got it in several formats so I can use it on anything.

They were great to work with and always responded quickly.

My husband created mine and has for dozens of my Business Class students. I'll be happy to connect the two of you if you're interested. Just send me an email. He's extremely reasonable, but as the others have said...it can take hours to create just the 'right' logo. But think about it like this; that logo represents YOU. I've come to be known by my logo. The right one is very important to your business.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I've tried the online, free, make-your-own logo things & it just wasn't what I was looking for.

I don't even think I want a picture in my logo. I don't know. But I would like to have my letters/words be a certain way. Is there a program out there where you can kind of play with the letters? Stretch them out...add stuff to them??

My mom is an artist - so she has been creating mine. (Although I won't be using it for a couple more years I still want one). Anyway, it's taken a couple of months for us to figure it out. Not that we're in any rush. But it's been fun.

I'm a graphic designer and just finished my logo. Just like with cakes (and like others have said) the good ones are done by professionals... You get what you pay for. PLEASE do not go with some generic "program" that creates a logo for you! Your logo is your IDENTITY. The point of it is for the client to think of it when they think of you. You want solid, positive, brand recognition in order to stand out from the rest of the pack. IMO, potential clients make a judgment on your logo and anything visual you put out there...

You should be able to find a student to freelance relatively cheaply. I don't know your market, but you can look around colleges and universities. They are more likely to cut you a deal since they don't have much experience.

Make sure that whatever you do. Don't go generic! Think about what you want your logo to say about you. If you want it to have a fun vibe or classical. If your business is all weddings you probably want something more formal. Then again, if you specialize in something, figure out a way to incorporate it into your design, or at least communicate with your designer you want it incorporated.

Good luck!

I finished my graphic art course at the end of last year and a company chose me to do their logo while i was a student which was a great oppotunity and i ended up being paid $AU 250 outright for my logo i was going to create for them and then $AU 30 per hour to design the stationary and signage to go with it.

Giving graphic students the oppotunity to do real life work is a great thing to do and depending where you go they may not charge as much as my tafe did, i even was suprised by the amount i was getting paid just cose i was only half way through my course

But yeh logo's cost so much because they do take alot of time especially with coming up with the idea (i can sit for 1-2 days just to think of a logo lol) and there are lots of little hidden rules that create a difference over a good logo and a bad logo so you always have to pick over them alot to get it just right

I got mine from someone on ebay and I was very satisfied. It was only $10 but this was several years ago!

Just keep in mind that the graphic design student doing on the cheap is the equivalent of getting someone else to do a Bronwen-level cake for Wal-Mart prices. It takes advantage of the student and hurts the industry as a whole.

When I was in college I was told even as a student charge standard freelance prices for your work and get everything in writing. You never know when the next Nike will come knocking and next thing you know you've given away an iconic brand image worth thousands if not billions.

For the record, the girl who designed the Nike logo was a student who was told the project would be good for her portfolio. The company paid her $35 for it. I think it averaged out to $2 an hour for her time. She's the #1 example of why students should never give away their work.

Just as you would never want to see a cake decorator paid less than waitress wages for their time and effort, don't do this to a graphic arts student. All it does is give them the rep that they will do anything on the cheap and make it very hard for them to break into the business.

I SO agree with carrotcurl. Your logo is what is going to identify you for the rest of your business career! You want it to not only reflect you, but to be a unique reflection of you. I told my graphic designer what colors, what I wanted it to say, and what impression I wanted it to give. Did he hit the nail on the head! I didn't give him much to go on, but he came up 4 great versions for me to choose from. I don't think any generic program could have given me what he did. Plus he just the sweetest guy in the world!

I suggest going to Etsy.com and searching for someone that does custom graphics... there are a lot of designers there that do custom things for decent prices.

The other reason you'll find they are a bit pricey is that you only tend to get it once. That example CeeTee gave is a fabulous example. I have self-taught myself to use Photoshop and it takes sooooooooooooo long for me to do things. You can get some absolutely beautiful results with things in Photoshop (I mainly do invitations and photo editing) but it is so time consuming to achieve the results. I shudder every time someone asks me to 'teach' them how to do something. They want me to show them in 15mins what it took me 4 years to learn.

I'll also add that I do judge businesses by their logos. I was driving behind a car today and I found myself wondering what possessed them to use the logo that they had chosen. Clearly their target market was the higher end of the business market but their logo was so far from the image that they were trying to project that I imagined they would lose potential business from it.

I design web graphics so I know it does take imagination, time, & talent. Just like w/ baking&decorating cakes.

When I first started I got my logo on ebay for $25. it was cute. I bartered a cake for a logo and it was worse than the $25 logo.

This last time around I paid my friend to do it. She is a graphic artist. It costs me $350 (worth much more IMO) and it is definately NOT cute. It has gotten so many compliments for people that see my shirt or my banner. It truly represents the image I'm going for. Just like cakes, it takes talent to understand what someone is looking for. First off, I didn't know what I wanted specifically but I knew what I didn't want. I gladly paid the $350 for this logo because she was able to take things that she knew I liked based on initial designs and put together a logo I LOVE.

This is your image. Please Don't skimp, you will regret it later.

PS
If I can find the first two logos(I think I have them saved to cd) I will upload them with the real logo.

PSS
I decided to change the first logo because I saw someone here use the same image that was used to make my logo. Not very original.

I knew that I couldn't create the logo I wanted - I don't have those skills and I know it. I gave them the idea I had (yep, drawn on a napkin) and he came up with exactly what I wanted.

So, I got ready to do by brochures. I mocked something up but I wanted it to look more "professional". The owner asked if their graphic designer could 'play' with it because it looked boring and I said sure. They have created so much more than I could EVER dream up and it looks awesome! I cannot wait for them to come it. The logo and my brochure are completely unique for my business - the business I hope to grow beyond my wildest dream!

Going with a professional gives me way more than it cost me - which between the logo and the awesome brochure design was just over $200, not much compared to everything else I've spent.

If you don't want a photo or you want one of your own cake photos made into a sketch let's say and then add wording around it go to

www.picnik.com you can add the text and choose a ton of different fonts and stretch and color them to your hearts content!

I would go with a professional, but shop around first. Dh & FIL are starting their 2nd business & FIL paid a lady who'd "won awards" to design the logo. She was up their in price b/c of the award I guess. And I think it looks like a baby vomitted onto some paper & smeared it around. I do believe a 4 yr old could have done a better job. FIL & MIL love it & since he's the "president" they went w/ it. She gave about 3 choices for about $350. I'd be 100% pissed off if I'd paid someone & that was the best they had to offer. So, I can see where you're coming from. My suggestion is start looking at the logos of local business & ask who designed their logo. Look at their work to see if you think they can create what YOU want.

As an artist myself, I think $200 is a steal!

Not only does it take time to create a unique logo ... but this is someone's art that you will continue to use over, and over, and over. They don't get another cent for it ... but their work is helping YOU grow YOUR business.

a) professional art -- cake, logo, movie, stage play is always big bucks to produce/purchase.

b) as for "playing" the logo in the thread listed below was whipped up (ok...it took me about an hour of playing) in Microsoft Publisher -- which lets you stretch, shadow, layer, twist, turn, and generally make a fine ol' mess fairly easily --- a great way to get a starting point for discussing with a graphic arts pro. There's also a discussion in that thread of the legalities of using clip art from various sources, use of pro designers and more.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=645161&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

Actually, there is a way you can create your own loggo with out taking a huge chunk out of your bank account, depending on what you want. What I am planning to do when I start my business is find a picture of a really good cake that I have done, and use this site to costomize the picture exactly how I want it. www.fotoflexer.com

This site gives you a world of opptions to personalize your picture. Then I will put that pic on my computer and use CakeBoss to add it to my invoices and such. Fotoflexer is an incredibly easy way to personalize things, and it is totally free!

I just recently created a logo for my son's speech therapist. I charged her $100 for the logo. I gave her 3 different options and made several revisions. While it wasn't a very difficult design, it still took me time to get everything just right. She was happy with it.

It all depends on what you want. Just like with cakes... you're paying for someone's time and experience.

I completely agree with everyone who has said that your logo is your identity! A good friend of mine is a graphic artist/web designer and she is graciously creating my logo and website for free. She has already spent so much time with me developing a concept that I'm starting to feel like I'm taking advantage of her! But, she has assured me that all of this time is absolutely necessary, and not at all out of the ordinary. If she puts this much effort into free services for a friend, then I can only imagine how much she puts into the same services for high dollar clients. She absolutely earns every penny she charges because, like me with my cakes, she takes pride in her work and wants her clients to feel the same pride in the product.
I'll probably end up trying to pay her... and she'll probably end up sending my check back.