Need your opinion on how good of a deal you think this is... This recent college grad who I've known thru a friend for a little over 2 years now want's to help me create my logo, color scheme, business cards, stationary and product packaging for a flat fee of $400. He sent me some things about 2 years ago which I thought at the time were pretty good but I wan't ready to go legal so all of that was put on hold. Since then he has two more years of experience under his belt.

I think it's a good deal since he knows marketing and graphic design programs but I have to convince my hubby this is a good investment for the business.

Thanks.

I don't have any opinion but I'm glad you asked as I'm looking into the same thing but don't know where to start. it sounds like it's reasonable. I know you will get good advice here. Good luck!

It's a good deal. My son is a web designer and gets no less than $1000.

Dare your husband to find a graphic designer (who is good) to do a whole package for less! When I owned my agency my base price for logo design only was $800...and that was 16 years ago! Ask if that $400 includes an outright buyout for you...in other words will he give you all the art and not be selling it to someone else down the road. What about production? Will he supply you with the camera ready art to give to a vendor or will he be the one to have it produced for you? (expect more charges if he does).
$400 is pretty cheap to have a professional design your image. Just keep in mind that you probably won't be able to change your mind a million times (like some people do) before deciding. What if you don't like anything he does? Will you be out $400 anyway? His time is money too.
A coordinated look is invaluable in creating your image. It's great to start off with a professional look. And $400 is inexpensive as long as it's the look you want. People should use professionals in the area of their expertise. In my previous line of work I can't tell you how many times I heard 'I'm letting my son design my logo. He took an art class in high school once!" Geesh. You get what you pay for. It's kind of like buying cake! But if this guy is good, yeah...you've got a heck of a deal.

My husband is a graphic designer and he says that for that package, he would charge upwards of $2000. Just like carmijok says, though, you get what you pay for.

If he'll do the work and do it well, take him up on it. You won't find it at that price anywhere else.

I have a friend (who is VERY gracious) offer me 50% off her services. For that package, she'd charge $900 normally, but is giving me the friends and family price of $450. I haven't committed, because I'm not legal (yet). But it's a good deal. Sign a contract...if you're not happy, there should be stipulations.

Good luck!

This sounds very reasonable.

And think of it this way, you are helping this young person build a portfolio. It also sounds like he is giving you a break on price to be able to help you and him.

And dare I say that someday you might be on the other side of this equation - having someone wonder if the price of your cake is a reasonable price or not.

You are doing a great thing for this person and getting a professional looking logo at the same time. Sounds like a win/win to me.

Be sure to show it off here when its done.

I don't know what the going rate is for packaging but I can tell you what I paid for what I got. I put a custom order up on etsy asking for a logo, business cards, banner design, tagline, and twitterbackground. My designer offered unlimited revisions and has provided me with all files needed and even threw in my logo in different colors for me to use on stickers as well. I paid $125 because I bought the package during a promo but usually it cost 175-200.

I am very happy with the work my designer did.

I'd say it's a pretty good deal. in graphic design as we say, you can have 2 of 3 things: good, cheap, fast
If you like this kid's work, then you will get it cheap but probably not fast. packing design is hard. weigh the options, i'm just throwing in my 2 cents

$400 is a deal! As I never fully became a graphic designer as originally intended, i'm using my degree for my cake business. I have done my own logo, website, promo packages, and now i'm working on package design for my cookies. Id say also if there is something you can do yourself, do it as it can save you money.

I gave a $250.00 deposit to a designer in my city as a down payment for logo design and redesign until I was satisfied. 3 months later we parted amicably because she clearly was never going to do a design that worked for me and we were both frustrated. I never paid the final $250.00 but as she had worked hard I didn't ask for my deposit back.

I found thelogocompany.net on line. They are a design studio in New York with designers based in the UK and for $199.00 I purchased a package for logo, business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. This is totally refundable if you aren't satisfied and they came up with a basic logo I loved within a week. We tweaked colors and a couple of details for a little while longer and then I decided I didn't want the business cards and stationary and they refunded that part of the package-$50.00-- and sent me multiple files of the logo for web, printing, etc.

It was a little weird in that they send you designs, you send them comments. They send you revisions or new designs, you send them comments. There is no discussion they just do revisions or new designs, but you can call them via an 800 number and they do respond to e-mails with ever more designs and revisions.

It was efficient, if not exactly how I like to work. I have a local designer again who has used my new logo for an ad and is working on a website remodel. That works better for me because we actually talk, but you can't beat a $149.00 logo design that is totally refundable if you don't like what you get.

I work for a design/marketing firm and we charge a minimum of $2 000 for a branding exercise. We typically lay out some ground rules to cover our butts: 3 logo designs or variations with 3 rounds of revisions on 1 selection.

It might be a good idea to set some expectations from the beginning, especially if this is someone you know. The initial discussion is really important and you need to be specific if you have something in mind. If he's provided examples in the past you can build on those or start from fresh based on what you've seen so far. Either way, I think this is a great deal.

I recently had a logo done by www.articpixel.com. I paid $399 for the logo alone. She sent it to me in every format I could possibly need and had it ready for me within a day. I didn't really see a need to pay the extra for business cards, stationary, etc. when I could use VistaPrint, Office Depot and the like to design my own materials (using my new logo).