I work in an industry where professionals often behave like grade school kids taking a test – with one arm covering their answers so no one can cheat off them. The graphic design industry is a lot like that. Nearly everyone is so protective because of fear of having clients stolen that you rarely have a totally open conversation with another designer about the real amount of business they have, who their clients are, or their secret sauce. Suggesting a work alliance is usually met with an uncomfortable, ‘Uuuuuh, why should I do that?’ …As if asking a stranger to marry you.

Ever heard of a species of one?

We all like to think we are unique, and if you want to excel in business, you really have to be in some valuable way. While there are times to keep your guard up, you don’t have be an island. In fact, if you open up and form alliances, a world of possibilities will open up to you.

One of my great alliances today is with another design firm. I’ll admit that when the firm’s owner called me one day out of the blue, my industry standard skepticism was just waiting to hear what he was really after. Lucky for me, my own instincts kicked in, and I found a like-minded spirit I could trust and believe in. I can pour myself into work for his firm as much as for my own.

If you keep an open mind and, importantly, an open heart, you’ll find partners you can work together with to achieve greater goals for you both.

If you launch a business without a logo, you are endangering the success of your business and your brand right out of the starting blocks. A brand is not a thing created solely by the customer, and it’s not just for the customer. Your brand is a conglomeration of the following things, in this order: an entrepreneur’s or company’s core values, your visual and verbal identity (including your logo, the cornerstone of your identity), customer service, product or service quality, and finally the customer’s experience. All of these elements combine to create perception, experience, and loyalty. Your logo plays a vital role in this mix, as the single most communicative and memorable ingredient.

Your logo serves a much larger role than “just” the meaningful identifier for your customers though. It is a daily signal to inspiration and motivation for you and your employees. Your logo is also the single fastest way to communicate your worthiness to angels and bankers, as well as your professionalism to vendors. Your logo and corporate identity set the tone for nearly all of your branding and marketing communications, including your website. If you don’t start with a professional logo, it is highly likely that you will end up with a mish-mash of mismatched marketing communications.

If you skip the critical step of designing a logo, you leave the customer, and all of the people your business relies on, to define their own picture of you. Some people will do this with their own visual cues, and some will not do it at all.

If you design your own logo, it is highly likely that you will want to redesign within 2-3 years. The simple reason for this is that pro designers simply think differently. They solve creative problems in different ways than non-designers. They design logos that stand the test of time. A good logo should last 10-20 years. If you change your logo after just two or three years, you will have to re-educate your customers, yourself, and your employees, and that costs a lot of money.

The most common thing I hear from clients after we complete a logo and identity design is that they now feel real and legitimate. How powerful is that? Super powerful.

Human beings process 80% of all information visually, so if you skip giving them a meaningful logo to remember, guess what? Chances are pretty high that they won’t remember your company. Instead, when they need your product or service again, they will Google it or try to locate it at a store. They may find you, or they may find one of your competitor’s products.

If you later decide to design a logo after launching your business, you have just created a massive disconnect for the customers who have already created their own picture of who you are, and you must now retrain their minds to discover your company all over again. That costs a significant chunk of change. And people don’t like change when it comes to their brands.

How to Get a Professional Logo On Budget and On Time
Three primary misconceptions hold small businesses back from designing a logo prior to launching their business: 
1. Lack of money
2. Lack of time
3. Lack of a good graphic designer, also called disillusionment.

Small business owners and DIYers have a strong tendency to think that logo and identity design will cost too much, and they think it will take too long. If they manage to get past those two excuses, they often hire an inexperienced graphic designer who scares them away with poor design, and they get disillusioned and lose perspective. These are the three most common excuses business owners use to talk themselves out of launching their company with the single most compelling tool available (the logo). There are easy ways to get past all three of these misconceptions. Here they are:

1. Lack of Money – The money factor is the easiest one to conquer. You don’t need a small fortune to hire a competent graphic designer. It’s simply a question of finding the right designer. Set a realistic budget, and be completely up front about it with the designers you call. Avoid trying to get a deal because you’re likely to instead end up with less of a design than you deserve. If the idea for your product or business is great, it deserves to be well-represented. If it isn’t professional looking, that sends a message that your company or product isn’t up to snuff.

Avoid the temptation of trying to get a logo on the cheap from a bulk logo house. These companies have no interest in creating a logo that will truly represent your core characteristics and last you 10 or 20 years, and they can’t possibly help to give you the deeper understanding of your business that a competent designer can.

Interview 3-5 graphic designers on the phone or in person, and chances are you will find one who can work with your budget. You have to know where to look, but it’s not hard. If you call a designer or firm, and they tell you your budget is too low, don’t be offended. It’s not personal. Ask them for the name of a designer they know who can work with your budget. The good designers will want to help you. 

When I take calls from people looking to hire me, I am very up front about our rates. I’ve done an extensive amount of work to devise ways to make working with smaller budgets profitable. Not everyone knows how to do that, so it really is important to make several calls and ask good questions, all with an open mind to the possibilities.

2. Lack of Time – Begin with the end in mind. The first thing you should do when you decide to start a company is call a professional graphic designer. Why? Design runs the world. Look at what mother nature did with design if you need an example to validate that claim. (Unfortunately, she’s not available.) If you are having trouble naming your company, some designers also do brand naming, and they can help. If you already have a great name, you have a head start. 

If you have the time, get started with your graphic designer about 3-4 months ahead of your business launch. If you are short on time, find a designer who works extremely well under deadline pressure. They’re out there (not to plug myself, but I’m one of them). I’ve designed logos that lasted 15 years or more in literally hours, not days or weeks. It’s best not to count on instant turnaround, especially if the designer will be working with a committee for approval. 3-6 weeks is considered normal, but faster is certainly possible. The search for a designer should take a maximum of three half days, or 12 hours total. 12 hours to find a designer who fits your business like a glove is a bargain of time.

3. Lack of a good designer, or Disillusionment – This is another easy one to conquer. The best way to avoid getting poor graphic design that undermines your confidence in the power of great design is to get #1 right. Set a realistic budget, be up front about it, and find a designer who you really connect with in conversation. Are they asking relevant questions? Are they making you think? Are they paying attention? Make sure you like their logo design work. If they use a lot of photos as logos, keep searching. (Photos are used only when a designer is totally stumped, and photos make horrible logos because they are way too detailed to remember in the blink of an eye.) 

Ask a lot of questions. Don’t ask which software they use because software has nothing to do with design – it’s simply a tool, like a hammer to a carpenter. Instead, focus on their design process. How will they start? What will be the project stages? What does their estimate include? Does the estimate include revisions? If the estimate doesn’t include revisions, that can be a red flag. Experienced designers know to include this on their estimates. When can you expect to see rough concepts? When will the project be completed? Ask as many questions as you need to feel totally good about the designer, then hire one.

Great! You’ve Hired a Designer. Now What?
Once you hire a designer, think of them as a trusted partner who is going to understand you and help express your innermost visions. Your expressed confidence gives the designer the freedom to do great work for you.

If you follow these three simple tasks, you will get the logo your business needs to launch well at a price you can afford.

A very common set of statements I hear from prospective clients is:

1. We want to increase sales.
2. We want a really strong logo, brand or website.
3. We don’t want to spend much, or we have a very small budget.

If you can relate with these statements, this article was written just for you.

1. Budget Setting: Use the New Computer Rule
When setting your budget, use the “New Computer Rule,” which states that you should always buy the most expensive computer you can afford. The reason for this is simple. If you buy the cheapest computer, it will have a slower processor, it will become outdated much faster, and it will not serve your purposes very well. Similarly, if you buy the cheapest logo, identity design or website, it will not transform your brand, it will become outdated much faster, and it will very likely not communicate the essence of who you are. If your goal is to increase sales by making a bigger impact right from the start, a cheap identity or website design will not do that. This is not a license to go out and break your budget. It is a great rule of thumb, however, and it’s a smart way to start setting realistic goals for your brand or website design.

2. Break the Cycle!
If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got. If you have always been dissatisfied with the work your designer has done, you probably do not know how amazing it feels to experience outstanding design when it is created just for your business. If you want a big change in the perception of your business, or a boost in sales, or you have some other big goal, stop doing what you have always done. If you have always hired the cheapest design firm, but you are unsatisfied with the results, set a higher budget and get a better design firm. If you hire the cheapest, you get the cheapest. Don’t have a higher budget? Ask about options. Some designers do not offer options, while others can get pretty darn creative with options. Ask yourself: Does the cheapest looking logo represent your business the way you want it to? Does the $300 template website do everything we need it to do? Probably not. Then break the vicious cycle by setting a higher budget, hiring a better designer, and getting better results.

3. Ask Questions
Do you buy a new car without asking questions about it? If you do, you have probably bought a lemon or two in your day. Do you change accounting systems without studying the features? If so, your bank account or books probably suffered heavily until you figured out how to use it, or worse, figured out it wasn’t the right system for you. The same goes for graphic designers. As sad as it is, there are graphic designers out there who don’t know the first thing about branding and can’t map out an effective website to save their lives. Owning a computer and some design software does not make a great designer. If I bought a dentist chair and some dental tools, would you trust me to be your dentist? I sure hope not! Experience and knowledge count for everything in design. Make sure your designer is using solid strategic planning and research as well. How do you find out if they are knowledgeable? Look at their work and ask questions!

4. Find a Designer Who is Also a Writer
If you can find a designer who also is a writer, you’ve hit the jackpot! Designers who can write well tend to read a lot, and because of this, they can gain a thorough understanding of all of the many aspects of brand development. Exceptional brands are not made in a day or a week. It takes time, research, experience and tons of know-how. A brand is made of three primary components: 1) the visual, 2) the verbal, and 3) the experience. If you can find a designer who is experienced at creating all three, and you communicate well together, you have found your designer! Make sure to review samples of their design and writing. What is the value in this? Your brand will be more fully integrated, which means it will be a more powerful marketing tool, and it work better all the way around.

4.5 Avoid the Writer Who is Also a Designer
What? Didn’t I just say to find a designer who is also a writer? Yes, but not the other way around. Writers usually do not make great designers. If your designer is primarily a writer, they probably are not a great designer. Sound confusing? Don’t worry, it’s really easy. Start your search by looking for a designer. When you find one who also writes tag lines and website text, you will have found a designer who is also a writer. Be sure to see their design work and read their text! If they are both to your liking, you’ve hit a home run. If you can’t find one person who is both a great designer and writer, no problem. Hire a designer who has a great relationship with a copywriter. Don’t get me wrong — great copywriters do exist! If you find a great copywriter first, continue your search for your designer. When you need a brand or website design, the simple rule is: Designer first, writer second.

5. Match Your Budget With Your Goals.
The most common goal for businesses seeking a new identity, brand or website design is increased sales. As mentioned above, the three most common statements I hear from prospective clients are:

1. We want to increase sales.
2. We want a really strong logo, brand or website.
3. We don’t want to spend much, or we have a very small budget.

These statements are completely incompatible with each other, which sets you up to fail in your attempts to increase your sales and reach your goals. This is that vicious cycle I referred to in tip #2 above. If you can’t increase your budget, you need to adjust your goals downward. This is one of the hardest lessons for businesspeople to learn and accept. If you are looking for a big change, it’s high time to match your budget with your goals. The return on investment will surprise and please you.

Is it ok to have a small budget? You bet! It’s absolutely fine. You just need to be realistic about what it is going to take for you to reach your goals. Instead of getting a great design that will last you for many years, you need to think about getting a design that will make do until you can afford what you really envision for your business.

6. Resist Negotiating on Price
Warning: You will not want to accept this tip, but you should read it and practice it. I’ll bet my dog’s first born puppy that it will serve you well.

Resist negotiating on price. What did I just say? That’s right, resist the temptation to negotiate on the price of your brand or website design. It seems to have become human nature to dicker, but the fact is that in brand and website design, there are only a few things that can result from negotiating the price downward, and none of them are positives for you, the client. In fact, every single one of them results in you getting less for your money, and not reaching your goals.

You may be thinking, ‘How can this be? If I get a lower price, I save money and I get what I want.’ The simple reality is that it just does not work that way. You may pay less, but you will not get what you want. Instead, you will get what you bargained for. In my many years of working as a designer and writer, the results of dickering have been completely consistent. Oh, and by the way, this is not limited to me or my agency. Graphic designers like to get together in groups and talk, just like housewives, sewing clubs, and drinking buddies. Every single designer I have met during the past 25 years, from the struggling to the most successful, has whined at some point about clients who negotiate for lower prices. (Don’t worry, they don’t name names unless you do something really bad!) I don’t know about you, but I always want to get the most for my money. I work hard to earn it, and I want the people who work for me to work equally hard. If I am not paying them what they are worth, I can’t expect to get their best efforts.

Here are the standard results of negotiating the price down:
1. You get less work from the designer.
2. You get less passion in the work from the designer.
3. You get less resources dedicated to your project.
4. You get less time spent on your project.
5. You get lower quality design.
6. Your project will be lower on the priority list.
7. You get less longevity. Your logo or website will quickly become outdated.
8. You get less satisfaction for your time and money.
9. You get less effectiveness.
10. You walk away less happy.

Do I still put in my best efforts on lower-priced projects? I sure try. But the reality is that lower-priced or discounted projects simply can not take precedence over normal-priced projects.

Let’s face it, you hire a designer for their expertise and their ability to deliver a high quality design that really connects with your customers, makes them think about you, creates desire, and stimulates action. Most experienced designers share those goals with you. When you negotiate the price down, you are telling the designer that you value their work less, yet at the same time, you are telling them that you want great work. It just does not add up.

Designers are a lot like you. They have a mouth or mouths to feed, a business to run, and they need to make sure that the work coming through the door is profitable. Designers tend to be passionate about their work, and they truly want it to succeed and last for a long time.

Good designers understand the value of their work, and they price it accordingly. If you have dickered the price down, what do you think the designer is thinking about while working on your project? Instead of focusing their attention solely on making your design great, they will be thinking about how they are going to make up the difference, wondering to whom they will try to sell the next project, and lamenting about why they accepted the job at a lower rate in the first place. When they are thinking about all of these things, what do you think will suffer? Your project will suffer. You can’t afford to have a weakened brand or website. You will end up with a design that could have been great, or might have been better, but rarely will the best designs come out when a designer is worried about making ends meet as a result of accepting a lower priced project. If the firm has junior staff, those less experienced designers, whose time costs the firm less money, will be the ones working on your design. Perhaps worst of all, the design itself will very likely not meet or exceed your goals.

Do you ask your doctor to reduce his rates? How about your accountant? Your yoga instructor? I’m guessing not.

Ultimately, dickering is a waste of time and an investment in your own unhappiness. When a designer gives you a fair price, accept it, sign the estimate, and get to work on a great design. You know what you want. All you need do is align your budget with your goals. If you hear that little voice creeping up in the back of your brain, ignore it. Beat it back with a dose of logic, and resist negotiating on price.

7. Don’t Settle, Discover!
If you settle for less than you deserve, you deserve the less that you get. Most people settle for less than they deserve, and as a direct result, they lose their vision and give up on reaching their goals. You don’t have to be like most people.

When you are hiring anyone for anything, you should always hire the best people that you can afford. That does not mean that you should hire the most expensive people. It means that you should set some goals just beyond what you think you can reach, write them down, and examine your budget. Then, make some calls, and find the right people to help you reach those goals.

Many branding agencies can help you objectively set a realistic budget. Designers who use strategy can help you set and understand your goals as well. Most good designers will answer your questions for 30 or more minutes free of charge, which is plenty of time for both of you to see if there is a good fit for working together. Don’t settle for a designer who doesn’t feel like just the right fit. Discover the right designer for you!

As a consumer, do you ever feel like that? I know I do, but I usually brush it right off. I got a call tonight from something my caller I.D. showed as TV Survey. I didn’t answer courteously. In fact, I didn’t answer at all. I picked up the phone and said, "Please remove us from your list," and I hung up. Has that ever happened to you? If so, try reading Adbusters some time.

If you’re looking at an average size magazine such as Martha Stewart Living, Wired, Maxim, or Outside, page 8 or 9 is likely the contents page sitting beside another ad that interests you. Magazines like Cosmopolitan, Vogue, and GQ are so fat with ads that you may encounter twenty or more pages of alternating captivating and low-interest advertisements before reaching the table of contents, but the pattern is the same. The next spread has another page of contents which contains at least two articles you searched for on the previous page’s contents, next to an ad that probably holds less interest for you. If your magazine is more in the range of 150-275 pages such as Shape, there is likely a third page of contents alongside an ad for a product that you can only dream of owning.

If you continue turning through the pages one by one, you can see a distinct pattern develop. In both editorial and ads, images relating to the reason people buy the magazine consistently appear every two to three pages. As you pass through the front to middle pages of the magazine, where there is more editorial content and less ads, the frequency of compelling imagery lessens to roughly every six to seven pages. The center spreads will most assuredly contain one photo that holds your interest on every other page. The pattern then repeats in reverse order as you turn towards the back of the magazine.

Most people are unaware of the layout techniques that designers and art directors use to hold their attention like a wind-up doll, balancing editorial and advertising in gripping fashion. Pick up that magazine on your table and try reading it with a new consciousness of how your attentions are being played on every page, and you may find a new appreciation for design.

The print magazine layout formula has worked for decades, and it shows no signs of wearing out. Website designers ought to follow a similar formula, but they rarely do. This is partially due to the infancy of the industry, but it is also due to the fact that the people who design sites are often more left brain than right. Websites are often built by committees rather than designers, thus, effective design can be easily compromised. Add to that a constantly evolving set of technological applications that can be used to develop sites, and you have a recipe for a big mess, which is what many websites amount to. It’s kind of like adding fresh ingredients to a soup right up until the moment you take it off the heat. You may wind up with some unrefined content, haphazard design lacking in strategy, or tough vegetables and raw meat. It’s kind of tough to digest.