As branding experts, many of our clients come to us asking for new logos. We love collaboratively creating the visual identity of companies, organizations, and associations. Our approach and philosophy to brand development comes from experience and dedication to integrity. After all, Allen Wayne is one of the top 20 visual design studios in the mid-Atlantic region, and we have been in business for 50 years.
Over the past several years, we’ve experienced a disturbing trend. More and more business owners are coming to us with this specific request: “Can you fix my Upwork/Fiverr/99Designs logo?”
It is maddening because we know that this client has just wasted an extreme amount of time on an important part of their business. These clients are already frustrated and lack trust in designers overall, which makes our job harder. We’re here to let you know: Getting a logo off of a freelance platform is risky.
There’s a huge difference between the experience (or lack thereof) you’re likely to get on these sites and the experience you’ll get with a professional design agency. Here's why.
Working with a Designer from a Freelance Platform:
When you head to a freelance platform to get your logo, you’ll likely read through some profiles to pick a freelancer you like and will submit some basic information about your business and ideas for your logo.
Depending on your agreement, your freelancer will usually send back between one and three concepts (which are usually manipulations of stock logos and not original concepts at all). They might do a round or two of edits based on your feedback. And then, you’ll have a logo.
Here’s the problem with this process: When someone is hired for just a logo, they’re not looking at the big picture.
They don’t know and won’t ask the right questions to ask about your business and clients
Your logo won’t follow these four rules for building an effective logo
Your logo will be missing one or more of these four key elements
In our experience, we’ve seen so much low-quality work come out of these platforms that we can’t think of a scenario where we would recommend these platforms to anyone.
Working With a Reputable and Experienced Design Agency
When you work with a professional design agency, you get an experienced and dedicated team and specific methodology rooted in design principles. Your logo is not created in a vacuum – it's only one small part of your visual identity, and your visual identity is only one small part of your branding.
When you come to Allen Wayne for a logo, branding is our first step. Before we get started on design at all, we’ll create a meaningful brand in direct collaboration with you.
We’ll start the project with a thorough brand discovery session
We’ll discuss your six brand attributes (culture, customer, voice, feeling, impact, and x-factor), ideal clients, and brand promises and actions
Once the brand guidelines are approved, we’ll start work on your visual identity, including your logo
After a collaborative process, we’ll deliver a logo that resonates with your clients and supports the ideology of your company from the brand discovery session
The results of working this way speak for themselves. Check out one of our favorite visual identity projects to get an idea of how everything comes together for our clients.
Bottom Line
These freelance companies make design services seem like a commodity that anyone can do. Many of the freelancers on these platforms aren’t focusing on your brand and what makes the most sense for your business. Speaking from our experience, you’ll never be satisfied with a logo or other design project from a freelance website.
So, if you want a great logo on the first attempt—contact a legitimate design agency that has the experience you need and wants to dedicate the time to listen to you and help you build your brand.
Learn More
We’re Allen Wayne—a full-service creative agency with a diverse, talented team that works strategically and collaboratively with our clients to create phenomenal brands. We crave challenges. We solve problems. We develop solutions. Allen Wayne goes Beyond Design to craft an identity and personality for your entire operation. Contact us today—we promise we’ll get your logo right the first time.