The Price of Creating a Killer Logo and Brand

Sure, we all know some of the world’s most famous logos, but have you ever thought about the creative and design process behind each of them? Not only that, but what about the costs involved? Since these are huge corporations we are talking about, many of them are spending a massive budget on their design work, then have to go through a mega approval and testing process before going live with their new identity.

Let’s take a look at some of the world’s most famous logos and what they cost to create. Some are ridiculously expensive, while others are pretty cheap and sometimes free! This list was provided by StockLogos.com

Pepsi logo price tag: $1,000,000
The new Pepsi logo was designed by the Arnell Group in 2008. The listed prices include a complete branding package unless otherwise noted.

Google logo price tag: $0
The original Google logo was designed in 1998 by Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders in Gimp. Later it has been fine-tuned several times, but the original concept was kept intact.

Coca-Cola logo price tag: $0
The famous Coca-Cola logo was created by John Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885. Robinson came up with the name and chose the logo’s distinctive cursive script. The typeface used, known as Spencerian script, was developed in the mid-19th century and was the dominant form of formal handwriting in the United States during that period.

Nike logo price tag: $35
The Nike logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1975. The price only included the logo design, which later has been refined but the original concept just like in the case of Google and Coca-Cola has been kept intact. Later Nike gave 500 shares of stock to the designer, which is now worth over $600,000.

Twitter logo price tag: $15
The Twitter logo was designed by Simon Oxley in 2009. It has recently been updated.

So why do some logos cost millions of dollars and others are a few dollars or even free? It seems he priciest logo designs are when a company is already established and has a logo of their own, but they want to create something new and fresh. The majority of money is spent on initial design work and testing to see how consumers react to the new logo. Check out my previous post on The Art of Company Logos and Branding, which features some well known logo designs and how they have changed over the years.

When you take a look at how Google, Coca-Cola and Nike, all three of these companies had a basic design that they came up, then stuck with it and had minimal changes over time.

Then you have Twitter, which was a super cheap design cost of $15, then they went ahead and updated the logo a bit. There is not specifics on the price it took to create the new design, but the initial $15 for their unique logo was well worth it.

So how much should you pay for a logo design?

I’m always stressing the importance of having a great logo for your company or brand. Thankfully the costs of design work is nothing like it used to be. Sure, billion dollar companies are still going to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on their design and testing, but as an online marketer, affiliate or blogger… it’s the last thing you need to worry about. Now you can hire freelancer designers to create a nice logo for you for around $5 on sites like Fiverr or even create your own logo design contest.

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10 Comments

  1. I wouldn't go so far as to say anything designed on Fiverr is "nice looking". It's crap, but if your business is making less than $100,000 a year, like most websites, crap might be all you need.

    If you want to build a larger business you really should be planning your brand from the beginning. If you start out with a shitty logo like Google did, it ends up becoming impossible, or insanely expensive to fix down the road. Google has an established brand, which is shitty and it's entrenched.

    My advice for anyone starting a serious business is just focus on getting a solid mark. Something super simple. No text. So as your brand grows you can build around it.

    1. Agreed, if you are serious about getting a nice high quality logo then you should expect to spend some money, but it still doesn't have to be much. Sites like LogoNerds can come up with something really nice for under $50. Fiverr will get you a decent logo if you are looking to only spend $5 and have now design skills at all.

      In the end, the business model makes the business… which then makes the logo, which represents the brand.

    2. Hi Tyler, thanks a awesome for your suggestions. I have been giving myself some kind of headaches these days when it comes to logo designs for my websites. The problem I'm having is to start and believing in myself that I can design the best. I don't want crappy things and there's no money to spend either but I just need to make sure that I create the best.

      But with Zac's post and your tip, I will go for simple but not heavy design.
      My recent post Modern Wireless Alarms and How They Evolve Throughout the Years

  2. Most of the logo design came from an employee or those working for the company and its part of their work to design. This is the reason you will not have specific price tag for the logo designs. In today's marketing era, the design may be done by a third party advertising & marketing group, thus, the price balloons to millions of dollars.
    My recent post Apple Online Shopping Store Promo

  3. Having an unique and attractive logo at low price is not a big issue now. As you can easily hire experienced freelancer at low cost. However to have a logo is very crucial for any company, business or service, it helps you to build your recognition among people.
    My recent post Mobile Recharge Software

    1. I remember back in the day I paid around $500 for a high quality logo design from some high end company. Crazy expensive when you think of it now. They delivered multiple drafts then the files on CD afterwards.

  4. There are lot of companies online they are giving high quality logos in low price. But in my opinion if you want to go with some big and memorable design you need spend money on that as highly professional people purchase even fonts for the logo and then they have big teams who work on one design with there great experience and get back to customer with master piece.

  5. The problem is like most industries nobody sticks together to keep the value of the work up.Many companies that will end up being very successful do not have a huge start-up budget. A logo is very important but so is financial responsibility.

  6. @Zac: You hit an open nerve with this one 😀 I got more than 20 logos designed from 3 designers so far for my corporate brand and I still haven't liked any of them. I think logos are VERY important but at the same time, saying that a logo will work is a gamble (unless you spend a lot of time in taking user's feedback first).

    I think a decent logo for a small blog or business should not cost more than $200.

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