It seems iStock is pushing their way into the grey area of logo design. Promoting a new logo design service coming this January, they state that “clients will be able to download a unique logo to brand their business or organization”. There are many of us that feel this is a very dangerous move. At $5 per “approved logo” plus a 50% sales fee (a one time maximum of $375), the payment for designers an insult. No less of an insult is providing companies the option of cheaply produced solutions for a minimum of $250.
This isn’t simply a question of dollars and cents, or a question of accessibility for clients and designers alike. It’s a question of values.
While I can appreciate the fact that freelance designers need to make income and not all clients have the funds to pay for good design, this formula has the potential to attract designers not necessarily looking to contribute to the landscape of good design. There are those of us who work very hard to educate our clients and spend countless hours working out not only a good design solution, but an ethical and beneficial solution.
How will originality be measured? What type of standards will be in place? What code ethics will be attached? Pre-designed logos run the risk of adding to the clutter that already exists in an over-branded world. The wrong solution may do more harm than good. We, as designers, need to make sure our services are understood. By selling our solutions cheaply and improperly we risk undercutting our own value.
I’m really frustrated by this announcement, as you know, Tyler.
I won’t re-state what you have already eloquently said here. I just want to publicly agree with this and express my frustration. Hours and hours of time, exploration, research, questions, discussion and experimentation that goes into the creation of an identity, and more importantly, a Brand. Besides time, we all put a lot of blood, sweat and tears (so to speak) into every job as well. Knowing that, it is extremely disheartening to see something like this undercut the value of what we do. Makes you want to throw up your hands and walk away, sometimes.