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Discount, online logo development. The words alone make people like me and my colleagues shudder with disgust. But, is it really that bad? Aren't there some circumstances when quick and dirty logo design might get the job done for someone with literally no budget?

A great experiment recently concluded where the folks at Speak Up provided the same creative brief to a series of online logo developers, using an overall budget of $1,000 (total, spent on 4 different sites), and compared the results. The outcome was interesting, if not expected.

I was speaking with a colleague about this article and the whole online design phenomenon. He said the whole concept just didn't make sense. We thought it through, and here's what we came up with: If someone had one of these studios with 1 or 2 designers on hand, they could do well. If a designer sat down and did nothing but crank out logos for 8 hours a day, never throwing anything away, they could easily satisfy at least 10 or more clients each day--multiply that by 2 or more if they have a larger staff. That translates to a lot of money. This model, however, hinges on delivering quantity, without regard for quality, and hoping that most customers will be happy with the first set of designs that come to them.

And that's what you usually get: fairly low quality work for a very low price. For some people, this is just fine. For others, they are looking for something a bit better.

Previously, we discussed not overthinking a logo, but I think there is a happy medium between these 2 extremes. Unless you really have no budget or just need something out there - anything - then hire a real agency or designer. Otherwise, you'll just have to be happy with what you get.