There's been an awful lot of debate over the last few weeks over the offerings of a "low-balling" logo company &mdash the company in question being Logoworks. The debate centers around the ethical and legal practices of some of their...
Guess what? This isn't another article discussing those issues. This is about some of the materials on their two sites. First, a little background material is in order. I've always been kind of a pragmatic and, inquisitive sort and while getting my degree, I encountered a course entitled "Myth as Metaphor", which helped round out my post-modern perspective.
The course has been revised since my days as a student and is now called "Myth in Literature" (if you like you can read the current course outline). What the course taught was essentially this: Media, (for this discussion, web sites) have the power to control, through the creation of a mythological narrative, how we perceive them. Because these narratives are typically one sided, they have power and control over what is said and how it is said. Also, the course examined how to investigate what was
not being said beneath the myths being presented. Essentially a speaker, including myself in this instance, has the power to create a perception, of how they wish you to perceive them by choosing certain language and images, And, because the speaker has the ability to control the dialogue and present only their point of view, they can control the overall message.
This post-modern dissection process will involve materials from both the LogoWorks site and their affiliate site Arteis. The Arteis site is the parent company to LogoWorks and handles the employment of freelance designers to work on logos.
From the LogoWorks site:
"Quality
If you go to a design firm for logos, you'll only get one logo designer. We put two to five logo designers on your logo design project. You'll see a large variety of custom logo designs and be confident that you have made the right choice. "
The general perception of this text implies that they will be putting a team of designers onto your logo design and that two or more heads are better than one. After all, a team provides a certain synergy through the interaction of its members and will provide a better overall solution.
From the Arteis site:
"When you login, available projects will be shown. You can preview
the type of logo that needs to be created and select whatever jobs interest
you. Each project has a Virtual Design team which is made up of either
3 or 5 designers, depending on which logo package the consumer has chosen.
There is always at least 1 expert, 1 advanced, and 1 newcomer on each
team. For the logo project, each designer on the team will submit two
rough compositions. When all the compositions have been received, the
client will review them. The client will pick one of the designs to pursue
and there will be additional revision cycles. The designer chosen will
be required to provide the revisions and will be paid for each revision
the client requests."
Again, here is the implication of a team effort, but the text clearly states
that when a designer logs in they can choose a project to work on. The model
described does not include any sort of interactivity between members of the
team and educated users of the model will know that they are working in isolation
on a brief description provided by the potential client. So in reality what
is happening is not a team effort but a collection of separate designers
providing individual disparate solutions. The team mythology is further exposed
by this text from the Arteis site:
"Why are there multiple designers on
each project?
ARTEIS believes that more creativity is always better. By using multiple
designers not in contact with each other, the client receives a greater
deal of variety. Since it's hard to know exactly what the client wants,
the larger amount of creativity helps us get closer to a product that
will please the client."
One serious question (which, though slightly off tangent to the current flow of this discussion, bears investigation) arises from the prior statement. If it's hard to know what the clients wants, why not let the designer or the art director ask the client what they want in in the initial meetings? Their overall business model precludes this. The client submits a design proposal to LogoWorks which is then posted for potential designers to view. If they are interested in the project, a designer can sign up for it and submit two compositions. What if designer 'A' and designer 'B' have elements that, if combined, would make a better logo or that the client would like to see? How does LogoWorks resolve this issue? Does one of their in-house designers combine the elements and remove designer 'A' and 'B' from the process creatively and financially? How much work does the client do in this process? If all goes really well and a freelance designer wins the contract and the client provides briefs, the only involvement LogoWorks seems to have in the process is shuffling email and collecting money. Why not eliminate the middleman and let the client and the designer deal directly with each other?
From the LogoWorks site:
"Customer Service
We love to talk about logo design and offer outstanding support. You can always reach us during normal business hours by phone (800.210.7650) or through live Internet chat. Many other logo design firms avoid calls and are hard to reach. We want to make sure you get a logo you love and are there to make sure it happens."
A premise introduced here is that other logo design firms are difficult to work with. Yet their own text sets up the same model of operation as other design firms. What they're not saying in their text is that they are located on the East Coast. Most normal businesses operate from eight to five, and if you're located in either Los Angeles or Vancouver on Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm and you want to talk to the designer on your team, you'll have to wait until Monday morning. Furthermore because your designer is quite likely a freelance agent working out of his bedroom in a different time zone, the only way that you'll be able to communicate with him is via an intermediary (in this case LogoWorks), which will further complicate and slow down the communication process. You'll note here that I stated quot;working out of his bedroom", because I am the author of this text I have the power to create my own mythological narrative. I can control your perceptions of LogoWorks through my eyes just as they have manipulated their own mythology to disparage design firms in general. You'll notice that this process requires no empirical evidence on either their or my part, other than the text provided on their web site.
From the LogoWorks site:
"Reputation
There are many sites out there that claim to do logo design. Most are simply a designer or two that do work on the side. LogoWorks is a company built around corporate logo design. When you work with us you are working with a strong, reputable logo design firm that will be here for years to come."
The premise here is that LogoWorks does nothing but logos. So if you need to have stationery, a web site, a brochure, or other design, or even promotional products, they are obviously not the people to talk to, because they only do logos. Also, because their freelancers come from a variety of sources there is no guarantee that the designer working on your logo today wasn't designing a menu yesterday, but you won't find that information on their web site. In addition it requires that you read the terms and conditions of use page to find out that "LogoWorks is owned and operated by ARTEIS INC." and that other parties may be involved in the design of your logo.
From the ARTEIS
site:
"ARTEIS is not about exploiting designers. Since no one but you can determine how much time it will take you to complete the projects, no one but you can determine if our system is equitable for you. For many designers this system is equitable, if not lucrative. Others use the system to build portfolios, for recruitment purposes, or to keep their creative minds sharp. ARTEIS works for a lot of designers, you will need to see if it works for you."
and this example:
"Joe works his way up to the advanced level. He generally takes 2 hours to create professional logo concepts, and about 1 hour to do revisions. Joe wins about 40% of the jobs he undertakes."
As a newcomer to their business model a designer would have to begin the process at the new level, choosing and entering a design contest fashion that will hopefully be approved by the client. This designer would have to design two initial compositions at two hours each. Then if he won the contract and had two rounds of revisions this would total six hours. Two initial compositions at two hours each and one revision at one hour each totals six hours. Now, to be fair to the "New" designers and, of course, to Joe, lets say (for the sake for argument) that it takes our new designer twelve hours to complete the project (twice as long as Joe) for things like reading the email, doing a little research, etc. For the winning composition he will be paid, on the Silver Package, $30.00 for the winning bid, $25.00 for the composition and, for two rounds of revisions, $40.00 at $20.00 each, for a total of $95.00. According to the site, however, the total payout is only $80.00. Our new designer, having won the bid, will make $7.92 an hour if they win the prize payout. Now, as most freelancers have to absorb the cost of running a home-based business themselves, they are typically faced with such costs as amortizing their hardware and software over a period of time. A freelancer’s costs also include such things as electricity, rent or a mortgage, insurance and other incidentals. So hopefully our new designer lives at home with his "well-heeled" parents who are willing to absorb these costs!
Now our designer, Joe, apparently wins 40% of the jobs that he takes and those that he does win pay well ($150.00). Based on the business model presented, Joe, in order to complete a job, will spend six hours on the project if he wins it. This results in a $25.00 an hour wage for Joe, which isn't that bad if you're working in an office environment where everything is provided for you (those incidental things such as hardware, software, rent, etc.) However, remember that Joe only wins 40% of the jobs he works on. In a given month under normal business hours, Joe would work 160 hours and, because he receives money only for that 40%, he is paid only for 64 hours of work. At $25.00 per hour, this works out to $1600.00 a month. Calculated over the month, Joe’s new adjusted hourly wage is $10.00.
In closing, I'll ask this question does "exploiting designers" quite cover what is happening here?
Digital Paint Graphic and Web Design
]]>
The book starts with a very brief history of logos in general and then moves on to why the need for logos came into existence.
Every project has a best before date, and like milk, when it goes bad it happens quickly. Something to consider are client approvals, clients are busy people too. But, sometimes clients forget that there are other factors in the production of their materials other than their signing off on a project. Try not to let your client drag their heels on approving or requesting revisions to a project. Educate your client as much as possible as to lead times required by the various service bureaus and other agencies involved that will effect the delivery of their project. It's also advisable to ensure that you are talking to the primary stake holders in the project if at all possible, the more middlemen involved the more of a logistical nightmare you'll have on your hands. This isn't meant as a derogatory statement but just a reminder of the facts. The more people that are between the designer and the final stake holder in the project the more potential there is for miscommunication, different interpretations, excessive revisions and delays. 
So, I find myself posing the questions. Does the material you are presenting to your potential buying public do you justice? Does it present you, your company and your product in the best possible way? Does it represent you honestly? Does it promise to make you bigger, better, harder, faster, skinnier and all at twenty percent cheaper than your competitors or in reality is it the same thing the other guy is trying to sell and you just want to ride the train too? Have you done your research? Are you sending this material out to prospects that are really interested in your product or are you doing your part to ensure that there's enough material in the landfill to ensure that the next new subdivision has a good solid foundation?
The other day
a fellow employee, Jo-Anne, handed me a Canada Post one cent stamp. Beaming
she exclaimed, "here look at this." I glanced at what I considered to be
a fairly innocuous depiction of the binding of a book being mended by a set
of what appears to be male hands. She then asked me "what do you see?" Being
in a literal state of mind that day I stated that I saw what appeared to
be a photograph of a man either repairing or hand binding a book. And, above
his hands someone had superimposed another photograph of a sheaf of paper
being fanned slightly blurred to create a sense of motion.
