270 Dollars for a logo
$270 is the price I have payed for having the “Master Time Tracker” logo designed, I wanted to initially try logoworks but ended up getting the work done at design outpost, the main reason being that I tought it’s easier to create competitiveness between 2 freelancers who are paid on a project basis, rather than 2 employees from the same company who will be payed the same salary, regardless if they ship a world class or crappy logo …
However Logo Works do have a nice portfolio, Design Outpost did work fine for me at the end, but in all cases you need an extremly detailed specification of what you want, otherwise you might be disapointed by the result and you will have the feeling of not getting any value for your money.
- Find below the specifications given to the designers for the logo :
“Master Time Tracker” : is a time tracking software that will be sold on the internet, the logo should look sleak and convey the fact of controling the time spent : the logo should display a hand holding a clock, the logo should convey the image that by controling time you master your money (cash-flow)
See Below a picture that I might use in my web site for the product : http://www.istockphoto.com/file_clos…php?id=3801718
The logo should features this :
1/ The logo name (product name) is “Master Time Tracker”,
a Watch should being held by a hand, with a finger on the button ready to stop the watch : ie : http://www.istockphoto.com/file_clos…php?id=4614151
2/ A dollar sign should appear in the middle of the watch : ie : http://www.tristardatasystems.com/im…t_TS08_5MU.jpg
3/ I need a version of the logo with the following tag line
“A smarter Time Tracker” and another version without the tag line
4/ There should be an effect showing that time is passing, time is turning
5/ The logo will be copyrighted, so it must not be built using bits & pieces from other copyrighted artworks.
This need to be be a totally new design
6/ the version of the logo for the web site and software application should be in 3D -> sleaker than the version that will be used on paper, so 2 versions of the logo are needed a 2D one and 3D one
ie : http://www.businesslogo.net/images/samples/3d/1.jpg
- Since I’m always afraid of not being able to communicate clearly in English my vision of the logo, I always try to find existing powerfull concepts and ideas that I get some inspiration from and derive the various ideas to end up with a logo that’s NOT a copy and paste of the logo I get inspiration from
A few quotes to wrap up this post :
Picasso : “Good artists copy. Great artists steal”
Steve Jobs : “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas”
Explore posts in the same categories: 30days, Marketing
Mental Procreation 
May 29, 2008 at 2:30 am
[…] Mental Procreation Diary of a Software Product : The Making Of Master Time Tracker « 270 Dollars for a logo […]
May 29, 2008 at 3:08 am
That is an awesome logo. I love it. Two questions.
Question 1: There are a gazillion time trackers out there. What will differentiate yours?
Question 2: Can you post your spec for the logo so we can see the kind of detail you put in? I would personally find it very useful.
May 29, 2008 at 6:30 am
Nice logo, I like it too… just one (small) detail – the watch is broken: while the minute hand shows 4 minutes after an hour, the hour hand shows about 10 minutes to 5 🙂 I think you should synchronize the hand on the watch somehow
May 29, 2008 at 10:25 am
Question 1 : I will try to answer that in an upcoming post … I’m aware that it’s a crowded market out there
Questtion 2 : I will update the post with the detailed specifications I’ve given to the designers
May 29, 2008 at 12:42 pm
It’s a good logo apart from the light shaded background near the top of the clock.
May 30, 2008 at 12:24 am
I would add these to your requirements (which I normally ask for when ordering this kind of work):
– Include a web friendly and print friendly versions. Both should have a transparent background (so you can place on your own background later). Ask for a proper alpha channel – which makes the edges smooth. When you receive, test on different backgrounds, like red, white, black, blue. See that the edges are always smooth.
– The print version should be high resolution, so you can print a large logo at high quality. Minimal printing resolution should be 600DPI.
– Ask for smaller sizes of the logo and demand that the logo resizes well (smaller versions looks as good as the large version). You may need the smaller versions for your website and application.
– The application version should be supplied as a Vista icon (ICO), starting with 16×16 and going all the way up to 256×256. It should not include the text.
June 9, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Thanks for the feedback Amir
June 12, 2008 at 8:00 am
I think $270 is a little pricey for a logo of that standard. I have seen similar styles like that and I reckon you could get some better concepts from LogoDesignCreation.com at $39. Whoever wants value-for-money logo designs should consider using LogoDesignCreation.com services. I keep going back to them after I saw someone recommending it on a forum.