If you’ve ever Googled the cost of brand and web design you’ll have come away more baffled than when you started?! You can find someone who’ll create a logo for £100, someone who’ll build you a website for £500 and then you’ll stumble across studios charging 10k, 20k or even more for what looks like the same thing.
This can be really confusing and makes you question whether one designer is massively overcharging or whether the cheaper option is cutting corners. You’ll then start comparing quotes, going round in circles and asking anyone and everyone what they paid.
This guide is here to explain why design prices vary so much, what you’re really paying for and hopefully help you work out what makes sense for YOU!
whAT DRIVES THE COST OF design?
The quick answer to this (!) is that if you’re paying for someone to make something look nice, the cost will be significantly lower. At this end of the market, you’re generally buying a specific thing. A pretty logo, a few social media graphics, a basic website etc. You give the designer some info, they create the thing, and you get the files. There’s nothing wrong with spending a hundred quid on a logo if that’s what you need. There are loads of talented designers who are early in their careers, building up their portfolios or offering a very straightforward logo package service. You can also find designers on platforms like Fiverr who’ll give you a logo and a basic website for a few hundred pounds.
If you’re just starting out and you need something to get you up and running, this might be totally fine. It will be a quick turnaround as there’s very little time spent getting under the skin of your business, understanding your audience or working out what makes you different. Again, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because you might not need all of that yet.
The Higher End Of The Market
As you move towards more experienced designers, studios and agencies, the service usually becomes much more involved and gets you into the higher end of the price bracket. You’re now paying a designer for their experience, their thinking, their time, their ability to solve problems and the value that the finished work brings to your business.
There’s a massive difference between someone who creates ‘logos’ and a designer spending time understanding what you’re all about, your positioning, who you’re trying to attract and then creating a brand that actually reflects all of that. They’re very different services and this is where you’ll see quotations moving from the 100’s into the 1000’s which is where we sit. More about that further on!
10k Plus Pricing
Studios who are charging 10k plus are pricing around the value they believe they can bring to a business rather than simply adding up the number of things they’re going to deliver. If they’re working with a bigger, established business that wants to reposition itself entirely, the potential value of getting that right is huge. Nobody can promise that a new brand will magically make you more money but if the work has the potential to bring the client way more money, the investment is a no brainer.
BRAND strategy
This is probably the biggest difference between a cheap branding project and a more detailed one. A designer can bash out a logo without knowing very much about your business, but if you want someone to build a brand around your business, they need to REALLY understand it. That means asking questions about where you are now, where you want to go, who you want to attract, who your competitors are, what makes you different and why someone should choose you over the next person.
This process can feel like you’re talking about everything except the logo but the more we understand about the direction you want to go, the more informed the design decisions become.
luxury BRAND DESIGN
Luxury brand designers are another good example of why pricing can look very different. If you’re selling a £20 product, your brand probably doesn’t need to do the same job as a business selling a £20,000 service.
When people are spending a lot of money, they need to feel confident that they’re making the right decision. The photography, typography, website, packaging, language and overall experience all need to be considered and that experience needs to match the price.
THE COST OF WEBSITE DESIGN
We’re always wary when someone asks, “How much does a website cost?” It’s a bit like asking how much a house costs.
You could have a simple little site with a homepage, an about page and a contact form. Or you could have a completely bespoke website with twenty pages, ecommerce, bookings, memberships, animations, integrations and all sorts going on behind the scenes. They’re both websites but they’re not doing the same job.
You can absolutely get a website for £500–£1,000, particularly if you’re happy using a template and you’re not that fussed about it. The trade-off is that you’re working within the limitations of that template. It might look fine, but there will be other businesses who are using the same design. You’ll also have less opportunity to build the experience entirely around your clients and how you want them to move through the site.
We’d also be cautious about working with designers who don’t understand your industry and aren’t willing to do the research to get to know it. Corporate studios who don’t understand the creative industries often miss the mark when it comes to creating websites that are full of personality.
A bespoke website takes far longer because there’s more to think about and more to build which is where the price difference comes from.
Bigger agencies aren’t necessarily better
You’ll also notice a big difference between independent designers, small studios and large agencies. A large agency might have a strategist, creative director, brand designer, UX designer, web designer, developer, copywriter and account manager all working on one project. If you’re a massive company with multiple teams, millions in revenue and customers all over the world, that level of expertise is exactly what you need. If you’re a small independent business though, you don’t need eight people in a room talking about your logo!
An independent designer or small boutique studio can often give you a much more personal service, with dedicated support and an emphasis on building a lasting relationship so don’t assume that a bigger agency automatically means better design.
Where we sit
As a senior-level design studio, our minimum investment for brand design for small, independent business owners is £2,500 and bespoke web design starts at £3,500. That’s a starting point rather than a fixed package because every business we work with is different and typically the majority of independents we’ve worked with have invested £5,000 in combined brand and web design.
However, some of our clients invest significantly more because they need more from us. That might mean deeper brand strategy, positioning, coaching, a more complex website or ongoing creative support and we have the level of experience and understanding needed to offer this. These clients have invested 10 -15k in their projects.
We don’t believe in throwing a load of unnecessary stuff into a random package just to justify a higher price. We’d rather understand what you actually need and build a bespoke project around that. After having a chat with us we can put together a bespoke proposal within 24 hours so you’ll know exactly what support you’re getting. You can book a call here or contact us by filling out our contact form.
So what should you actually spend?
There isn’t a magic number here (sorry!) which we know is difficult but if you’re starting a business and need a simple, professional identity to get going, spending thousands and thousands on branding might not be the best investment.
If you’ve had your business for for 3 – 5 years, your business has grown, you’re attracting bigger clients and your branding still looks like something you put together on Canva three years ago, you might be at a very different point. The right investment depends on where your business is, where you want it to go and how important your brand and website are to getting you there. Instead of comparing quotes or proposals, don’t just look at the price and assume one person is expensive and one person is cheap. Look at what each person is actually doing.
Are they using a template or creating something bespoke?
Will they spend time understanding your business?
How much research will the designers do around your industry and your clients?
Can they help with brand strategy?
Are they writing the copy or are you?
Are they designing the website or developing it too?
Will they be around when something goes wrong?
Will you understand how to use your new brand and website when the project is finished?
And most importantly, are they solving the same problem? If one person is selling you a logo that just looks pretty and another is helping you reposition your entire business, those two quotes aren’t comparable.
FINAL THOUGHTS!
Good design isn’t about spending the most money and cheap design isn’t automatically bad. Instead you need to ask what the right level of investment is for you and what you actually want to gain from the design process. If you need a quick logo to get your business off the ground, there are lots of affordable options. If you need to completely rethink an established business, attract a different type of client and create a brand that can support you financially for the next five years, you’re going to need more than a logo and a colour palette.
We hope this guide was helpful but if you have questions you can contact us here. We’re always here to chat things through!
