Look Rutger, if it seems like I don’t care what you do it’s because I don’t. I have had this conversation ad nauseam, and I have had it with people who were actually prepared to give me money for my work. Take my advice or don’t, it’s not going to make a difference to me either way.

Usually when you want something but can’t afford it, do you go around badgering people to give it to you for next to nothing? No, you wait until you can afford it, right? Why should this situation be any different? Just because bad design is cheaper than good design doesen’t mean good design should be cheaper. There are no shortcuts. People don’t work for free. This is true for coders like you and it’s true for designers, like me. You wouldn’t sell me your app for a fraction of the price you’re normally asking, would you?

If you can sell your app for money, where is the problem in spending money on a good design for it to promote it’s brand? If your app can’t earn money, the best logo in the world won’t change that fact. That’s just how it is. And if you say you can’t afford a brand, then concluding your app doesen’t sell is the only logical way. That’s also where the priority bit figures in.

I don’t mean to be rude, but people who expect something for nothing will end up with nothing. I have learned that lesson, my clients for the most part learned this lesson, and you will, too. Asking people whether you should take precisely the approach the article told you not to and getting told off in the process may just be the ticket.

Let me be as precise and honest about this as possible now, so you don’t get me wrong: If you need a good design but can’t afford it you can’t have any. You can’t have a Bentley for the price of a bike, you can’t have a house in the suburbs for the price of a night at the motel. This rules out options A), C) and D) which all either result in you getting a worthless result or someone doing good work for free.

Go put your app up with whatever design comes with your SDK and when you have saved up the 500 bucks to hire a professional go do that.

1) anyone that needs or wants something will always try to get it for less than it is worth.
2) most everyone outside of a design profession think they can do what designers do — or can come close, or know a nephew.
3) design is mostly subjective and is difficult to value based on visual appearance given that most people are not designers.
4) time is money, ideas are money.
5) don’t insult designers by thinking that your time is more valuable or theirs is less valuable than yours (based on experience, you can’t do what designers do).

Not all “lower-cost” design is bad, and not all “expensive” design is good. Getting something cheaper is always in the best interest of business, but businesses should respect who they work with and respect their idea enough to be willing to pay someone for time and ideas where there are none.

None of the issues around design will ever change as long as there are people not charging what their worth! Photoshop != designer, just as MS Word does not make one an editor or writer. Side note: MBA does not make you a smart person… at all!

Sometimes you get people like that on the web, swinging their genitals around in the name of being some kind of authority figure.

Anyway, I’m in a similar position to you: I have a web site in a very rudimentary beta, and graphically it’s a mess – I put it live for SEO purposes. I’ve spent so much time on the back-end that I haven’t focused at all on the design… and as yet the site still doesn’t have a logo or favicon. I also don’t have the means to hire a designer.

With regard to the logo, I would opt for A. After all, even Google has gone through more than one [favicon] logo, so you can too.

Don’t listen to these pedantic individuals. If you have a product that the market wants, it could sell itself, in theory. YES, it is nice to have a professionally designed logo, branding, etc, but it certainly DOES NOT trump the product.

Designers: If you feel it is such a bad business practice, then just ignore it. These businesses with amateur or self designed logos will SURELY fail and vanish soon, leaving only the businesses with the funds to pay for your sacrosanct services : )

I think that you completely missed my point: it’s not about the iphone app, a perfect logo or making money!

It’s about the situation when somebody like me, who has an idea (in whatever form), and wants to do something with it, he (and others) probably will like. But doesn’t have the money to hire a $ 1500,- designer or has the skills to do it himself.

Then should I just forget my idea or product and throw it all in the waste bin ? Because I’m not willing (or can) pay a normal designers fee ? Or, according to you, “need to get my priorities straight” ?

I’m asking for some serious and helpfull suggestions, not flaming down my ideas or products. What makes you think in the first place that “my app is worth nothing anyway” or that I can’t sell my app ?

It’s not about the money; it’s about some enthousiastic, creative and energetic guys that like to make something new and interesting. But lack the experience or network to get this part of the job done.

Is this, by the way, the way you communicatie with your clients ? I certainly do not hope so, otherwise YOU will run out of business very fast.

Last but not least, I DID read the article and DID understand it. I didn’t think that the article was that hard.

http://logolitic.com/how-to-design-a-successful-logo/

Logo contests are very useful for designers (i`m talking about good ones, with their own style and don`t copy other designs) to make them known and make a personal portfolio. When they got a nice portfolio they can make a portfolio website and make themselves known.

Also participating in logo design contests, you improve your skills even if you don`t win. You see a lot of other logos that will inspire you and make you learn a lot of new tweaks.

So personally I think that design contests are good because it`s very hard to get known by other people and to find clients that will hire you. So why wouldn`t be good logo contests?

Another thing that I want to point, and this time I`m 100% agree with you it`s the price of the logos. A lot of clients give few dollars and wants a very high quality logo and unique. If you pay just with a few dollars a designer that will tell you that he will make you THE PERFECT logo it`s not true. Pay for high quality things, you pay few + dollars but you will have a fresh new, high quality and unique logo.