Most small businesses waste money on logo design by treating it as a creative project instead of a production specification challenge.
The businesses that struggle most with their logos are not the ones with bad design. They are the ones who cannot get a clean print file from their designer six months later. Or who discover their mark does not work embroidered on workwear. Or who send what they think is their logo to a printer and get told it is unusable at the size they need.
The question is not whether you need to pay someone. The question is what you are actually paying for.
Do You Actually Need to Pay a Designer?
Here is the decision tree.
You can probably use a template if:
- Your business name is straightforward text
- You will only ever use the logo on screens and basic print (business cards, flyers)
- You are genuinely happy with something recognisable rather than distinctive
You need a designer if:
- Your logo needs to work embroidered, etched, or printed on difficult surfaces
- You want something that is genuinely yours, not adapted from a stock template
- You need multiple versions (simplified icon, stacked layout, horizontal layout) that all feel consistent
- You are in a competitive sector where looking amateur costs you sales
A key thing to remember here is that you are never going to stand out as a business with a generic templated logo. It's that simple.
A Canva logo might look fine on a website. Put it on a builder's hi-vis jacket and it falls apart. The icon does not separate from the text cleanly. The detail is too fine. The colours do not convert to thread well. You find out when the embroiderer calls to say they cannot use the file.
A designer who knows production builds those constraints in from the start.
What File Formats You Actually Need
This is where most DIY logos fail.
You need an AI or EPS file. That is your vector source file. It scales to any size without losing quality. If a printer asks for vector and you do not have it, you cannot print large format. You cannot get clean embroidery. You cannot etch it onto metal or glass properly.
You also need:
- High-res PNG with transparent background (for overlaying on photos, website use)
- RGB version (for screens - website, social media, email signatures)
- CMYK version (for print - business cards, flyers, signage)
Most template platforms give you a PNG. Some give you an SVG, which is vector but not the format most commercial printers want. Almost none give you proper CMYK colour profiles.
If your designer hands you a logo and it is just a JPEG, you do not have a finished logo. You have a picture of one.
How to Know If a Designer Is Any Good
Look at their portfolio, but not for style. Look for production thinking.
Red flags:
- Every logo is intricate, detailed, multi-colour
- No examples of how the logo works at small sizes
- No simplified versions or icon-only treatments
- No examples on actual products (print, clothing, signage)
Good signs:
- Simple marks that still feel distinctive
- Clear examples of the logo working across multiple formats
- Different layout versions (stacked, horizontal, icon-only)
- Realistic mockups showing the logo on business cards, vehicles, clothing
Ask them: What happens if I need this embroidered?
If they have not thought about it, they are a graphic designer. Not a brand production designer. Both are valid. But you are paying for the wrong skill if you need the logo on anything other than a screen.
What to Actually Pay in 2026
£200-500: Solo designer, template-based approach
You are paying for someone to adapt an existing concept to your business. You should get clean files and basic layout variations. Good for low-risk businesses where distinctiveness is not critical.
£800-2000: Custom design, experienced freelancer
You are paying for original work and production knowledge. You should get vector files, RGB and CMYK versions, multiple layout options, and a designer who knows what works in print and embroidery. This is the bracket most small businesses should be in.
£3000+: Agency or specialist brand designer
You are paying for strategy, research, and a full brand system. You should get mood boards, competitor analysis, usage guidelines, and a logo system that scales with your business. Worth it if brand is a genuine differentiator in your sector.
If someone quotes £50 on Fiverr, you are buying a template with your business name dropped in. If that is genuinely all you need, fine. But do not expect production files or any support when it does not work on the product you actually need.
If you are spending over £2000, you should be getting more than just a logo. You should be getting a brand system: colour palette, typography, tone of voice, usage rules. If the quote is high and the deliverables are just logo variations, you are overpaying.
Printlogik can provide our Brand360 Framework™ for just £1695+ VAT
included is:
- Marketing Angles Strategy
- 10 Social Media Creatives
- LinkedIn Account Full Design
- Email Marketing design
- 5 Google Ad Banners
- LinkedIn Carousel template
- 5 Static Ad Creative Design
- Packaging & Merchandising
- Icons + UI Branding Assets
- Advanced Pattern design
- 5 days delivery
- Unlimited Revisions
Get in touch to find out more: Contact us
How to Brief a Designer
Most people brief badly. They describe what they like instead of what they need.
Information the designer actually needs:
- What products or surfaces will this logo appear on? (Print only? Embroidered workwear? Vehicle graphics? Etched glass?)
- What size does it need to work at? (If it is going on a pen, that is a different design challenge than a billboard)
- Are there any colours you cannot use? (If you are in food, certain colours signal things you do not want)
- Do you have any existing brand assets that need to stay consistent? (Fonts, colours, iconography)
The tighter your brief, the better the result. Vague briefs produce vague logos.
Can You Trademark a DIY Logo?
Yes. You can trademark a logo you designed yourself on Canva.
But here is what you cannot protect: generic shapes, common typefaces, descriptive text. If your logo is your business name in Arial with a stock icon next to it, the trademark office will reject it. You need something distinctive.
You also cannot trademark something that is too similar to an existing registered mark in your sector. Canva templates are used by thousands of businesses. The odds of collision are higher than with custom design.
If you are serious about trademarking, get the design done properly first. A trademark application costs money. Submitting a logo that gets rejected because it is too generic or too close to something else is a waste of that money.
What Happens If You Need to Change It Later?
If you own the source files and you hired the designer properly, you can get it updated.
If you used a template platform, you can only change what the platform allows. If the platform shuts down or changes its licensing, you might not legally own the logo anymore.
If you used a designer but did not get a contract that transfers ownership, the designer owns the copyright. You have a licence to use it, but you cannot modify it without going back to them.
This is why the file handover matters. You need the vector source file. You need it in a format you can edit (AI or EPS). You need a contract that says you own it.
Most disputes happen here. A business grows, needs the logo refreshed, and discovers they do not actually own the files. The original designer has disappeared or wants another fee. The business is stuck.
Get it right at the start.
The Pattern
Most businesses treat logo design as a creative decision. The ones that get it right treat it as a production specification challenge.
You are not buying art. You are buying a mark that works everywhere you will ever need it. On a website. On a business card. Embroidered on a polo shirt. Etched on a window. Printed on a van.
The designer's job is not to make something you like. The designer's job is to make something that works in every format you will use for the next ten years, without you having to think about it.
That is what you are paying for. That is what separates a good logo from a file that looks fine on a screen and fails everywhere else.
If you need a logo designed properly - with clean vector files, production-ready formats, and a designer who knows how it needs to perform in print and beyond - the design services at Printlogik are built for exactly that. No portfolio filler. Just logos that work everywhere you will actually use them.
