Why is Fiverr Bad?

I just paid $5 for this horrible logo at horriblelogos.com.

This guy gets paid $5 to design ugly logos to feed his beer habit. I think the premise of his site is to make fun of other sites that charge $5 for logos. Ahem Fiverr. And this is the best $5 that I have ever spent.

I remember several years ago, my snooty design friends and I were scoffing at the idea of crowdsourcing and logo design contests. How dare they! How dare they devalue us designers! We were always taught to turn away spec work.

But let’s think for a minute. Are you really going to pay a plumber $5 to fix your clogged drain? Or better yet, tell him, “I want to see what you can do with my drain. If I like what I see, then I will pay you.” Um. No! I remember last year, I had to write a cheque out for $320 to a plumber who sauntered in here and unclogged my shower drain due to my excessive hair. How long was he in our house? 6 minutes. But I paid him because:

I knew he had all the tools and expertise.
That he could hold that nasty clumped pile of wet hair with his bare hands so nonchalantly like he was holding a piece of fruit. No seriously, that clump was living and breathing and probably had legs.

This begs me to question, why are designers devaluing themselves for a skilled trade? I worked HARD in University for 5 years earning my degree. Do you know how many lectures I had to force myself to stay awake in? And it’s not that I am an elitist design snob (I was only kidding above). People are paying me because of my 20 years of skill and experience. I’m not saying that I am the best designer out there and I know that my design style may not appeal to everyone. Every designer is different and falls into their own unique category and way of designing. I’m always still researching and learning new trends. That’s how we grow. At the end of the day, the client is not just paying for a quick Illustrator file that has no thought, they are paying for experience, skill, idea bouncing, time, professionalism, honesty, quick response times and all that stuff. And no I don’t spend 6 minutes on a logo either.

I Googled “Why is Fiverrr…..” and these searches came up

See? even the branding is so bad, I didn’t even know how many R’s are in there. It’s also not surprising how NONE of these options have a positive spin. I won’t go into the details of why it’s bad. There are many sites that explains it in detail like this, this and this. But just to throw it out there, even if that designer made $5, Fiverr will take 20% ($1.00), and then you still have to pay the Paypal processing fee, so you are looking at probably $3.58 cents. I won’t even open a file for $40! (Yikes! Do I sound like Linda Evangelista?)

But this other guy here named Nick, from Logos by Nick, explains it quite well.

He doesn’t think that Fiverr is bad at all. He says that the difference between Fiverr and a good designer is that they serve different markets. Kinda like “Do you think that BMW who is selling their cars at $90,000 is going to care whether or not Dodge sells theirs for $15,000? No. Same category of product, but vastly different designs. And one will most likely last longer than the other without putting bandaid fixes on them every 6 months. How do I know? Because my husband and I have previously owned both, and you know which one left us stranded in the middle of a highway right? 3 times.

As a business owner

I understand that business start ups do not have a big budget for branding. But they should consider this as a cost of doing business. Just like buying product inventory. Just because it’s not something tangible that you can hold in your hands, doesn’t mean that it is not something of value. A good logo design can actually make you MORE money. Many companies fail to see that company branding is probably the most important thing in their business. It is their identity. It can elevate their company to a whole new level if done properly. I wouldn’t feel comfortable paying $5 to anybody for something that took years to learn.

As a designer

I also understand that people need to put food on the table. Or need to build their portfolio. And both are valid points, but please do not underestimate your talent. You are worth more than $5 and your learned skills are of value! If your client is willing to only pay $5 for a logo, they clearly do not see the value in the trade or understand the skill involved and will most likely not be an ideal client. Walk away!

If it’s a charity or ministry that I hold near and dear to my heart, I usually don’t charge for a logo or I will reduce my rates drastically. And this is usually an initiation on my part, not at their request.

A good logo design can cost anywhere between $300 – $1.28 Billion

Yep, you read that right. Read my other article here on that.

So, how do you find a good logo designer?

Word of Mouth
Dribbble – Dribbble is an online community of graphic designers, web designers, logo designers, illustrators and the works. It’s a very reputable platform and designers are only able to post shots of their work. But they must by being “drafted” by other designers. Meaning it’s by invitation only. It took me 2 years to get drafted. But anybody can see their work and hire them.
Linked In – Well, if you don’t know Linked In, then I can’t help you. But no judgement here, my husband doesn’t know Linked In either, and he is beyond help. Still love him though.
Upwork – Use to be Elance, you can hire many talented people here. I’ve once hired a writer on here and it was a win win situation.
Logos by Nick – His stuff looks really cool and solid.
Logo Works – Don’t know them, but judging from their website, they look pretty reputable.
Scour the internet. Look at your local listings. Look at their portfolio. See some of the websites/company brands that they have designed and then Google those companies. Try to find reviews of them.

What do other designers think of Fiverr?

Without going further into my curmudgeon state, I will leave you with some quotes from fellow designers and how they feel about sites like Fiverr.

Kathy // kathyjimenez.com

I have been a designer since 2002. So, this year, that makes it fifteen years. Okay, that’s crazy. How much do I charge for a logo? This really depends. This is a huge sliding scale. Depends on whether a company is a large company or a not-for-profit organization. If a company has national or global reach, or simply does business in their neighbourhood. For stats about this check out the Graphic Artists Guild. Ugh. Sites like Fiverr. Okay, I must feel about Fiverr how Doctors feel about their patients Googling their symptoms and remedies. Sometimes it works for them, but in the end, how do you know? That’s why you hire a graphic designer. The graphic designer is the expert. If you take your business seriously, why would you just take a stab in the dark and hope that you have a logo and branding that aligns with your business? And also, these sites tend to just lean on whatever is trendy. Do you want a company logo that stands the test of time, or looks dated next season? Leave it in the hands of the experts – a bit of an investment upfront will pay dividends down the road (and avoid a rebrand a year in).

Lesley // Designer

I graduated 1997 so 20 years. Yikes! A lot has changed in those years. I rarely do logos any more but I’ve charged as much as $5000 and as little as $200. Ive had a few companies not pay me as well if that counts. (It shouldn’t) generally each client got exactly what they paid for. The $5000 job they received a comprehensive style guide with rules and examples on how the logo can be used in every possible scenario. The $200 logo was clean and basic, the client had to figure out their own guidelines as they went, which seems like a great idea but can lead to their identity becoming losing its focus and diffusing. Sites like that are akin to all the cheaply manufactured products we are drowning in right now. Back in the 90’s the local printers were freaking out about all our print jobs being sent to India or China because they were dirt cheap and the local presses just couldn’t compete. Mostly because they actually had to pay their employees a living wage. Most of the small presses went under and us graphic designers collectively shrugged and said there was nothing we could do. Its just business. And now 10-20 years later its our jobs threatened and local clients are shrugging at us.

Amanda // Designer

I feel like those types of sites dimimish the skill and expertise of the field and bring down the overall ability for a designer to get paid well, properly and what they’re worth. Would people pay doctors less because we can just google stuff ourselves aka teach ourselves health information?

Delisa // Designer

I am fairly new to being a designer and have been designing for about a year but just started my own business about a month ago and specialize in brand identity design. My logo design package (which includes color palette, submarks/icons, patterns, etc) is currently $400. I’m not a huge fan of site like Fiverr since I believe you get what you pay for. I think if you can’t afford to shell out hundreds for a logo it would be better to barter services with a real designer or to work with someone who is looking to build their portfolio.