When I decided my marketing company would focus specifically on podcasting, I also decided to change its name. Because of this, I needed a new logo.
Like my previous logo, I wanted something with these characteristics:
- simple, "less is more" design
- black and white
- bold font and feeling
I wanted to get online with the new name as quickly as possible, so I decided to try my luck with designers on Fiverr, focusing on providers offering "minimalist" logo design.
If you’ve ever wondered what kind of logo design you really get for $5, here’s your answer.
The Logo Design Process
More or less, you place an order with the designer you like and fill out a "design brief." The questions on these briefs vary slightly, but designers on Fiverr almost always ask a variation of the following:
- Logo name
- Description of the organization and its target audience
- Industry
- Color/font preferences
- Design examples
You answer these questions via an online form and that’s it. In as quickly as a few hours, you get a logo back.
How I answered these questions:
- Big Podcast
- Marketing company with a focus on audio media for entrepreneurs, experts, and established brands
- Media marketing
- black and white
I sent several examples of logos I liked, one of which was a logo I used for a previous project:
Logos I Received
Egyptian Designer - Cost $5
Option 1:
Option 2:
Egyptian Designer 2 - $5
Bangladeshi Designer - $5
Bangladeshi Designer 2 - $5
Greek Designer - $20
General Thoughts
I didn’t think I was going to get a logo I’d use permanently — that was not the purpose of doing this. I simply wanted something I could get up immediately, while I worked with a trusted graphic designer to come up with a better option. I also wanted to see what multiple people did with the "big podcast" idea and Fiverr made that easy.
Not every logo I received back from the designers on Fiverr was great, or even usable, but having done logos and branding work for hundreds of projects over the years, this is to be expected and would have happened with any designer I worked with. Rarely does a graphic designer successfully visualize your idea on the first attempt.
Some of the Fiverr designers I worked with seemed to have a "churn and burn" operation, not spending much time on any project and, in my case, returning templated logos and cliches. That was also expected. Still, I think there's value in this because it's a reminder of what you don’t want. Also, there are times when templates and cliches can spark ideas that turn into amazing work.
Is Fiverr A Good Option For Podcast Cover Art?
Maybe.
There are a lot of talented people on Fiverr. And even if you get a "churn and burn" designer, he might actually send you something you can use or give you an idea that gets you where you need to go with another designer.
If you're open-minded, I think Fiverr can be a good experience. If you're good at communicating your vision, I think Fiverr can be a good experience. But don't expect somebody to take a lot of time with you or do multiple revisions for only $5 -- that won't happen.
The Final Logo
The world doesn’t need another podcast-related logo that contains the image of a microphone. And I didn’t want my logo to look like a penis, which ended up being way more common than I expected.
A speech bubble? No. That’s also been done to death, not only by podcasters, but also bloggers, speakers, and social media companies. Yet a variation of this is what I ended up going with, not from Fiverr, but the other graphic designer I worked with.
It works. And it’s a good reminder to be open to the visions of others, who aren’t as close to your situation as you are and, because they have different perspectives, can help you clarify your own.
For more information on Big Podcast, visit BigPodcast.com.
