It is a subject bound to arise whenever two or more creatives get together over a friendly drink, usually ending with a yelp of exasperation from one or all. With content mills, bloggers and sites such as Elance having turned supply and demand on its head, it’s getting increasingly difficult to wring a reasonable rate from clients to create branding materials.
Rather than bemoaning the bargain binning of the industry, Oregon designer Von Glitschka has turned it into a sales gimmick, dashing off logos in 5 minutes for $5. Any indignation fellow professionals feel dissipates once they read his FAQ where he shoots down such questions as “Can I art direct you” and “What if I don’t like what you do” with funny but firm dismissals, usually employing the term “cheap ass” somewhere therein.
Five bucks gets you a PDF of your new logo in 48 hours – $5 more if you want it in another format, and another $5 if you want any small changes or another design.
And very quickly you realize the genius of Glitschka’s approach as he simultaneously calls attention to the devaluing of the art, and addresses potential problem clients the way we all wish we could. If you’re going to treat us like practitioners of the oldest profession, he seems to say, we just might adopt some of its business practices: cash up front, the meter’s running, and as Glitschka admonishes, “no whining.”
