You can easily spend thousands hiring a professional graphic designer to come up with various logo concepts and refine them into something that speaks to you. And if your bottom line warrants that kind of spending, go for it. But for smaller businesses there is a full buffet of less expensive options online.

We haven’t tried them all – just LogoWorks – but Wired Magazine has a good article in which they grade some of the other logo shops (see below). The reason we tried LogoWorks is because we received a 10% off coupon in the mail just as I was considering getting a couple logos made. Sometimes timing is everything. But even without a coupon their logo packages are pretty reasonably priced (ranging from $299 – $749). Plus their website is informative and it’s clear that logo design is their primary service offering, so I decided to give them a shot.

What I was really impressed with was the “interview” process. They have you fill out a questionnaire on their website to tell them a little about the design you’re looking for. They ask you to pick colors you like or don’t like, other logos that look like what you have in mind, and give a little background on your company. It’s a pretty slick process, actually.

3 days later I was notified that my 10 concepts (+4 bonus concepts) were available to view on their website. The concepts were OK. I mean it was a first draft, so they were all a little rough…but it was a good start. I guess that’s really the only ding…that some of the designs were less than inspired. But, hey, I got 14 concepts – that’s amazing. LogoWorks has this nice feature that allows you to poll your friends and colleagues to ask what their favorites are, but I find that asking people who aren’t well informed about the brand and the company being represented by the logo seem to make shot-in-the-dark suggestions. So, you probably don’t want to poll all your aunts and uncles, unless they’re on your board of directors.

The logo package I bought allows unlimited revisions, which is another big selling point. The revision process can be a little frustrating, as I’ve found that revision instructions – even clear ones – aren’t always interpreted well, which causes extra rounds of revisions and delays. But eventually you’ll end up with something you like…and for a decent price. If you’re going to be picky about your logo, give yourself time for plenty of revisions. You’ll probably need a few weeks from start to finish. Each round of revisions takes two business days.

Maybe the best thing about LogoWorks is that you get logo concepts from multiple designers. Not only is a good professional graphic designer hard to find (not to mention expensive), but if you hire one for your logo design you’ll only be getting one person’s perspective. More heads – and more logo design concepts – can be better than one. Just don’t expect to have your logo ready in a week.

Overall Grade:

LogoWorks.com: B+

Also see Wired Magazine’s article on grading the logo shops, in which they evaluate and grade the following shops:

The Logo Company: B+

The Logo Loft: B

Logo Design Creation: B-

GotLogos.com: C+

FedEx Kinko’s: C-

The Web Brains: D+