The Before and After of My Logo Pricing That Stung

I had a lightbulb moment last week when I looked back at a logo project I did for a brewery in Denver back in March. The first version I sent them had like 30 hours of tweaks and 10 different concepts, and they paid me $400. The final version they ended up using was literally the second sketch I showed them in the first meeting. That difference between what I brought to the table and what they actually wanted cost me about 25 hours of my life. I realized I was overcomplicating everything because I thought they needed options, but they just needed one solid direction. Now I spend maybe 3 hours on initial concepts and charge $600 for a simpler package. Has anyone else found that their first instinct is usually closer to what the client picks anyway?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.luna10d ago

My friend spent weeks on a logo and the client picked his first doodle on a napkin.

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aaronroberts5d ago

Funny how that works, the napkin doodle catches something fresh that overthinking kills. @carr.luna I bet your friend's polished version was technically better but the rough one had that raw energy clients connect with. Sometimes less thought really does mean more impact.

mitchell.avery10d ago

Oh man, that's brutal. I used to be the type who thought more hours automatically meant a better result, like the client would just see the craft and appreciate it. But after seeing a few projects where I overthought everything and the simplest version won, I get it now. Sometimes that early raw idea just hits different because it's the purest version of the concept. Your friend probably learned the hard way that clients often just want the spark, not the whole fire. It's a tough pill to swallow but it changed how I look at early sketches too.