Top tips! How to sell a logo design to a client

A significant job you can take on as a graphic designer is a logo. They are crucial to businesses, whether it’s an established company that wants a rebrand or a new one just getting started.

To your clients, their logo is how they present themselves to the public, and it defines who they are as a brand. With such high importance, it can often mean that businesses can be overly cautious when accepting a design. 

This guide discusses how to sell a logo design to a client, which includes:

• Using sketches
• Asking questions
• Showing logos
• Convincing clients

Clients love choice, and with the best array of options, they can feel like they are a part of the design process. If you can collaborate with your clients, you are more likely to give them the result they want.

But choice does not mean you should spend a lot more time, and that’s because they are yet to choose a design. If you create professional versions of five, take two hours on each, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll like any of them.

That’s why it’s essential to use sketches (sometimes called scamps) to get across your ideas. Make them good enough to show what you mean, but as a drawing, the client sees you can still adapt it any way they like.

When you present a final design to a client, they’ll immediately judge whether they like it or not. But with a sketch, it’s easier for them to see that there’s room to suggest things to you and collaborate.

To show those designs to the client, make sure your sketches suit their brief and only show off your three or four best ones. 

Think about it your three ideas like this:

• Safe — first, show a design that fits the brief in the most basic terms.
• Medium — secondly, show an idea that adds more creativity and design flair.
• Risky — lastly, show the design which takes the most risk and uses all your creativity (it’s likely to be the one you like most).

After you show ideas (in order of how out-there they are), most businesses will choose the safe one. From there, the next part of how to sell a logo design to a client is to ask what they like and what they want to improve.

It’s essential to listen to everything your clients say and take it on board. Some designers can get attached to ideas, but the client needs to love their logo.

None of your ideas might be what the clients are looking for (that’s okay because it’s part of the process). A capable designer will ask why and use those comments to come back with three or four more choices.

When it comes to the types of questions to ask, they can be anything relevant to help you understand their tastes. But remember that you are also the expert, so if there’s anything that you think wouldn’t work, raise it with the client.

After your discussions with the client on the designs, the next stage is to make the changes then present your finished logo. When it comes to how to sell a logo design to a client, it’s helpful to show it in practice.

That can mean that they use mock-ups on t-shirts, bottles, billboards, bus stops, and whatever they sell. You can find free ones to show the logo in various ways on Mockup World.

When you show the client how the logo could look for them in use, it makes it easier for them to see whether it represents their business. Mock-ups also show them how simple it could be to use the logo straight away.

Like the mock-ups, it’s also essential to give the client different logo variations — for example, a black version on a white background and a white one on black.

It might seem like a simple set of additions to provide, but it could mean that there’s a version that the client likes more. Logo variations with slight tweaks can also be a great way to show how to use it across platforms.

For example, just an icon could be perfect for an Instagram profile photo, and a version with the name could be great for a store sign.

After you show your client the final logo with its mock-up and variations, it’s time to convince them to buy into it. Explain how it fits their brief and how it will give them the results they want to build their brand.

Aside from the visual designs, part of your attention should be on the service you provide to your client. It needs to be one that they can be happy with, which means they would be likely to hire you again or write a review for you.

When it comes to negotiations, give them time to think about it and discuss the design among themselves. If you don’t hear from them, you might be hesitant that they’ll use your logo anyway without final payments.

You can ask for initial payment upfront and add a watermark to any materials you send to avoid their use. Watermarks are faint words or logos over the top of images, where you can still see what’s underneath.

The site Watermark allows you to add watermarks to images. It could prove a great way to protect your designs from use without payment.

With protections in place, you can give the client the space they need to think about your designs. When they come back to you, it’s an opportunity to convince them of the benefits of the logo and how it tells their brand’s story.

A brand story is a narrative that centres on its founder, its specific aim or the values it holds. If you research these beforehand and put elements within the logo which represent that, the client may be impressed.

As a self-employed graphic designer, charge for the time you work professionally to avoid disagreements with clients. Give them invoices that clearly outline your service after you provide it.

Countingup is a business account with built-in accounting software. It includes an invoice on-the-go feature, which means you can create, send and store them on your phone.

Get started for free.

For more tips for designers, see:

• Best books for beginner graphic designers
• How to create a good graphic design portfolio
• The best graphic design networking groups