You get what you pay for

So this morning Mattio alerted me to what I refer to as a design chop shop--basically, an assembly line of "designers" (term used loosely) doing logos, business cards, websites, etc... for a ridiculously low price. Now, don't get me wrong; I am all for saving money--however, I don't do it at the expense of my business, and neither should you.

This place--which I won't name--is designing logos for $200. And you know what? You're getting a $200 logo. The only attention-getting thing about these logos is how bad they are (I won't even get into the websites--it's just wrong on so many levels). A lot of times, your company's identity is the first thing people see, it's like the welcome mat to your business.

Maybe I'm a design snob (OK, there shouldn't be a maybe at all in that sentence!), but if I had a choice between 2 companies offering the exact same service--one with a well-designed logo, and one with a logo that was just thrown together--I'm starting with the company with the well-designed logo, no doubt about it. My reasoning (besides the whole design-snob bit)? This company has obviously taken the time and spent a little money to ensure that they look like professionals. If they're doing that for their own company, imagine the level of service they can provide for me.

Just another case of you get what you pay for...