Do you need a designer, or will a template do?

In Australia. Designer prices here are in Australian dollars, and trade mark registration is through IP Australia, which will not register artwork that other businesses are licensed to use.

What a template from us gives you

Logo templates	$49
Brand kits	$199
Licence	commercial use for your business, no ongoing fee
Exclusive rights	none: the same design is licensed to other businesses
Trade mark on the artwork	not available; a word mark on your name is unaffected

We sell templates, so read this with that in mind. There are several situations where buying one from us would be a mistake, and they are listed below.

What is the difference between a designer and a template?

A designer sells judgement, and a template sells a finished composition. With a designer, you describe the business, they ask questions you have not considered, and they produce work that answers a brief you did not fully know you had.

With a template, someone has already made the typography, spacing and colour decisions, and you supply the content. Those decisions were made without you in the room.

When is a template the better purchase?

A template is the better purchase when your name is the asset, the business is still being tested, you need files this week, or the logo is one item on a long list.

Your name is the asset

Plenty of businesses do not need a symbol. A well set name in the right typeface with the right spacing is a complete identity, and it is what a large share of professional services firms use. If that describes you, a template is buying exactly the thing you need.

The business is still being tested

If you do not yet know whether this business exists in twelve months, spending four figures on an identity is premature. Get something correct and inexpensive, trade for a year, and commission properly once you know what the business is.

You need files this week

Designers are usually booked two to four weeks out, and the process itself takes another two to four. If the van is being wrapped on Friday, that timeline does not exist for you.

The logo is item thirty on a list of thirty

New businesses have a licensing problem, an insurance problem, a supplier problem and a cash flow problem before they have a branding problem. Solving the branding one cheaply and correctly so you can go back to the others is a reasonable allocation of attention.

When is a template the wrong purchase?

A template is the wrong purchase when you intend to register a trade mark, when the identity is the product, when the mark must mean something specific, or when you need someone accountable. In these situations we would rather you spent your money elsewhere.

You intend to register a trade mark

You cannot obtain exclusive rights to artwork that other people are licensed to use. A template licence permits you to use the design; it does not make it yours alone. If registering the mark with IP Australia matters, you need original work with copyright assigned to you in writing.

The identity is the product

Fashion labels, packaged goods, hospitality groups, anything sold on a shelf beside competitors. In those categories the design is doing the selling, and buying a composition that others can also buy undercuts the only thing that differentiates you.

The mark needs to mean something specific

A founder's story, a place, a technique, a family name going back three generations. Meaning has to be designed in deliberately. No template can carry a story it was not built around.

You already have brand equity

If people recognise your existing identity, a redraw carries risk that needs managing rather than a purchase that needs making. That is a designer's job, and often a strategist's.

You need someone accountable

A designer will sit in a room and defend a decision to your business partner. They will tell you the name is too long, that the colour is wrong for the category, or that the real problem is the name rather than the logo. A template does none of that. If what you need is a professional opinion, buying artwork will not produce one.

You have more than a handful of applications

Vehicles, uniforms, signage, packaging, exhibition stands and a website all at once is a system problem. Systems need someone holding the whole thing in view, and that is design work rather than a purchase.

Can you start with a template and hire a designer later?

Yes: buy a template now, trade with it for a year, and commission a designer once you know what the business has become. The template is then not a permanent decision but a cheap bridge, and you arrive at the designer with real information instead of guesses.

The reverse also works. Commission a logo alone from a designer, which is a smaller and cheaper engagement than a full identity, and use templates for the applied pieces around it.

How much does a designer cost compared with a template?

Airtasker's cost guide puts experienced logo designers at around $700 per design, and TDS Australia puts a brand identity system from an agency at $3,000 to $15,000 for small and medium businesses. Our templates are $19 to $199. The gap is large enough that the question is rarely about affordability alone, and more about whether the work you need is artwork or judgement.

Our guide to what a logo should cost goes through each option.

How do you decide between a designer and a template?

Ask whether a competitor turning up next month with a broadly similar logo would be a problem you would need to solve. If it would, hire a designer. If not, a template will serve you well, and the money is better spent elsewhere in the business.

Common questions

Is it worth paying a designer for a logo?

It is worth it when you need exclusivity, when you intend to register a trade mark, when the identity is the product, or when you need someone accountable for the decision. It is harder to justify when your business name is the main asset and the budget is better spent elsewhere.

Can I use a template logo for my business legally?

Yes. A template licence permits commercial use of the design for your business. What it does not give you is exclusivity, which means you cannot stop others using the same design and you cannot register it as a trade mark.

Will people know my logo is a template?

Most will not. The realistic risk is not recognition but coincidence: another business in your area buying the same design. That risk is small for any one template and it is not zero.

Can I start with a template and hire a designer later?

Yes, and it is a sensible sequence. Trade with the template for a year, then commission a designer once you know what the business has become. You arrive with real information rather than guesses, and the designer's work is better for it.

How much does a logo designer charge in Australia?

Airtasker's logo design cost guide says experienced designers start from around $700 per design. TDS Australia puts a complete brand identity system from an agency, which includes guidelines, type, colour and templates as well as the logo, at $3,000 to $15,000 for small and medium businesses.