If you have ever visited our Terms and Conditions page (blah, I know, but every business has to have one), you will see a personal note from me talking about a little theory I came up with about Prada and Target.  Did you just perk up?  I know I do whenever anyone talks about shopping, it’s one of my favorite pastimes!  But anyway, I like to remind clients and potential clients of one of my personal mantras, that you can’t get Prada at Target.  I mean, you just can’t.  Maybe someday Miuccia will design a nice bridge line and we can all get little cashmere Prada cardis for under $100, but even if she did, they would probably sell out in a minute and then we’d be forced back to eBay and Threadflip to find them which is the only place to get good used Prada anyway, so you’re back to square one!  But I always like to tell people that Little Blue Deer is more of a Target type of business – super cute, on trend, out of the box hip and unique – than Prada.  I don’t at all mass produce, in fact every website, blog and logo that I touch is truly individual to the client and conveys the uniqueness of their product or service.  But I like to keep our offerings simple and reasonably priced.  So, your stuff is going to look fantastic, it’s going to be solidly built and it’s going to last, but it’s not going to have all of the extra frills of a Prada piece.  Have you ever spent any time looking around at pricing for website and logo design?  Anytime I talk to another professional, they generally tell me that our prices could be much higher (and honestly, they are below the line when it comes to site design in particular).  And I’m fine with that, I have a sweet spot that I’ve hit with hours of time spent per project, output level, and volume of clients.  But if you hire me you have to understand that you’re not going to get a bespoke cashmere cardigan of a website for the design fees that we charge.  I know that web design is sort of nebulous, and you see something cool on another site and it’s hard to figure out if that is something that takes 5 minutes to implement, or 50 hours.  And I will always let clients know if something will take extra time, if it’s possible, and how much it will cost if so.  But in general I don’t walk into Target and then get irritated that the strappy heels I walk out with don’t quite fit like my Louboutins.  I don’t get upset at Outback when I’m not getting a Morton’s quality steak, I know what I’m paying for and I’m happy because I have reasonable expectations that are fulfilled.

My logo design company and website design company, Little Blue Deer, can give you a great steak that you don’t even have to smother with A1, if you get me.    Little Blue Deer web design company offers website development, logo and business card design, and blog design for small shops and other businesses who are looking to make a graphic impact but perhaps don’t have a ton of capital to invest.  This makes me really happy, to have a client walk away with a really solid, graphically attractive and unique website that they haven’t overpaid for.  But we all have to be on the same page with expectations, and a lot of that just requires a bit of common sense.  So, shopping, dining out, travel, whatever it is that you spend money, think of your graphic design investment as the same type of service, find the investment spot you are comfortable with, and go forth with confidence!
{blog photos via Pinterest}