Squarespace, a popular platform that offers website templates and hosting, recently launched a new service called Squarespace Logo. This service is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily design logos. Their pricing structure is very cheap and creating a logo is intuitive and simple.
Many in the design community are fuming over Squarespace Logo and what it could mean for the future of design. A quick search of the hashtag #squarespacelogo on Twitter reveals that some designers feel like the easy to use software devalues design.
(Quick sidebar: Some of the logos that people have created are hilarious.)
I think that Squarespace Logo and other tools like it are nothing for designers to be concerned about. Keep reading to find out why.
Your True Value As A Designer
Your value as a designer is not in your ability to manipulate pixels in Illustrator or Photoshop. Those are just tools. Squarespace Logo is a tool. Each tool having their own set of benefits and limitations.
Your true value as a designer is in your experience. It’s in your knowledge. It’s in your ability to articulate why something is good or bad design.
In Mike Monteiro’s book Design is a Job he encourages designers to start thinking like problem solvers. You draw upon experience, research, and knowledge to solve a problem when you design.
You have studied, practiced, and lived design. These skills are not built in with the tool and never will be.
Your Clients Understand Your Value
You’re not competing with Squarespace Logo for the same clients. The type of person or business that designs a logo this way is not a client you were competing for in the first place.
Maybe they’re a startup on a shoestring budget. They could be a local mom and pop shop and have bigger problems right now than logo design. Maybe they’re just cheap bastards. These people were unlikely to be your next client with or without Squarespace Logo.
Crowdsourcing Didn’t Kill Logo Design
Crowdsourcing is the practice of allowing any number of designers the opportunity to design a logo for you. You choose the winner and that designer receives all of the profit.
It is an appealing strategy and many are taking advantage of it. Judging by the number of logo crowdsourcing websites that have popped up, such as 99designs or Logo Tournament, it’s safe to say that the niche is doing well.
Still it doesn’t take a genius to understand the limitations of logo crowdsourcing.
Squarespace Didn’t Kill Web Design
Many of the same feelings logo designers are feeling right now are the same feelings web designers and developers have already been through. There are many tools that can be used to create easy and cheap websites. Squarespace is one of them. They offer website themes and hosting at an unbelievably cheap price. They’re not alone.
TV commercials for 1&1 My Website declare that creating a website is easy.
Themeforest has high quality full featured website themes available to download for a small price.
Despite the aforementioned easy and cheap tools being available I do not feel that my livelihood is being threatened in any way. I know that my clients value my experience and knowledge. They value my problem solving skills. As long as there is the web and businesses looking to carve out a place for themselves.