Photographers Question/Tip: Logo or Not to Logo?

(I titled this as “Photographers Question/Tip” because this is a blog post that is featuring both)
Disclaimer: I'm NOT a professional; these are my opinions and my opinions only and based on my own experiences in model photography. I am NOT a professional writer, these written format pieces are meant for purely and primarily shared knowledge from my experiences as a model photographer. It is not my intent to have a perfectly written article, if you don't like my writing please report this article to the nearest college to make corrects (or yourselves) and send those corrections at Chris@ChrisAdval.com and I'll make those changes if they do not interfere with the content. My focus is to give the content as soon as possible by any means instead of not giving the content at all (tips). Again I am not a great writer but I get my points across. The following tips are NOT meant for everyone for every situation, take the tips that you know that would work for YOU and anyway you choose. This is only a guide of tips, not strict rules that every or all persons should follow, these tips are meant for serious, business aware and pro-efficient people.

Logo or Not to Logo?

That is a very difficult question to answer for many photographers, especially myself. Many of the higher level photographers, especially model photographers prefer to not have any logo/watermarks because it tends to distract and take away from the actual image and I agree..... But those same photographers that say that, they generally think anyone can know who is the photographer that helped create the photo without any form of watermarks or logos, and no I’m not talking about metatags. They’re generally talking about the form of photographic style helps tell the view who is the photographer, and I agree, but who has those skills? Generally speaking, photographers and other people who work within the photography industry or observe a lot of photography, as for the general public who may also be potential consumers… typically no, the general public viewing a photo will not know who is the photographer without actual words on the photo saying or showing a logo with the photographers name or production company that the photo was created from.

Artistic vs. Marketing…

Generally adding the logo/watermark tends to be always distracting that the artistic feel and tone goes down hence the reasoning why many of the higher level photographers choose not to have a logo/watermark on their photos. They would choose to get less marketing on purpose to gain more artistic value to the photo, and that to me is an extremely difficult choice because I love marketing and advertising, and one of my goals in photography are commercial advertising model photography.

From my mindset and goals mentioned above, what would you recommend to do in this situation? To logo or not to logo is the question I really need figure out… I know if I never had my logo on my current work that has been publically released I wouldn’t have any or a lot less hits on this blog. So, it has had a positive effect, but would it have a stronger effect if I didn’t? I would assume no at least with the general public (mass market) viewing my work.

Print and Web Logo/Watermark on photos…

Recently when I started to give out high/print resolution to models I’ve worked, I have given high/print resolution to them but instead of my current logo design watermark which is a bit big and distracting I do what other prints do (at least from the posters I have in my own room). It’s plain and simple text/font black or white. No bold, underline, or special fonts, plain and simple for those who are intentionally looking for that information for copyright information or other information on the model/photographer, etc. So, at least that’s a positive part when I do give print resolution photos out they tend to feel better than my web resolution just because I know my logo design is very distracting, hence is why I may start to design a new one in the near future to be a bit smaller and still achieve on giving the general viewers the proper information of the photographer.

Disagree or Agree to the above content? Make comments here with questions, statements, concerns, etc. or send them to my email at Chris@ChrisAdval.com and I'll respond to them as soon as possible. Thank You and much appreciated! 

Like this article? Did you learn anything, want more? Check out related articles in the following blow series articles... Photographer to Model Tips, Models and Photographers Tips, Model Photographer Tips and My Questions About Model Photography