Hi all,

I think I really have been scammed here.
I asked a person to design me a logo and he used a free font (Manga) from dafont.com (http://www.dafont.com/manga.font)
But the thing is, he charged me around $400 for it, not just for the logo but also for designing the font.
Can I take this to court? He charged me money for something free, which hasn't been designed by him so the credit should go the the owner/designer of the Manga-font.
I just want to know what I can do to either get my money back or just make some justice!
Thank you all in advance!

Grtz, Crown

First consider that there maybe some confusion on the terms used. Can it be that your designer has bought a commercial license for you from Neale Davidson and is charging you for that? If so, that would be fair.
Apart from this, $400 for a logotype that fits your needs is imho a rock-bottom bargain. Whether the typeface used is a free one or not. But that is just my opinion.

I don't know how it append in Netherlands, but in France, if you trie to contest in justice this transaction, the process will cost most than $400.
Next time, be carefull.

Hey Ty all for the feedback, he didn't have any contact with Neale Davidson so it's not that he bought any license for it. And you say it's "is imho a rock-bottom bargain", you mean it's very very cheap or really expensive? He charged us for making a commercial poster for us, but used this free font and charged most of it for that, that's why i wanted to figure things out.

@menhir, i know it's more expensive to take it to court. So it's not that i really am going to court with it, but just wanted to see if we could get any refunds by telling him he's breaking any laws... So ty again for the feedback

First it was a logo, now it is a poster. What is it? If it is a logo I really think that €300 is really cheap.
Anyway, can you show a part of the work where the font is used?

As i said, he charged most of the money for the logo and particular the font that was used...
if you check http://www.masato.nl/ you will see the logo at the right side. The font is used for the word "Masato" that's under the logo.

I agree with Koeiekat, 300 € is pretty cheap. My opinion is cheap can sometimes be doubtful.

Well, i'm a hobby-designer and for the design he gave me i'd do it for like € 50 - 100...
It's not that he's running a succesfull company, so not that he's having a lot of costs. But if you see the design at http://www.masato.nl all the way on the right side, is you opinion of a cheap €300 still your opinion?

The only way to compare I have is an old friend of mine who would charge much more for logos, but then again it depends of the client. As far as I remember, she was more in the 1000 than the 100 talking about prices. But I'm not really the best person to figure this out, sorry

Haha ThnQs anyway These comments actually gave me an indication about the prices for logo's etc. so Ty all ...
still don't know what to do with the dude but yeah it's going to be alright ^^ The sports association received 7 cups with a competition yesterday, so luck was on our side again, which made us forget all the prices and the economic crisis... the feeling we had yesterday and the family bonding was priceless! Ty ALL

lol Man, really, if I charge $400 for all logos I made, I would have been a millionaire
I make logos like that for 20 bucks or less. Man, that logo is plain simple Please don't miss understand me, and like kat said before, if that logo fits your needs - perfect, but I never ever would have charged 400 bucks for that. Buuuuttttt, if he charged you this poster also... well... still too much IMHO
FYI, here where I live (in Spain), if someone ask you to made stuff like that, and you tell him 400 bucks... in the blink of an eye that person will search for another designer without any questions
Next time ask for the price before request something




mental note: start to charge $200 (at least) for my logos

SashiX, i guess you're not a professional designer? If you were, how could you live ?

I also guess you're not working on company logos...
Who can trust a guy that sells his ass and destroys a job for 20€ ?
Who else than your cousin or your mother will think that you can make a serious work for 20€ ?

lol, of course I'm not a professional designer, but I've made maaaany plain logos like that Yup, I'm not working on company logos, there are no such companies here, and... I think they will never see an approval from customers For $400... 99% will do it for 10 times less Almost anytime someone ask you "how much?", there will be another guy who will make the same for a few $$ less. That's a life And of course, with all stuff I made, is just for earn extra $$$ As I said before, "if I charge $400 for all logos I made, I would have been a millionaire"

UPDATE: clarification: for that price I make business cards for example, printed of course. For that price I will not give EPS files to my client, only printed job

Heya folks,, the poster SashiX is mentioning is my own design xD but i recon that most DIY-designers (like the one we did business with) are happy to get at most €100,- for a logo etc. but for the €400,- he charged, i think you all agree that he charged WAY to much and that we could have gotten a WAY better design...

Again, IMHO, you've been ripped, my friend But yeah, the price (I think) will depend on where you live. Perhaps in NL it's a normal price, who knows

PS: lol, crownborg, I can't imagine how much that "designer" would have charged you for that poster $4000??? 'Coz it looks much more complex than that logo

SashiX, i know you're doing it for the fun and extra money and you're not a professionnal, but maybe you would be one someday? So start thinking about the real price of design stuff, yeah 400$ is pretty cheap for a logo : take the time spent on the client brief, the time spent on the creation, derivations, corrections, and creation again, ... a "fine" logo, will cost you 3 or 4 days (8 hours a day). Multiply by the amount of your daily rate (300€ for a junior designer for example) : 900-1200€. This would be a fair deal. This also include the cost for reproduction rights. Of course you won't get 1200€, you'll have taxes on that depending on your country. Anyway, 5 days a week, 300€ a day and you earn 6000€ without taxes (more like 3500-4000€ with taxes). And i'm talking of an ideal world where you work 5 days a week as a designer : such thing does not exist. You may work a lot and earn lot of money on one month then almost nothing the next month... It's pretty difficult and a good desginer may work for 2000€ a month when looking the entire year. As you see, this is not so simple.
Back to the logo, for that price, as a client, you expect to get a real designer job, with creative ressearches and a minimum of 3 clearly different path of reflexion.
The designer lied in his quote, he didn't create an exclusive font for the logo. But a trial may cost you more than you may get... So, crownborg, you should warn him at least taht you know he lied and don't work with him anymore. Tips for next time : always check portfolio from a designer to get a glimpse of his work, ask a clear quote and ... ask professionnals

I never said that it was simple, bro And I know how it works. And yeah, you can make dozens of jobs in a month, and nothing in the next Thats why I'm not a professional designer (yet ) I can make that type of logo in 10 mins or less. I don't know if the designer offered other types of logo and that logo was chosen by crownborg as the best one.
Agreed with the second part, btw (about designer/logo I mean) (except the last part about professionals Because all of them will tell you that they are professional )

true !!