I have always used a single freelancer in the past, but he's no longer available. I've heard about 99 designs, so I am exploring that route ... but I was hoping the knowledgeable HN crowd had some other suggestions besides that one. Thanks in advance.
99designs is good. So is hatchwise.com<p>The best ive found is going onto digitalpoint forums, and posting a design contest for $15-25 (in the contest section)<p>The first 5 submissions are going to be god awful ms paint logos, but then the guys with real skill come in. You can even message some to enter your contest.<p>My favorite designer on there is "Ideosmil".
If you're comfortable writing a design brief (ie., what 99designs requires) then you might want to reach out to designers directly. Some good locations for previewing portfolios that I use:
<a href="http://creattica.com/logos/latest-designs" rel="nofollow">http://creattica.com/logos/latest-designs</a>
<a href="http://dribbble.com/search?q=logo" rel="nofollow">http://dribbble.com/search?q=logo</a>
I worked with logoworks.com last year and was satisfied with the output considering the price. If you do go with them, I would recommend the $400 package because you will most likely need more than two revisions from the designer.<p><a href="http://logoworks.com/client-app/showPackageSelection.do?new=true" rel="nofollow">http://logoworks.com/client-app/showPackageSelection.do?new=...</a>
before you use services, read "Logo Design Love"; it will help you describe what you want to the graphics designer you hire better.<p>PS it is a very short book.