In logo design, we aim to make the logo immediately recognizable, inspire trust, admiration, loyalty and an implied superiority. Your logo is one aspect of your company’s commercial brand or economic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are strikingly different from other logos in the same market niche. A logo is the fingerprint of your business identity and is a big part of establishing brand recognition. Logos are used to identify.

A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, ie; your products and/or services, not the other way around. In many cases, what it represents is more significant than what it looks like. Aesthetics are not the driving engine for good logo design. Logo design is used to connect your brand with your customers and position your company as the best in the industry. Your logo will separate you from your competition and build a bond with your customers. Your new logo will do just that, but do not let your personal preference for color, style or imagery limit the possibilities of your logo.

What Makes a Good Logo?

We base our logo design around five important elements. Your logo needs to be:

• Describable
• Memorable
• Effective without color
• Scalable i.e. work when just an inch in size or smaller
• Relevant to your industry

The first two elements are connected, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it?

The third element is important because color is secondary to the shape and form. As we work to develop your logo, we start with black and white, experimenting with what it will look like on a white and black background before adding color. We always leave color to the end of the design process, because if the design doesn’t work in black only, no amount of color will rescue it. When we are ready to apply color, we will limit it to only a few colors. Successful logos rarely have more than three colors. Also, the colors chosen will be relevant to your business’s industry based on market research. Element four is vital for your marketing efforts and collateral materials. Your logo needs to work on a full color brochure or website and on other materials such as pens, hats, badges and shirts. Any of those things that your business may use down the line to assist in your marketing.

Lastly, the design must be relevant for the business it identifies. This is accomplished through in depth research into the industry involved, and helps to differentiate from closely associated competitors.

You may wonder, “What’s so difficult about creating a good logo. They’re small, they look easy to do, so no problem, right?” When you only see the result of a designer’s efforts, the logo creation can look simple. But it’s not. A logo takes thought and creativity, and many elements combine to make a good one.

Process

What actually goes into the logo design process?

When creating a logo, we follow a process that ensures the final design meets your needs. Below, we have listed the steps in our typical process.

We will conduct an interview or provide you with a questionnaire to get the design brief. The brief will guide you the thought process of developing a logo and provide the information we need to complete your project.

Research & Reference

We conduct research on the industry itself, its history and competitors. We will research the demographic of your primary customers and research logo designs and imagery that has been successful in your industry. We will collect reference material for styles and trends that may relate to the design brief. Some trends and styles may provide inspiration, but we will be careful to not date your design: longevity in logo design is key.

Sketching and Conceptualizing

Develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and our research. This is the single most important part of the design process. This is where are inspired and get creative. Sketching is a really good way to put our ideas on paper. Often we develop dozens of concept sketches. We can start to see your business’s identity take shape. We refine each sketch until we narrow down what is we feel is the most viable. Sketching engages both the imagination and logic centers of the brain and can really energize the logo design process.

Digital Execution

This is where we take your logo from the paper sketches to a finished design. Using industry leading computer software, we redraw the sketches, explore typographic styles and layouts. Not all the sketches make the cut. Once we begin to develop your finished logo design, we can see which sketches were the most viable and will serve your business best.

Reflection

It is important to step back during the design process and let the ideas mature. I often say, “I’m letting a design marinate.” It helps us to keep the big picture in mind, renews enthusiasm and allows for fresh perspective on the work.

Presentation

We will only present the best logo design options to you, our client. Usually only one or two. PDF format usually works best. This allows you to flip through the presentation page by page. We typically present the logo in black and white, on both a light and dark backgrounds. We will also show you the logo in color and in different possible layouts. Depending on the package you’ve chosen, we may also show you your business card and stationary concepts here. If there are other applicable contexts for your logo, we may include those as well.

Delivery and Support

Once the logo is approved, we will prepare the appropriate files, usually: jpeg, tiff, eps and a pdf. We will include all of relevant color options and layouts. As you begin to use your logo, we will always be here to answer questions or provide support. If it is part of your logo package, we will also provide the logo use standards documentation.