Effective Logo creation is best achieved by following a research-design-review cycle as outlined…
I try to get a feel for what the client wants to “say” with their logo, what is the “meaning” that they want viewers to be left with? What aspect of their business is seen as distinguishable – Size, service, quantity, price etc? I have had the good fortune to have designed some leading brand logos in New Zealand that are still in service many years later, and in all cases where a logo wasn’t approved it has been due to a second hand client brief – make sure that the brief you do is with the person within the company that will have the final say.
I then take a look at what others within the same industry are doing. The intention is not to copy them, merely to gain a feel for the quality and trends the target audience are likely to be previously exposed to. Have iconic visuals been overdone? E.g. there are too many builders’ logos with house outlines in them, and dentists with smiling teeth.
Then begins a series of pencil sketches (without colour) to try and create a unique look that emanates the desired impression. This process is the longest, and often most frustrating, part of logo design and requires frequent breaks to empty the designers internal visualisation canvas. Colour is then added being mindful of the emotive “temperature” of colour (e.g. blue is cold but also fresh, red is fast and hot but also dangerous).
What I should have at this stage is up to five unique designs that focus on different strengths of the branding. Next comes decision time, which often requires dropping some designs from consideration after cannibalising their better aspects. A review of the original design brief is the criteria used to decide which designs will advance and which will be shelved.
Probably the most important aspect of the logo presentation is not to overburden the client with too many choices that head in separate directions, since they are likely to appreciate parts of each of the designs and want to view them combined – which never works and usually results in multiple design alterations that end up back where you started. Present one design as a clear leader and keep a second on standby as a backup. Wherever possible I try to present the first visual on a separate page with lots of white space and then back it up with visuals of the design in use (business cards or letterheads).
All logos have a mission, an objective that they were designed to achieve, and accurate documentation of that objective is required to ensure that anyone utilising the logo in their material is not harming that intent. A printed guideline that describes correct usage, colours (in all possible ink/paint/screen combinations), and vision is supplied to the client.
