From Concept to Reality
Many people think that logo design is an easy execution but they basically don’t know the process of designing a logo. There are some necessary steps to follow if you want to design an effective logo, the logo is the main element that represents your brand, it is the face of your business and in order to be effective must be:
● Unique
● Simple
● Memorable
● Versatile
● Timeless
Those are the most important features of a logo that you have to consider during the design process. In this article I will explain how I design a logo and all the steps I take to complete it.
• Briefing
First and most important step begins by building a design brief with the client, asking questions about their business and the most important things for me to know, the type of business/industry, the market, what the company wants to communicate, who are the customers and the targets, which are their main competitors, where the logo has to be applied,… These are the primary questions I always ask in order to understand how I can resolve their problem and help the company to distinguish its brand.
• Research
After I gather all the information I need from the client, I start to research the field and the client’s competitors. I have to discover and understand how the logo can be designed for that specific industry and also what the competitors communicate to the audience. The mission is to find a unique solution which will distinguish the client’s logo in the market. One of the aspects of the research is testing what kind of shapes, colors and fonts I can use with the design.
• Brainstorming and Sketches
Is now time to generate ideas for the logo. I often use Mindnode, an application where you can create mental maps, and this tool is quite helpful because I can collect all the keywords that I get in mind. These keywords recall the adjectives of the logo and the elements I can use. As soon I complete my mental map I can start to sketch some drafts on paper. Without pencil and paper I am unable to work and I think that sketching is a great advantage, it saves time for you because you can quickly have an idea of what you have in mind and it helps to find interesting ideas that probably you wouldn’t get while starting to design digitally.
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Concept Design
I select the best sketches (usually 2 or 3) and then import in my computer. All the selected sketches are elaborated with Adobe Illustrator, designing the firsts digital concepts and choosing fonts to apply. I begin to design the drafts in black and white because I can see well the contrast but also because I can understand if the logo looks well in negative and positive background.
Presentation
The first review I ask to a client. I present the developed digital sketches in black and white, grey scale, and colored. I explain in all details the actions taken and the choices of the mark/symbol (in case is present). The client will understand my design thinking and will be able to choose the concept and send me a feedback.
Concept Development
- In most of the cases the client chooses one of the drafts, but rarely not. In the second case I make a step back and I develop one new concept. Usually I receive a feedback from one of the concepts provided and then I begin to develop it. All details such lines, anchor points will be refined, then I can apply the color. The color application is based according to the color’s psychology. Personally I prefer to pick the color from my Pantone Color in order to have an accurate preview of the printed color. The concept has been updated and will be sent to the client for the final review.
Delivery
- As soon as the client approves all the details and modifications, is now ready to be exported in different file format. I always export the logo in Adobe Illustrator file (.ai) (.eps) , PDF, JPEG and PNG, All the files will be organized in folders and compressed in one ZIP folder to be sent to the client.
- The process of designing a logo is difficult and requires a lot of research and knowledge. That’s why you have to partner with the right designer and avoid to do yourself or assign the task to a not professional person. The logo design is a delicate work , and must be handled with care.
- If you need a logo for your business feel free to contact me , or just click on my page Simple and Logical / Design Studio
- Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Simple And Logical™
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3 Responses
Another great experience working with Simple And Logical ! Thank you very much for your professionalism and creativity!
Thank you for your patience!
I love your design, really strong and professional, I would love to have something like this done for my business.