Logo Design Process?
I've redrawn and designed thousands of Logos for just about every type of profession you can think of and every different style of logo, from text only logos to cartoon character logos. I never went to College or University but from 1991 taught myself initially through books and online tutorials. Since 1998 I've worked for various graphic based companies and since 2005 have been working as a Freelance Logo Designer.
Well perhaps the correct title should be MY LOGO DESIGN PROCESS, as there isn't a clear cut answer to this so I can only explain the various methods that I find work for me. Every Graphic or Logo Designer has their own methods or procedures that work for them. I'm not going to explain the technical aspects of designing the perfect logo but I'm really going to go through the general process that works for me.
Receiving the Logo Brief
I receive a brief either by my online order form or by email, whichever the client prefers. It makes no difference to me as long as I receive enough information to work from.
Sometimes a brief can be really brief, literally. For example I received an email similar to this just the other day:
“I need a logo for my new landscaping business, can you design something simple and eye catching? I'll leave it up to you. It's Jo blogs Landscaping (made up name).”
Now you can either ask the client for more details if you think it will help and usually the more information you receive the better. But sometimes if I receive a brief like this I take into account the type of client I'm dealing with and in my experience landscapers, builders and general construction workers tend to be easier to please than dealing with other types of professions. Not always, but more often than not I find that is the case. Perhaps because their profession is so unrelated to graphic design that they prefer to leave in my hands and let me decide what I think would look good. For the landscaping brief above I actually took the challenge and went ahead with the job with just this limited brief. On this occasion I was lucky and the client was happy with the initial logo proofs that I sent. But it really was my experience and a bit of luck this time and I would recommend that you get as much information from your client as you can. It will save you a lot of work if you have a clear vision of the type of logo your client requires.
Pen to Paper
When I initially started out I created all the designs on computer from scratch quite often just messing around with random shapes and playing around with lettering, in the hope that something would materialise. Although this method can quite often be successful in producing the desired results I now approach the design process in a different way.
Firstly I think about the brief and I write down any key elements that the client has suggested on the top of my sketch pad. I find this prevents me from deviating too much from the client's requests. Then before I actually start sketching I spend a bit of time thinking about the logo design brief and if there are any clever ideas I can come up with. Sometimes it's difficult to come up with something initially so I may even take a stroll to the local shops and have a think about it along the way. It's surprising how a change of scenery or even just giving your brain a rest can result in producing fresh ideas for you to work on.
When I have some basic ideas in my head I now start out by putting pen to paper. I don't consider myself to be an expert illustrator and I don't think you need to be, it's really all about producing the ideas on paper which I will then reproduce digitally using vector editing software. I use Adobe Illustrator but there are other programs which can do the job such as CorelDraw and Freehand. Illustrator is currently the industry standard. The reason I prefer to sketch ideas down initially rather than using the computer is that I find it produces potentially great logo design ideas quicker than using the mouse or graphics tablet.
I also keep a pencil and paper handy in the glove box of my car, as I quite often end up waiting around to pick someone up. (Yes my other job is being my children's private taxi service). But on many occasions I've come up with some great design ideas just by remembering the client's brief and then playing around with some ideas while I'm parked up by the side of the road on my own without any distractions. That's the other advantage of pen and paper.
Sketching rough ideas down may not always be productive, but I do usually end up with 2 or 3 good logo concepts which I can work on.
Vector Logos
I then take my ideas and reproduce digitally using Illustrator. I only ever work in vector to design logos as this format can be scaled up to any size without any loss in quality. This makes them suitable for just about any purpose such as signage or large format banners etc. So you really need to produce a vector designed logo for your client.
Some graphic designers prefer to work on the design on computer from start to finish and also produce fantastic results. It really is up to you to find out what works best for you.
Gerald Waters