Usually when designing a logo it will be in the wider context of the brand. The logo is just one part of how the brand communicates. Having said that, depending on the brand, the logo can play a major role in the brand communication. Some logos such as Google\u2019s take a front seat while others are more subtle and let other parts of the brand dominate.<\/p>\n
Here is an overview of the process I use when designing a logo in the context of a larger branding project.<\/p>\n
Before putting pen to paper it\u2019s vitally important to work with the client to define the parameters of the brief. Good communication with the client is key to any successful project. If you don\u2019t do this your setting yourself up for a lot of pain and smashed Mac Books which probably will cost more than your fee on the project.<\/p>\n
Identify the problem<\/strong> Market research<\/strong> Once you have done your research and you feel fully informed on the subject you can start to jot down some general ideas or phrases in note form and produce some mood boards indicating the directions you\u2019d like to take. At this point it\u2019s good to involve your client as it will give you an idea if your on the right lines and reduce the chance of having to re-work your ideas. It\u2019s important to mention that this will be just a guide and the process is fairly flexible.<\/p>\n Everything you have on your mood board should relate to the brand values you generated with your cliente. One technique that helps me a great deal is to assign each value, in written form, visual characteristics.<\/p>\n First Sketches<\/strong> Vectorise it<\/strong>
\nA good way to gather information from a client is in the form of a workshop. Here you can get insights into the target audience, unique selling points and other brands they admire. This will help you form a solid understanding of the companies needs and where they are in the market place. From here you can also generate brand values or at least some key words that describe the personality of the brand.<\/p>\n
\nOnce you have an understanding of the company you can then research what others are doing in the same market and identify best practices. You can also look outside of the particular market or discipline to gain more original influences. It\u2019s also a good idea to ask the target audience a bit about their motivations for using or buying that particular product or service.<\/p>\n2. Direction & Mood boards<\/strong><\/h5>\n
3. Development<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\nNow you're ready for the part that most people enjoy the most, putting pen to paper and sketching the first drafts. It\u2019s important to start off on paper as the computer has a tendency to suck all the creatives juices out of you and of course it\u2019s easier to get distracted.<\/a> Some designers will show their client the ideas at this stage but personally I prefer not to do this as it\u2019s hard to imagine what these sketches will look like once they are worked up and actually in situ. On many occasion I\u2019ve had what at least I though was a killer logo on paper only to work it up on the Mac and for it not to translate well.<\/p>\n
\nOnce you have a some rough sketches of routs you\u2019d like to take, choose around 3 of these to work up in a program like Adobe Illustrator in black and white. If something isn\u2019t working don\u2019t be scared to go back to pen and paper to re-draw it. It\u2019s probably much quicker than messing about in illustrator worrying about if the key line should be one pixel to the left or right.<\/p>\n
![distracted.<\/a> Some designers will show their client the ideas at this stage but personally I prefer not to do this as it\u2019s hard to imagine what these sketches will look like once they are worked up and actually in situ. On many occasion I\u2019ve had what at least I though was a killer logo on paper only to work it up on the Mac and for it not to translate well.<\/p>\nVectorise it<\/strong>\nOnce you have a some rough sketches of routs you\u2019d like to take, choose around 3 of these to work up in a program like Adobe Illustrator in black and white. If something isn\u2019t working don\u2019t be scared to go back to pen and paper to re-draw it. It\u2019s probably much quicker than messing about in illustrator worrying about if the key line should be one pixel to the left or right.<\/p>\n](\"http:\/\/weknowmemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/me-life-goals-internet.jpeg\"){kind=link}