The visual identity of your business is often the first port of call for your clients. It’s make or break stuff. If you miss the mark you’ll likely be waving goodbye to business.
The ultimate goal of a logo is instant recognition. It needs to be memorable and simplicity is an important factor in achieving that. Some design guru once told me that a great logo should be able to be redrawn in the sand with a stick – that simple! Another critical factor is that your logo needs to stand the test of time. As with all fashion trends design style changes so creating something that won’t date too quickly is vital. You don’t want to be undergoing a rebrand in less than 24 months because hipster typography is no longer the in thing.
A logo is one of the most important business tools used to convey your company’s message. So with all of this in mind, is it any wonder that there is a process when it comes to designing a logo for a new or existing company?? And it is a process. In most cases – you can’t just wing it.
So what exactly goes into to the design of a logo?
- Brief, Research and discovery.
Before committing pen to paper the designer must have some background information on the company. What business is the company operating? What goals does the company have? Who are their current customers? What customers are they trying to attract? Is this a new company? A re-branding? What colour schemes are to be considered? Who are their competitors and what do their logos look like?
At this stage, the designer needs to know just about everything there is to know about the look and the feel of the company. The more information available, the better….What did the CEO eat for breakfast? And what colour socks is she wearing?
- Brainstorming and Sketching
Once a thorough investigation of the company has been carried out and the designer is fully aware of what the company does and how, it’s time to figure out a way to conceptualise this. Time to get squiggling/doodling…. The designer will play on the main words of the company name, draw out initials, mock up some basic illustrations. Even the bad ideas come out now, get them down on paper so you can move on. This is the time to let the creative juices run free.
- Digitalise
The designer will draw up some of these initial ideas on the computer. You’ll find the majority of designers these days will utilise the Adobe Creative Suite for this – predominantly using Illustrator for logo design. It’s not recommended to use Photoshop for logo design, rasterised images will not scale up well; using images as part of your logo is also regarded as a design fail. A vector based design program will ensure your logo will be scalable up to any size required in the future.
The designer will draw up illustrations and match them to the company name, playing around with various fonts as they go. A general rule here is that the initial logo design concepts are produced in black and white with colour added at a later stage. This helps to keep the process on track, without getting bogged down in minor details.
It is important for your designer to keep in mind that the logo will likely grow with the company and must be able to perform across all mediums, from business cards, stationery, and websites, through to large billboards and signage.
- Client Review
It is common practice for a designer to submit at least three different concepts to the client for review, obviously this is unique to each logo design and some clients may request more ideas, some less. The client needs to then review and advise of tweaks required. Many rounds of changes and iterations may be necessary before the final logo evolves.
- Final Delivery
Once the client is 100% satisfied with the final logo design, the designer will supply the final files in a range of different file types, often accompanied with a Style Guide which covers the ‘rules’ associated with using the logo. This assists in maintaining logo consistency and protects the company’s identity.
All in all the design of a company’s logo is not something to be taken lightly. It’s the foundation for a strong visual identity and memorable brand. Have a chat to the team at Cuckoo – we’ll show you just how great your logo and the visual identity of your business can be.