4 steps every designer must know to create relevant logos.
Introduction
I’ve been doing branding for startups and established companies for past 5 years. Been wearing different hats for industries like Saas, Ed-tech, ad-agencies and media. I’ve trained myself to become a great design generalist. The framework that I’m going to share with you has allowed me to remix ideas together to create relevant logos for my clients.
Business need:
Most of my clients needed their logo yesterday.
•They want it fast and they want it contextual.
•It must resonate with them, their wife, their children, their friends and their partners. That’s a lot of eyes to please.
•They need a story behind it (thanks to apple) and they want to see choices. (The classic dilemma of I don’t know what I want but I don’t want this logo.)
Before we start diving into the steps let’s start by being empathic. The situations I have mentioned above comes with the package. There is no running back. You will need to satisfy your client in the end. It will be helpful for us to accept these facts rather crib about our clients.
Remember,
You are not designing for them you are designing with them.
A designer is a facilitator. Since we can’t connect telepathically with our clients, we need to talk. With this, we arrive on our first step.
The Process
Step 1: Talk and Understand
Understand your client’s brief and strategy. Before diving into designing take a step back. Put on your thinking hat and start asking them questions. If they don’t have a brief uncover why do they need a logo in the first place. Ask them why and keep repeating it until you reach the core of their need. Decipher your client’s imagination into tangible words.
Let me illustrate an example for you:
Client: Hey Mac. I love your work. I need a logo for my company.
Mac: Thanks. What kind of a logo are you envisioning? (I try and use good words in real conversations. It helps me to push them a bit further in their thinking. As a designer all you can do is facilitate his vision into reality, a timeless logo).
C: Well I love apple but my startup sells cycles. You know I need a great logo just like Apple.
M: sounds good. What do you like and dislike visually across the internet?
Since his brand is going to be his reflection trying to understanding his visual taste will help you make winning decisions. Continue with meaningful questions to de-clutter clients fantasies and transform your hard work into smart work.
Few other questions that you can keep in your arsenal are:
Who is your target audience?
What kind of products are you selling?
what is the price range of the products?
Who are your competitors?
What is your brand positioning?
(Every brand has a personality which helps them position themselves in the market. If the brands lucky it will walk the walk and talk the walk so much so that it will own a specific part of your brain. Brands like coca-cola, Nike, Tesla they own a part of your psyche. Although many founders are not aware of their brand personality but still go ahead and ask them.)
Step 2: Sketch, a lot
By now you should have a fair idea of your clients brief. Start by sketching at least 20 logos from your imagination. Don’t look for references just yet because it kills your growth.
Use this time to level your mental playground. We want to explore everything and see behind every door. Include as many styles as you want. Even if they don’t match the personality. A basic process would be to try convergent shapes (merging and remixing shapes together) and divergent shapes (dissecting shapes into separate forms).
By now you will have more logos than you could expect with a creative thirst that is satisfied. Awesome!
Step 3: Reflect
This is less of a step and more of a transition. Once your mind is empty of thoughts you’ll see connections between your shapes and the brief. This is the perfect moment for the magic to happen. Sketch some more if you wish to and now allow yourself to look for inspiration. With more references, you could now tweak your old logos in a more meaningful way.
Remember Don’t copy shamelessly but steal like an artist. Understand no concept or idea is original. Every original is just a thoughtful and untraceable remix.
Step 4: Share
Pick your best 3 logos and share with your client. Use the brief here to support your conclusions. Show them a mood board so he can taste the logo visually. Gather feedback from him. It’s possible you will only get “I like this” and “I don’t like this” type of feedback. Don’t worry. As you evolve as a designer you will start understanding basic psychology. This will help you translate “I don’t like this” kind of feedback into solid feedback for your own good.
Do this over and over and perfect your approach.
A designer is a mixture of a problem solver, an artist, a writer, a psychologist and much more. If I was able to help you through this article please clap for it so others can benefit too.
PS. This framework can be used for full-fledged brand identity projects as well. Connect with me if you want to know more.
On Linkedin
and if you like to see my paintings and sketches check my Instagram Handle.
As we speak I’m using this framework for designing identities for 3 startups and yes the founders don’t know what they want. The fun part is to use this framework and save myself from hundreds of unnecessary iterations.
If you ever use this framework, share your findings. I’ll be extremely happy to learn about it.
