‘logos’

There is no such thing as a How To or DIY guide when it comes to logo design
Having been in the field now for a while, I’ve read a lot of opinions and guides on logo design. Do this, don’t do this, you need to have this. For the most part, it is all rubbish. As disappointing as it is to hear or say, some people just do not have it. You can practice every day, create *logos* for a million businesses and still have absolutely no idea what you are doing. I don’t think there are any specific guidelines, but I do feel there are basic principles. I also think that every designer needs their own process and their own comfort zone. So instead of going through a bunch of steps telling you what you need to do to make a good logo I decided that I would share my own experience in design.

How I design a logo
The most important part of designing a logo for me is learning about the business I am designing for. As hard as it is to do sometimes, I try to pull out every ounce of information I can about a person or establishment and typically the ones who are able to give the most information about their target, their service, their competitors and what makes them unique are the ones who end up receiving the best quality of work.

Businesses are like people – no matter how similar they may appear, you can bet there are a lot of differences. I’ve never had to two clients in the same industry describe their business exactly the same. My goal is to make that business’s logo reflect its persona, its personality and to make it speak to its target. If I am designing a logo for a construction company, what kind of construction do they do? What sizes of budgets do they work with? Who are their typical clientele? If I’m designing a logo for a construction company that typically constructs low-income housing, you can bet their logo is going to be miles apart from one that constructs office buildings downtown.

Now that I know more about who I am working with, I start to get ideas flowing. I am an atypical logo designer in that I do not like to sketch my ideas out on paper. I have an innate ability to piece things together in my head and actually can see things more in my mind than my hand is even able to draw. A great thing about designing from the head, too is that if you have a good idea you are going to remember it. If you can remember an idea you had 3 hours earlier while you were at the grocery store and you are able to construct it in Adobe Illustrator when you get home, it’s a good sign that you are perceiving a good logo. Why? Because memorability is the most important thing about logo design. If I don’t remember the idea I was having it is either because it was too complex or just wrong. Call me crazy, but I firmly believe that sketching is a detriment to my design process.

Communication through design
Another important thing that plays into the memorability in a logo design how well it communicates with the business it represents. Not only do we want a consumer to remember the *face* of the design, we want them to remember the whole package that it represents. This is not completely reliant on the logo design itself, a lot has to do with additional branding such as advertisement design, but that’s why we need to make a strong, brandable logo. We need something we can build a body around. A logo isn’t going to be very memorable if we can’t put it on anything or if it gets lost in the mix of an advertisement. It should be able to stand up to the design or image around it.

How can you use this information?
If you are planning on hiring a designer, well… hire me because I can get the job done right . If you don’t hire me, hire another professional with a strong portfolio and a solid client list. Do not crowdsource your logo or have a logo designed in a hurried manner, have it done by someone who wants to learn about you and about your business and is willing to spend the time necessary to do so. You should also be willing to pay a reasonable amount of money for your design even if funds are tight. Logo design is not done in a day and does not require only a day’s wage. If you hire a designer to do your logo, they may end up offering better deals on things like websites, stationery and advertisement designs since they are already quite familiar with your business and your branding direction.

If you are a young designer trying to better yourself, I encourage you to figure out what process works for you and to study other successful brands in the marketplace to get a better idea of what has worked for different industries. I also encourage you to learn from people who have experience in design and are way better at it than you are. Watch a Paul Rand interview, for instance. See what made his head work. My favorite course in college was a History of Graphic Design course and it was invaluable to see what others had done before me.

Take this for what it is
This is just my opinion on a very subjective matter. It is sort of my stream of consciousness and since my mind is always moving, somethings may have been a little unclear or incomplete and if you would like to hear more or get clarification, feel free to comment. As always, if you can prove me wrong or you disagree about something, I would love to hear about it and I encourage you to share it with others.

I was looking at my Gravatar account earlier today when I stumbled upon something interesting. I remember the day I first uploaded my new identity to Logopond I thought that was it, I would never tweak it and never have a need to. Wow how things change.

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They all belong to me. This is actually a test post.