Whether we need a logo for an app, a startup, or brand positioning, following trends blindly is not enough. A carefully considered design process is needed to create an impactful logo and brand. You can find a logo designer of your choice. There are various logo makers in the market, and one such is Designhill Logo Maker.
The Designing Process Of A Symbol For Modern Brands
More and more companies and products are competing for market recognition online and offline. A well-designed logo captures the attention of consumers. This represents the core values of a brand. A good logo is an embodiment of what a company stands for.
This article reveals a simple, straightforward, and highly effective logo design process. It presents useful logo design tips and guidance. It provides a framework that logo designers use to guide clients from an early phase of research to the final delivery of project files.
Characteristics Of A Good Logo
In order to make a logo a good brand ambassador, it must conform to a few trusted principles.
You should follow the five principles of the S.M.A.R.T. system. This system allows companies and products to stand out in a crowded market. This system forms lasting audience connections.
- Simple: A good logo must be easy to understand and identify.
- Memorable: A good logo must be distinctive and memorable.
- Ageless: A good logo is timeless and survives changing trends.
- Reliable: Flexibility and scalability are key characteristics of a good logo.
- Thoughtful: A good logo should effectively symbolize the quality and usefulness of a brand.
For modern brands, logos must be designed with many use cases in mind.
Logo Design Process
Logos – you easily understand which ones you like and don’t like. Having a solid business process will make your work more streamlined, save headaches and ultimately save time and money.
Understand The Needs
The method of choice to ensure to have a strong understanding of our client’s business and needs is to send a questionnaire. It avoids any kind of ambiguity. It helps clients get a clear picture of what they really want. This exercise helps you to get a clear picture of what you’re looking for. It ensures that everyone across the team is on the same page.
Sketches & Rationale
The next step in the logo design process is to appoint a designer to complete the initial logo sketches. Three concepts are usually good to go with.
Initial Round Of Feedback
Once the initial concepts have come into being, the time comes to get feedback. To avoid any problems, ensure all feedback is consolidated. Make sure that the entire team is on board and on the same page. Ensure that there is no contradictory feedback. All these elements will make the process smooth, seamless, and more efficient.
Revised Logos & Feedback
The designer or agency gets a better idea of the direction you want to take. Now the time is to narrow it down.
Final Logo Design Concepts
After that last session of feedback, you should get close to the final design. Now is the time for the client to make a final decision.
Final Decision On Logo
This step might be considered the easiest or the most difficult – making the final decision.
Keys To Understanding The Designing Brief
The first phase of the design flyer process consists of reviewing and understanding the design brief. This task is simple but crucial. A shabby understanding of the design brief can create a host of problems throughout the project.
A basic brief should cover the following points:
- Goals
- Deliverables
- Timeline
- Project Stakeholders
- Target Audience
- Product or Company Profile
- Brand Positioning Statement
- Budget and Payment
Visual Research To Uncover Inspiration And Art Direction
Visual research is a time for a designer to observe the world. It involves going through art and design-related books, portfolio sites, and magazines. It includes visiting museums, galleries, retail stores, or inspiring landmarks.
The main point is to revive the imagination. You have to inundate yourself with high-quality examples of beauty, ingenuity, and craftsmanship.
Once visual research is complete, designers must lead clients through one round of art direction. The designers have to distill visual research into a concise plan of artistic intent. They must make use of a mood board.
The best mood boards indicate a clear trend. They appeal to the target audience.
Ideation
Eventually, research should convert into creative output as ideas travel from the mind to the page. A great way to initiate this part of the logo design process is called ideation. An Ideation is a brainstorming session. It is a time to capture relevant concepts. Ideation narrows in on the most viable options.
Ideas stimulate the process of transformation. Converting things from one form or medium into another paves a way for thoughts in totally new and exciting directions.
Sketching
The most rudimentary sketches can be assets to the logo design process. The main cause of creative results is an overabundance of self-editing during the initial phases of a project. Fast and crude sketching is a great way to explore ideas on a quick basis.
Digital Refinement
After working through ideation and concept sketching, an illustrator must be brought to use. Illustrator is a piece of high-performance design software that is used for creating vector format graphics, and art files. These elements are infinitely scalable without quality loss or pixelation.
The following list displays the links to select tutorials that explain some of Illustrator’s most useful logo design tools:
Basic Shapes: You must learn to use the geometry of circles, rectangles, triangles, and squares to create more complex shapes and designs.
Align Tool: You must save time and prevent headaches by understanding the way to efficiently align objects with precision.
Pathfinder: You must use intersecting shapes to create new shapes and symbols quickly.
Shape Builder: The Pathfinder has limited options. You must use the Shape Builder which is more than ready to pick up the slack.
Pen Tool: It is a tricky tool to learn, but you need to be bold.
Color
The presence of color in logo design is a vast and highly important topic. It covers a diverse array of disciplines that ranges from color theory to human psychology. With that in mind, you must present to clients simple, yet harmonious, color schemes that provide high contrast.
There are a number of online resources that can aid designers in their knowledge of color:
- Ctrl+Paint: Matt Kohr has presented a series of quick and simple video tutorials that explain color selection. The video explains mixing from a digital painting perspective. These are great for designers who are looking to better understand the “why” and “how” of color combination choices.
- Colour lovers: Colourlovers is a creative community where artists and designers from around the world create and share their color schemes.
- Adobe Color CC: Color CC gives access to users to create color schemes with a sophisticated color wheel. It allows its users to browse thousands of color combinations from the Adobe community.
- Pinterest: Pinterest has a stack of ready-made color schemes. It is a platform to observe color trends as they evolve over the course of a year.
It is important to keep in mind that logos have to leave the confines of Illustrator and Sketch. In illustrating and sketching, white space runs on forever. But to live and work in the real world, colors are hugely important.
A logo should work on light and dark backgrounds as well as in black and white. As you preview a logo in these settings, you must be prepared to make minor adjustments. The reversal of black and white tends to expose subtle design flaws or worse, unintended symbolism.
Organize And Deliver Files
Once a logo is completed and approved by the client, you must hand over the final design files. Folders and files must be well organized and clearly labeled. Ensure that it is easy to access via Google Drive, Dropbox, or another reliable file sharing service.
A quick breakdown of the different file formats a client can ask for:
Print Files: Vector format files are for print because they keep a logo sharp and clear at large scales and low resolutions. The Vector formats include EPS, SVG, AI, and PDF.
Web Files: The web is in need of either pixel-based files (JPEG, PNG, GIF) or vector-based files (SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics).
JPEG files stand out if the logo design uses several color transitions and gradients. The JPEG format keeps a richer photographic render of the original design.
PNG images are best to use when the logo design makes use of flat colors and shapes, with little to no shadow or gradient action.
Ways To Equip Clients With Value And Vision
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Offer A Basic Style Guide
Seasoned designers are always searching for ways to provide added value to their clients. The process of creating a nice logo is admirable. But the designers should focus on how to equip clients with a simple strategy for using a logo effectively. You should ask clients at the start of a project if they would like a basic style guide.
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Consider Using Subtle Animation
Subtle animation is another way to add value to a logo. Subtle animation in the appropriate context infuses a logo with life and meaning. This makes way for the brand’s storytelling ability.
It’s important to note that animation must be used sparingly and thoughtfully. You must not use it to hide a poorly designed logo, especially in static use cases.
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A Call To Ingenuity And Originality
Most newcomers are inclined to follow industry leaders and mimic what already exists. They do not have the courage to stand out and be innovative. But you must experiment and try to create something from your imagination. The personal touch can give your client a sense of confidence.
Final Words
As designers, you are hired to help your clients rise above the noise of their fiercest competitors. It is your responsibility to excel in and create innovation in the logo design process. To do this, you require experimentation. You must be relentless and should challenge your own assumptions. The risk taken by you is well worth the reward of seeing your clients shine in a sea of distractions.
