Designing a logo requires a lot more work than drawing a circle and typing in the company name. With millions of people in the logo design industry, there are effective ways to set yourself apart from the crowd. Don’t you want to be worth every penny that your clients are paying you?
Let’s look into the best tips and tricks for designing an effective logo.
Start with Discovery
Before you begin working on a logo, think about what design will gain the attention of your client’s customers. Research your client’s industry to get a better understanding of their customer profiles. After all, logos are more than pretty graphics. They must be relevant to the audience. You know you are done with the discovery phase when you can explain to your client the matter-of-fact reasons for why you’ve chosen the logo design.
Build a Roadmap
The next step consists of you and your client working together to agree on everything. Share with them why you have chosen the logo design and why you think it will be effective. As long as the client is in agreement, you can use the creative brief as your roadmap. Your logo design roadmap will keep you on track with your goals and prevent distraction. Also, if the client forgets something, you can negotiate prices at this time.
Do Your Research
Research is highly important when designing a logo, no matter how inventive you are. Some of the best logos are those that tell stories and hold sentimental value. Do any logos with mythical value or musical references come to mind? The only way to tie more meaning into your designs is by researching the industry and company culture. Only then will your brain be fed with opportunities for visual storytelling.
Record All Ideas
Whether they make sense or they don’t, get all of your ideas down on paper – or something tangible. It’s not necessary to have all of the details fully laid out. In fact, symbols and notes are just fine as long as you know what they mean! Think of these initial ideas as being branches to a tree. From these branches, you will be inspired to grow new branches (ideas).
Study the Trends
Once you have a rough idea of the direction you are going, study the latest design trends. While design leaves plenty of room for innovation, you don’t want to create a logo that automatically looks outdated. What was popular at one time may not be anymore. Of course, it’s also a good idea to be reasonable with your originality. Stepping outside your boundaries is just fine, but you want to offer your client a logo that is flexible enough to move along with the trends.
It’s great when you can show your clients how much thought and reasoning went into the logo design. While most clients will say that they want something “cool” and “attention grabbing” they almost always fall in love with a logo that incorporates their brand mission and core values.
