Design

A Detailed Guide on Logo Design Process

Team Pepper
Posted on 26/04/228 min read
A Detailed Guide on Logo Design Process
Logo is the face of your brand, which makes it crucial for you to get it right. Hence, this article will guide you through the logo design process.

Table of Contents

  • Effective Tips to Come Up with A Winning Logo
  • 3 Crucial Factors That Determine the Success of Logo Design
  • 7 Stage Logo Design Process for Sure Shot Success
  • Key Takeaways
  • Conclusion
  • FAQs

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Your brand’s logo is the best way to attract people to your products. This is why planning the logo’s look is undeniably the most important step to consider.

Whichever logo you choose, make sure the elements are such that it stands out amongst the competitors. The message you’re trying to convey through your logo should be easy to understand. Let’s take you through the detailed logo design process.

Effective Tips to Come Up with a Winning Logo

Get onto the work first

Remember that your logo does not equal your brand. Therefore, do the hard work to understand what your company does, understand what feelings you want your logo to evoke in people’s minds, and then create a logo. Get into deep thinking and try to answer the “Why?” before you focus on transforming your brand’s offerings into a visual presentation.

Simple and creative

Your logo should be simple and timeless. Don’t rush into the process of creating the logo for your brand. Take the time to think it out because good branding will last decades. Go for something classy and easy to understand. Be sure to set standards for the way others might use your name and brand.

Listen to the voices of others

When you set as a group to brainstorm what your potential logo could be, there’s higher a chance of the logo coming to life. The opinions of others surely help to create your brand’s logo.

Emotions

Think approximately the emotion you need the customers to feel. Do you want to be playful? Want to be all formal? Are you a client logo or a commercial logo? Try to strike an emotional chord with your audience by using similar fonts and colors.

The logo should depict your brand’s story

Get the audience engaged with your brand by telling them the story of your business through your logo. The rest will fall in place once you start with your brand’s story. The puzzle will be easy to solve when the company name and brand story are aligned.

Make it unforgettable

Branding is ready publicity but being memorable facilitates companies to keep away from the price of chronic advertising. If you take our advice, ensure your logo is creative and goofy.

Go with your instinct

When you land on a name and a logo that feels right, you will know if “It is the one.” Start with the name. Jot down 10 words related to your values and undertaking, making Wikipedia your exceptional buddy. Moving on, find your hues and font and allow your logo to take shape.

Minimalistic

Don’t go crazy with how your logo looks. Sometimes simple is the way to go. Logos and brand names need to each be recognizable and simplistic.

When developing a logo name, first consider using the call of the founder(s) or placing a playful spin on it.

Whatever you pick out, make sure that it’s not stressful to read. For your logo, continually hire a layout expert who carries unified, minimalist aesthetics that are effortlessly identifiable.

Work for your niche

Create a concept that appeals to your target market and delivers a message for them specially. It ought to be something that reflects your solution for them, that your enterprise offering so that they understand what you do and why it makes sense for them.

Keep the name broad

Keep your business enterprise name extensive since the marketplace and enterprise will evolve. Even Dunkin’ Donuts changed its name to Dunkin’ because coffee and other liquids made up 60% of their purchases.

SEO friendly

If you want to rank higher on the search results, consider putting the right SEO practices. Be very careful not to use common and cliché phrases. This will help you stand head and shoulders amongst other competitors.

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3 Crucial Factors That Determine the Success of Logo Design

Powerful content

Create an extensive range of ideas and ensure that every new approach develops from another. Remember, you don’t always have to create hundreds of ideas before determining the right one.

The primary idea you give you will often have everything your audience wishes. Still, many resources declare that developing several sketches will increase your probability of finding the perfect fit.

Scalability

Scalability is a crucial part of the logo design process. Your logo will be displayed on promotional advertisements like enterprise cards, social media posts, billboards, and posters. Remember that your logo needs to be without problems, well suited with just the right sizes. Professionals are properly versed with various logo designs and have sufficient experience to satisfy your design wishes.

Crisp and clear

Your logo should have crisp and clear lines and shapes. Leave no stones unturned to create that perfect logo. The logo shape should be well enclosed and complete. Watch out for any irregular lines or pixelation as this will dim your brand’s light.

7 Stage Logo Design Process for Sure Shot Success

These are a few steps to creating a perfect logo that speaks volumes for your brand. They are:

Discovery—Get well versed with the client’s biz

Research Work—Learn about the competitors

Brainstorm— Crack your heads on the art

Sketch—Strategize your logo

Design—Execute the best logos digitally

Approval—Get the client’s approval/feedback

Deliver–The final stage

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1. Discovery

Designing a logo is not all arts and crafts, so one shouldn’t come up with random ideas. Sure, aesthetics is important, but you cannot solely design your logo for that.

Your logo should serve a particular business objective. It’s quite a tiresome process if you’re required to design your company’s logo every few years. Therefore, design your logo once and try your best to make it long-lasting.

If you put your heart and soul into creating your logo, then be assured it will endure. You won’t have to worry about the hassles of changing the design from time to time. Give a clear brief as to how you wish to create a logo, and then jump into the fonts, colors, and sizes,

Illustrators can wait. Designers have different ways of how they perform during the designing phase. For example, some designers will send you a general questionnaire, and some might do a quick call.

2. Research work

This phase aims to recognize the consumer’s needs better. Once you have the client’s specifications in place, start your research process. You need to know what’s important and what can be cut out.

Be sure to keep the competitor’s strategy in mind as you want to create something completely different from them. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand the ongoing trend of the market and competitors. It’s a crucial step of the logo design process and shouldn’t be neglected at any cost.

3. Brainstorm

Activate your creative side to think of logo ideas. Start with a few sketches in your mind and play with colors. In this step, search for looks for the logo and finalize on something that delivers the client’s personality.

One effective way of doing this is by creating a mood board. This board will have a collection of your ideas put together so that it’s easier for you to decide. You can also run your mood board to the clients and get their insights as a bonus step.

Take your client’s feedback into consideration and come up with possible solutions. Brainstorming is a skill. Therefore, don’t give up easily. It may seem overwhelming at the start, but researchers have noticed the more ideas you come up with, the better is the final result.

4. Sketching

Wake your inner artist and start sketching. This is the step when your creativity comes into action. The ultimate goal of a sketch is connecting creativity with your idea. When these two elements are combined, a form takes place.

Some professionals may stick to their sketchbooks, while others may take the help of illustrators. It is recommended to sketch by hand as the artistic emotions are free-flowing when you use a mere pen and paper.

You can also choose between a symbol or a play of words. Drawing logos might take a major part of your day, so don’t forget to take some well-deserved breaks.

While you’re on a break, you’re giving your brain to rest, and at the same time, you might come up with better ideas even without brainstorming! You ask why? It’s because ideas usually come up when they’re least expected. Your conscious mind may not know this, but the unconscious mind is doing its tricks.

5. Designing

Now that you have all your sketches on paper, start shortlisting a few sketches and see how you can execute them digitally. Be extremely picky when it comes to your logo. Don’t design every sketch but only take the promising ones that your client will like.

If you’re still not satisfied with the logo, you can go back and forth in the sketching and designing phase until you decide on the perfect one. Once that’s done, move to Adobe Illustrator and design the graphic. This whole process may take up to 3-6 weeks. Test different variations of your logo until it ticks all boxes of requirements.

6. Client’s approval

Get your clients’ feedback and approval in this step. To make this a pleasant experience for the client, make a presentation showing your logo and its story. Learn some presentation skills before showcasing your work of art to the client.

The accuracy of the presentation is what will impress the clients. Together with the client, review the pros and cons of the design, make some tweaks if needed, and then you can land upon your perfect design.

7. Get ready to deliver

After getting the client’s approval, it’s time to deliver the package. This package can include a style guide and artwork. These files will help the client to understand how to use the logo. 

Also, be sure to tell the client if you’ve used any commercial fonts so that they can use the same in the future.

Key Takeaways

  • Avoid relying on logo trends because these trends may die as fast as they emerge. It’s a good idea to watch out for trends as it gives you a picture of what your target likes but doesn’t depend on it completely.
  • Make use of minimal and simple designs.
  • Choose captivating symbols and colors that set you apart from the competitors.
  • The logo should be fit to use in all kinds of formats.
  • Avoid using too many effects.

Conclusion

Leverage the tips given in this article to be one step ahead of your competition. It’s important to realize that great logos aren’t created overnight; it takes considerable time, work, and effort to arrive at that eye-catching piece finally.

Every element of your logo, be it fonts, colors, or effects, is responsible for creating your brand’s perception in clients’ minds. In the end, it all boils down to your passion and creativity. Practice all the steps mentioned without skipping any to help you in the long run.

FAQs

1. What are the golden rules of designing a logo?

1. Basic Questions- Think about questions like Why are you here? What about you is different? Who are you here for? If you can answer these questions without hesitation, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
2. Look at the bigger picture- Design a logo that will last you for a long time. Before starting the logo designing process, go through a few examples and mocks of how you want your logo to look. Then start with the grinding process.
3. Be different- Think outside the box. There might be similar trends in the market, but you need to find something unique. How? Try seeing a few designs that the competition created only to take inspiration: an inspiration to make something entirely different.
4. Love what you do- Lastly, enjoy the process. Play around with tools and have fun.

2. How can I promote my logo?

1. Create some pre-launch buzz 
2. Draft an article for your newly launched logo
3. Promote the logo not just online but also offline
4. Do social media giveaways

3. How much can you sell a logo for?

A good logo should cost you anywhere between $300 to $1300. However, these prices may differ depending on who makes the logo, the expected quality, and your brand itself.

4. How long should a logo take to prepare?

A logo can take a few minutes or several days to a few weeks for conceptualization. The process should take no more than a month to complete in realistic terms.