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Logos require planning. A designer doesn’t just sit down and start sketching out ideas and bam! the greatest logo idea comes to him. You’ll have better results if you follow a plan.
Steps to Create a Logo
1. What does the Client want in a logo. If you’re designing for your own company, get together with all the image-makers, the higher-ups, and get a feel for what they want the logo to convey.
2. Gather data and investigate trends among competitors. Research trends, competitors’ logos, what sets the company apart from the rest, the company’s history, etc. Then brainstorm design ideas that will represent the company’s brand.
3. Put your doodles and drafts on paper. There’s no wrong design idea here. Just draw whatever comes to mind. Choose the top ones that represent the company well and that have good design elements (see Essential Design Elements, below).
4. Choose the best 5 sketches at most to present to the Client. But remember, the lesser you show your client, the easier they can decide. If the client has stated how many designs they’d like to see, give them the top two. If you give clients too many choices, they often can’t make a choice at all.
5. Send the final logo images to the Client and wait for their approval. If the client wants any revisions or tweaks, make those changes and send it back. Then finalize the design and create the logo in whatever file formats the client needs (ranging from .eps to .gif and .tif).
Essential Design Elements
All good custom logo designs have the following in common:
Legibility. If people don’t understand your design or can’t read your text, your logo will never be effective. Make sure you create it in vector art, not bitmap art, so that the logo can be sized as tiny or large as needed without getting blurry or illegible.
Distinctiveness. Unique logos that are still understandable to all consumers are the most successful. Come up with design elements that haven’t been used before.
Longevity. Logos should be designed to represent a company for many years, decades even. Look at brands like Coca-Cola – their logo has only changed a handful of times in the past hundred years. If you keep changing your brand identity, no one will recognize you.
Managing Your Logo
Once you have your logo design decided upon, you need to make whatever necessary alternatives for the rest of your marketing materials. This means a black-and-white version for sales letters or copies, and if you have text and design, the text should have different arrangements around the design so that it fits onto objects ranging from pens to billboards.
