The Daily Juice

September 9th, 2009  |  (1) Comments

Why Good Logo Design Isn’t Cheap

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A guy walks into a bar and slurs “hey tarbender… err… bartender how much for that logo design over there?”

Ask any graphic designer and they’ll tell you designing a logo is difficult work. It’s almost as difficult as convincing someone it’s worth the price they’re paying. Many people don’t realize the effort that goes into designing an effective logo. They normally only see the finished product. Easy smeazy they think. That’s what I said when I thought I could do carpentry, but that’s another story altogether.

Let’s see if we can take some of the mystery out of designing a great logo and why they don’t always come cheap. Hold on to your hats pardners.

What is a Logo Anyway?

Wikipedia describes a Logo as follows:
“A logo is a graphical element (ideogram, symbol, emblem, icon, sign) that, together with its logotype (a uniquely set and arranged typeface) form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition. The logo is one aspect of a company's commercial brand, or economic or academic entity, and its shapes, colors, fonts, and images usually are different from others in a similar market. Logos are also used to identify organizations and other non-commercial entities.”

ZzzZzz...

Hey I didn’t write it; take it up with the folks at Wikipedia.

What is a Logo Part Deux. (let’s try that again so the rest of us can understand)

The most important thing a logo design should do is to create an instantly recognizable graphic or type treatment for your brand. Hopefully this treatment arouses a sense of trust, respect, loyalty and an overall feeling in your audience that your logo, brand and products and/or services are superior to your competitors. Your logo is the first building block for your company. Its graphic treatment, typefaces and colour palette should be noticeably different from those of your competition or other companies offering similar services or products.

Where some companies go wrong is thinking a logo is a direct representation of a product or service. If that were the case McDonald’s would have a Big Mac as their logo and Nike’s logo would be a sneaker. A logo should best embody a philosophical meaning of the thing it represents. A truly effective logo is rarely a literal translation of the thing it represents, i.e.: a car to represent a vehicle manufacturer. The logo should convey what the car company represents philosophically; it’s qualities, beliefs and core values.

Shaddup and Tell Me What Makes a Good Logo Design for Pete’s Sake.

A good logo design should be unique, practical and simple. A graphic of a scantily clad person wouldn’t be practical for a law firm but might work just right for a dance club. Your logo should express your company’s intended message, concept or “meaning” There are practical things most logos should do; your logo should be as effective when displayed on a simple business card or a twenty foot billboard. The best logos work well in colour but equally as effective in black and white.

You Just Bought CorelDraw and Now You’re a Logo Designer. I Went to An Air Show Once But I’m No Fighter Pilot.
(wow, that was a long freaking heading.)

What’s so difficult about creating a good logo you ask? I mean really how difficult could it be? If I have the same software the pros use no problem right? Most people only see the end product resulting from a graphic designer’s hard work; like the Nike swoosh for example and think it must have been pretty easy to do. Logo design is hard work and takes a great deal of research, creativity and reflection.

Put It All In a Blender and Mix On High. It’s Has To Be Good and Have a Process.

Although logo design is highly creative there’s still a process to follow. Read on, you may be surprised to learn little green leprechauns don’t magically appear while graphic designers sleep and create their mystical award winning logo designs. I know. I was shocked too.

1.) The Brief. No Not the Underwear Kind of Brief. The Logo Design Kind of Brief.
This is a graphic designer’s chance to draw upon her detective abilities to extract information from a client by conducting interviews to create a logo design brief. It’s a chance to learn as much as humanly possible about the company, the people who represent them and the company’s beliefs and values.

2.) It’s Not All Crayons, Black Suits and Fast Cars People. Research, Research and Then Some More Research.
Get your thinking caps on folks its time to go back to school and learn as much as you can about your client’s industry, it’s history and equally important it’s stinky old competitors. Do your homework first, don’t worry the fun stuff comes later.

3) Steal Somebody Else’s Logo Design. No. No. No. Just Kidding. Trends and Styles.
It’s important to learn about logo designs that have been successful as well as understand how styles and trends in logo design are evolving. Research at this point may also help you avoid inadvertently creating a similar logo design concept to that of your competitor or another company.

4.) Alright. Now You Can Grab Your Crayons. Let The Concepts and Sketches Begin.
Now it’s time to take all the information you’ve learned from your design brief, competitive and industry research, current styles and trends and start developing your logo design concepts.

Start with the basics, grab a pencil and sketchpad and start drawing. Sketching is quick and allows you to easily dump as many of the ideas in your head onto that beautiful blank piece of paper as quickly as you can. Let as many ideas flow, you'll refine the designs later.

5.) No Man is an Island. Although There Was This Really Big Guy Once...
It’s important to take breaks during the logo design process. It’s intense and grueling work. Step away from your computer or sketch pad and clear your head, get feedback from the people you work with and come back with a fresh perspective.

Sometime we find the oddest places help ideas and concepts flow. Get out of your routine, go to a coffee shop, bar, bark bench or in the bathroom if that helps and start sketching. If the ideas aren’t coming then walk away and do something totally unrelated. The ideas will come if you’re not trying to force them.

6.) On The Home Stretch. The Logo Design Takes Shape.
Time to turn on some technology folks. The moment many of you were waiting for. Fire up your favourite Illustration application, we prefer Adobe Illustrator and get ready to illustrate. We begin by scanning the best of the sketches we’ve created and bringing those into Illustrator as a background template for reference and start creating a vector version of the logo from it. Your new logo design is really starting to take shape now. Illustrator makes it easy for you to tweak your graphics, try different colours and new type treatments fast and easy.

Look ma! We created a new logo!

7.) Will They Love Me and My Logo Designs? The Presentation.
One of the best pieces of advice I learned from a veteran graphic designer was to show only your best designs when making a presentation. Presenting logo designs to a client is one of the most rewarding and scary as hell experiences we go through but we love it. Making a presentation is a true test of your creative mettle and your ability to sell the concept. If you don’t believe in the design neither will your client. Believe.

It’s a must to present your logo concepts in person in printed and digital form. We find people react better to presentations they can touch and interact with rather than just showing the concepts on a projection screen.

A critical component of the presentation is to help our clients understand why the shapes, colours and typefaces were chosen to represent their new identity. We always present our logo concepts in context; this helps the client more easily visualize their new brand identity. Many times we’ll present the logo design in conjunction with mockups of business cards, signage and novelty items such as hats and t-shirts. When they can see how their new logo will look in the real world it’s easier for them to envision their audiences reaction as well.

8.) Make It Better, Stronger and Faster
Unless we’ve totally bombed (can’t say that’s ever happened by the way) it’s time to tweak the best of the logo design concepts we presented and provide revised logo design based on their feedback.

Bam! It’s Out of The Park!

9.) Psst. Hey Mister Want to Buy A Logo Design?
The final stage is to deliver all the appropriate illustrated logo files to your client including style guides for logo usage. We shake hands, offer them world peace, slip an invoice into their pocket and anxiously await mail delivery.

Orange Juice Time!

What Should You Look For In a Good Logo Designer?

There are certain qualities to look for when choosing a company to design your logo. Here are just a few.

• Number one indication of any design company is how good their logo design portfolio is. This can be tricky because there are many really great print and web designers but they don’t always make great logo designers. Be specific, ask to see samples of their logo designs.

• Do the companies you're considering have a proven logo design track record?

• Can they supply client references and testimonials?

• Does the design company you're considering follow a logo design process or do they just start illustrating on the computer right away?

• How long will they take to design your logo? If it’s too quick; a few days, then this should raise a red flag as the company probably isn't doing their due diligence. A good logo design should take at least a few weeks but realistically about four to eight weeks for a solid design. The sayings “you get what you pay for” and “buyer beware” are typically accurate. Remember that first car you bought for 500 smackers? Do you also remember being stranded in the middle of nowhere? $500 gets you a $500 logo. Your logo is one of the single most important parts of your company image don’t leave it to the kid in the basement next door.

• Does the design company respond quickly to your emails, phone calls and questions? Do they communicate openly and professionally?

• Lastly, are they fresh, fun, creative and willing to push your boundaries to get the best possible solution and logo design for you?

I hope you found this helpful. Your comments are always welcome (unless it’s spam, in that case bugger off)  ;)