In this post, you’ll be able to find out how I use my creativity to turn the information in a brief/questionnaire into a visual representation of the client’s design needs.

If you’re a logo designer, appreciate your God-given creativity.  It is a blessing that most times can’t be learned through a text book.  Being able to develop a single image to depict an entire business is not an easy task.  We need to cherish our creativity and embrace our ability to accomplish this task.

Sometimes we as designers can feel like there’s nothing left in the tank, yet creativity doesn’t go away one day and come back the next day.  Often times it’s the briefs, restrictions, guidelines, deadlines, and even procrastination that gets in the way. If your process for designing has been successful, stick with it despite these roadblocks until it becomes like second nature.  Adapt a new strategy only when you are currently doing is not working.

1. Price / Statement of Work

My projects start off with first determining a price point.  If you don’t establish this up front then it can get messy later on.  I require a 50% deposit to ensure the beginning of my work (details below) is compensated.  Some designers I know require half upfront and some require nothing (silly).

Here’s a free plug for my invoice system.  I usecurdbeefor my invoicing system.  I pay $5/month for the pro version so I don’t have to have a curdbee logo on my invoices.  Other benefits of this version include overdue reminders, thank you’s, and dedicated customer support. The free version has a lot of the same features but the curdbee logo appears on everything.  Curdbee is the most user-friendly invoicing site I’ve come across.

2. Brief

After the deposit has been made for the project, I send my clients a questionnaire that once completed will help me identify their specific needs.  The more detailed responses they provide, the more detailed I can be with the logo – it works both ways.  It’s very important to collect as much info as possible and do as much research as you can for a project before the pencil hits the moleskine.

After I read over the questionnaire, I’ll email the client to verify anything any information provided that’s not clear.  The most critical areas on the questionnaire in my opinion are the responses to “state a single sentence to describe your company” and “logos you like and dislike.”  From these responses you get a sense of how they perceive their company’s image and what style they like.

3. Research

I am usually able to grab a few key words to start my work.  I take those words and write them down in my moleskineunder the new project headline.  After that I use the dictionary and thesaurus to research the words definition and meaning.  More times than I can remember, the client gave me some words that I couldn’t draw anything up with but after using the thesaurus, i was able to come up with more descriptive/ visually stimulating words.

Afterwards I use the dictionary and thesaurus to research the words definition, origin, and alternate meanings.  More times than I can remember, the client gave me some words that didn’t conjure up any ideas, but after using the reference tools, I was able to come up with something descriptive and visually stimulating.

When word mapping is complete, I start researching the competitors and similar sites in the same industry.

4. Sketching

After looking at other logos, I determine how to make the new client stand out will start sketching out ideas freely.  I normally sketch until I have no more ideas during the initial sitting, then take a break and try to come up with a few more ideas during the next few days.  It’s important to try new things here.  This is where you can really let your creativity loose.  Try things on paper that you aren’t comfortable with and wouldn’t necessarily try in illustrator.

5. Comps and Mocks

When satisfied with my sketches, I’ll circle my favorite 3-5 designs and open up illustrator and photoshop.  Sometimes I’ll scan the sketches in so the drawing looks like the sketch and other times I’ll just look at it as a reference.  Sometimes being able to deviate from the initial sketch make it better on the computer.

Once I complete the digital mock ups, I’ll present them to the client in a presentation format including the full color design, the grayscale, and the black and white.  I’ll also explain the rationale behind each decision and explain why it would work well for their company.

6. Revisions

The price point and statement of work determined at the onset will determine the amount of revisions allowed.  If you are allowing unlimited revisions initially, you should change that practice immediately.  Allowing unlimited revisions is a recipe for disaster that will end up costing you time and money.

Revisions should never be a bad thing but something that is done in moderation.  Often times, clients can be “that guy” and start fussing over small things like wanting to see every possible sans serif font to make sure the one shown in the comp is the right one.  The best thing to remember when dealing with revisions is to think of it as a refining process.  More often than not, feedback from the client may help improve the logo… at least in their eyes.

I hope this gave you a little insight into my logo design process.  Check out the  portfolio to see the work.