Logo Design Process

Logo Design > The Creative Process

What is the logo design creative process?

How does the logo design process work?

Good design is never random. Behind every great logo design is a careful process. And that process takes insight, understanding, thought and development time. We refer to this as the creative process of the logo design. This stage is crucial to develop a logo that will function correctly, being timeless, simple, memorable and functional for your brand. So what does the creative process involve exactly?

Step One: Start with a Creative Brief

With each new logo design project, our primary focus is to clarify who you and your business are. It’s also important to know your brand vision and expectations. We obtain this information by providing our clients with a creative brief at the start of each logo project. This creative brief is essential in helping us understand who you are and consists of 12 questions:

  1. Who you are and what is your business?
  2. What do you do? What service or product do you offer?
  3. How would you like your brand to be perceived?
  4. Who is your target market?
  5. Who are your competitors?
  6. What makes your company unique?
  7. What first and last impressions do you want your customers to have?
  8. Are there colors or imagery you love/hate?
  9. What brands do you connect with and why?
  10. What keywords best define your brand?
  11. Do you have a simple, clear message to relay to your customers?
  12. Do you have any specific ideas to share?

Step 2: Research and Development, Logo Sketching and Digitizing

Once the creative brief is complete, our next step is the research and development phase. Because every good logo must be unique, timeless and original, adequate research ensures this. This is done prior to any design solutions.

What research is involved in beginning a logo?

  • We research your competition and what and how they are handling their brand identity.
  • Your target market, and how does the current market perceive your industry.
  • What is the nature of your business?
  • How will your keyword definitions work to define you in your industry?
  • What will make you function as a unique brand among the competition?
  • What is your competition doing? How can we create something stronger in line with the vision of your business?

Once we have completed the research phase, we begin the logo sketching process. Consequently, the research and development phase is essential to the design process and logo concepts. The logo concepts evolve from careful consideration and research of your brand. As we sketch, we can quickly rough out icons that have the potential for your brand.

What is involved in the logo sketching process?

  • Logo sketches are done with pencil or ink to create strong visual and graphical lines
  • Sketches is done on grid paper so that the icon can be vectorized easily.
  • The logo sketch concepts are small because the end result must appear on a small scale and large scale

After we sketch out the possible logo concepts, we review what concepts could function well for your brand identity.  Once we select possible concepts, we transfer these to the computer and the actual vector logo design begins. As we design individual icons for your brand, we select specific fonts that will work well with the logo. We will often design several variations of a logo concept that show slight variations and fonts.

What is involved in digitizing the logo?

  • The logo sketch is digitized using Adobe Illustrator
  • Careful selection of specific fonts that will work with your brand. These are not system fonts found on the computer. Ultimately, this font will reflect your brand and using system fonts can devalue your brand.

Step 3: The Logo Presentation, Logo Refinement, and File Deliverance

As we near the logo presentation, we review the logo designs.  We narrow the concepts down to the ideas that we believe will function the best for your brand. As we present the logos in a pdf format to the client, we explain the thought process behind each concept.

How do we present the logo design presentation?

  • The initial logo presentation shows the logos only in black and white. This is important because your logo must be able to function in one color.
  • We present each individual logo concept on a single page in a large and small format. The logo is also shown in white on black.
  • We provide an idea of the logo concept within an environment. Because clients often find it hard to visualize the concept within the brand, this can be helpful.

After the initial logo presentation, we give the client time to process the concepts.  We suggest the client cut out the logo designs and place them around the office or business i.  Each logo concept will look different within the context of the environment.

After there has been time to process, we meet again to go over thoughts, changes, and tweaks. Occasionally clients often like one typeface over another and wish to view this with the icon they prefer. After we refine the logo within the black and white stage, we begin finalization. At this point, we introduce color schemes. Color variations only begin as we near finalization.  This is essential to save time and rework. The end result? A logo concept that our clients love.

What happens at the logo finalization stage?

  • We deliver the final logo design as a digital download to our clients as .ai, .pdf, .eps, .jpg, .png. formats. We are able to provide additional formats to clients upon request.
  • The full creative copyright is transferred to the client, we only retain the right to showcase within our portfolio of work.
  • We are able to design style guides for clients who are serious about their brand. In the style guide, we define how the logo is to appear in context to the environment where it appears. This can be helpful when you have an outside marketing company working with you on your brand, and help maintain brand consistency.

“To design is to communicate clearly, by whatever means you can control or master.”
– MILTON GLASER

Are you interested in a logo design quote?

Are you a startup business, existing business or individual in need of logo design or brand identity development?  Typework Studio is a Buffalo, NY logo design and branding agency who work with clients throughout the United States. We would love to partner with you on your next logo design project! Please contact us at (716) 320-0010 or email us using the link below.

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