A logo is the essence of a brand. A small symbol that encompasses the entire ideology of a company. A key element that makes a brand recognisable in any context. Creating a logo that hits the nail on the head every time is not an easy feat but we are here to share a few tips with you that helped us create some of our most successful brand identities.
It is important to obtain the best possible information about the project and to find out your clients key values. When I started out as a designer I was far too exited to jump straight to the design phase, I didn’t know this at that point but at the time this would result in hours of guess work and wasting time re designing concepts. It is up to you to take control and gain the information you need about your project. One of the best things I did for my company was to create a thorough briefing template. A briefing template is essentially a “how to write a brief for dummies” and it will also contain a list of questions that the client will need to answer. It’s important that the briefing template is as direct as possible with its questions and presented in a professional way. Please contact us at The Green Room contact page If you would like to know what our briefing template looks like.
One of the things that helps me understand my client better is to truly take interested in what the client is trying to achieve with their business. The client will appreciate your genuine interest in them and be more likely to let their guard down to offer information that you might not have gotten otherwise. Also on a selfish note, when it comes to work, there can be a lot gained personally from interacting with professionals in different industries. Some of the people who have inspired me the most throughout my career and for The Green Room have been in completely different fields.
Only present your best concepts.. One great concept is better than two average ones!. If you are in doubt about one of your concepts it is better not to present it at all. Also you will never be able to sell your concept with confidence if you aren’t content with the design. So keep it simple and only present the best of the best.
Do not get emotional about feedback. Every designer at some point in their career is going to get negative feedback about their design and sometimes that means to start from scratch. So don’t take it personally, It is important to understand that the client is the one that has to live with their logo for a long time so their opinion should be valued above all. See it as a challenge and keep on creating. Some of your best work will come from letting go of your initial concepts.
Starting a new logo project, I am always thinking of all the possible ways it might be used. Perhaps it can be broken into sections where certain elements can symbolise other factions of the brands identity. Or perhaps it will also be an animated logo so I am thinking ahead on how the lines or shapes of the logo may work when animated.
It is up to us as designers to think outside of the box. How is the client going to make the best use of this design and is it possible to create a design where it will offer you more work using that same design in different ways for their brand in the future.
Be proud of your style and don’t conform to everything else. It is important that you create something that you believe is different from anything thats already out there, and it is up to you to help the brand in what ever way you can to distinguish them from their competitors.
Be persistent to keep working hard and to keep challenging your self. Complacency is the death of creativity so find ways to keep working that frontal cortex of yours, even if you’re not currently working on a brief it is just as important to keep the ideas flowing and don’t get too comfortable in one style.