A logo design is the cornerstone of your business. It lives and breathes your brand, who you are, and what you represent.
I’m a huge advocate for investing in the right designer to create a logo design for your business that will last (yes, I’m biased ????).
Over the years, I’ve designed dozens of logos for business’ of all kinds.
And today, I’m here to share with you my process for approaching every new logo design project I land, to help you understand what it takes to create a truly custom design.
My logo design process
Competitor & industry research
The very first step I take is diving into your business’ industry. I identify who your competitors are locally, and nationally, to figure out and compare what some of the industry leaders are doing.
Every industry is very different — who their customers are, what services they provide, their brand voice and presentation, and so many more.
With this first vital step, I help dial in on these key factors to really understand the landscape and what kind of design will speak to it.
Ideation
Following the deep research, many times my mind starts flowing with ideas. I pull out a sketch book, and just begin doodling. These are not usually full logo ideas, but rather parts and pieces that I end up utilizing or inspire the logo design with.
Depending on the project scope, I’ll leave the ideation phase with at least 3 solid concepts I’d like to explore.
First drafts
Once I have my sketched ideas on paper, I then excitedly jump into Adobe Illustrator to begin the logo creation. Adobe Illustrator is the best software to use for logo design because it is vector based — meaning, the logo I create in Illustrator will be scalable from a business card size, to a larger-than-life billboard on the side of the freeway without compromising on quality or resolution.
I work on bringing those ideas to life — some work out, some don’t. And along the way, new ideas are formed.
Initially I always design in black and white, as this helps eliminate any feelings about the design, and just allows me to focus on the composition. In the end, you want your logo to look great in black and white anyway, so it’s the perfect starting point.
Color & typography research
The next, and very important step, in my logo design process is exploration in the color palette and typography. By now, I should have a couple logo design concepts pretty dialed in on what I’d like to present, but lack in the specific typography and color choices.
Leaning on the initial research from step 1, I build out a few color palettes to play with that work with the business, the industry, and brand.
I pair that palette with a set of 1-2 font choices, depending on the design, and start applying them to the concepts.
Presentation
Now that my concepts are ready, I create a presentation file for my logo concepts, that shows the full logo, the color palette, and typography of choice.
This PDF usually consists of 2-3 concepts, and I walk through each with the client to describe my process and approach.
Tweak & finesse
Upon conclusion of the presentation, the client chooses the single concept they would like to move forward with. We might do a few color variations, or an alternate font choice, but overall the client is happy with the design and just wants to tweak a few things to entertain their thoughts/ideas.
Finalize
Once that logo design is ready and approved, I then go through the Illustrator art in detail to clean it up. Many times, during logo development, I’ll design a bit “sloppy” in the process — just for time’s sake as I don’t know for sure what the client will like. In the end, the logo does not visually look any different, but I might use little “design hacks” to make it appear a certain way.
In this final stage, I’ll remove any extra clipping masks, create proper paths, outline the fonts, and any other last clean ups.
Prep & send logo package
After the final payment is received from the client, I then use the most magical tool — Logo Package Express — to create and export the logo package. It will consist of every file type they would need for print and web, plus variations in full color, all black, and all white.
I zip that file up, and send it off to the happy client!
Beyond the logo design itself, I do offer additional assets like business card design or a full style guide, it just depends on the client and their needs.
If you’re interested in hiring me for your logo design, feel free to book a call with me here.
Happy Holidays!
