There is a lot more to logo design than most people realize. Have a look behind the scenes of Byers & Associates (an Oklahoma City law firm) logo design process.
Logo Design Meeting:
The first step in our logo design process is the client meeting. At Back40, clients speak directly to our graphic designers about their business, their customers and company vision. Some important considerations in designing a logo are:
- How will this logo communicate the brand of the company
- The logo must work today and tomorrow, meaning will this logo still be relevant years from now
- How will this logo look reduced on smaller media projects like business cards or e-mail signatures
- How will this logo translate to a black and white media environment
Logo Design Sketches:
To formulate and visualize concepts, I like to sketch by hand and then brainstorm with other designers in our studio. Dave Miller (president and owner) likes to review and add to the creative process (see above torn yellow legal paper). Preliminary logo design sketches are part of the process, but are rarely shown to the client.
Logo Icon Design & Logo Type Treatments:
After exploring the shapes I already have an idea of what style of font I would like to use. The next phase in the logo design process is type exploration on the computer. I usually look through font styles and pick several that may work with preliminary logo designs.
We believe in showing clients our best work, so we typically don’t share our progressive concept work. Client satisfaction through “buy-in” is important to us, so we usually send 2-4 logo options to the client for discussion. With the featured Byers & Associates project, we submitted 3 designs.
Logo Design Revisions:
We ask our clients to choose which logo they like best. The client provides direction and we provide our expertise. At this point the design may be complete or we may even merge some aspect of the different logo designs together to create an improved design. With the Byers & Associate logo, our client liked the shadowing on #1 and the type design on #4. So we kept on working! The process is about communication, flexibility and design excellence.
Logo Design Color Palette:
It’s our design policy not to display the logo in color until we
establish the form and type. We do this because color is so visually
powerful, it may distract a client from discussing and defining the
form. While we may have explored color palettes during the design
process, we do not formerly present the logo in color until the design
nears its final stages.
Dave
Miller, who has over 25 years experience designing for clients, believes that
people recognize logos by shape, then color, then type. That philosophy
has worked well for Back40 Design Group and for our many clients.
Final Logo Presentation:
The final logo design approved for the client.
“The logo process at Back40 Design went great for me. My designer explained both the concept and the direction they had in mind for me. The designer was also happy to incorporate in my revisions and suggestions.” – Sharon Byers
If you need an all new logo or have an existing logo that needs repair, please see our blog post on Logo Repair!
