Experience in logo design

I have been fortunate to work with many businesses in their early stages of conception, working closely with their directors and founders to create a logo.

In my first design job, fourteen years ago, I had to design many logos or ‘polish’ existing ones for many local businesses. The role was high pressure and though it’s not how I’d choose to work in many respects, it helped me hone my creative thinking regarding logos and communicating ideas with company directors. Since then I have refined the process of logo design and provided a structure to better arriving at a brand that is based on not only design but market research.

Process

Whilst there is no magic formula to arriving at the perfect logo, there are certainly a few constants. First and foremost must remain that you never lose sight of the customer. It is the customer’s attention that you must capture, and that means freeing yourself -sometimes -of preconceptions. Market research is another tenet of a properly realised brand -and though sometimes it can force you (designer and company director alike) to readjust your preconceptions, market research can provide invaluable insight; market potential, what the competitors are doing and ultimately assess what is working and if any of these findings can or should be considered.

I provide a tuned and structured market research process, and from it can establish a solid foundation for design. To an observer, the process of ‘research’ can be counterintuitive to a creative process such as design but ultimately -within a structured framework -it yields the best results.

Logo Design Brief

With solid research established and ongoing, I approach the design process with fresh ideas and all of my creativity. Presenting the process is done through a ‘Logo Design Brief’ that I share with my clients and eventually in printed format. The LDB is punctuated by look books, inspiration, market research including analysis of competitors in the field and colour guides -to name a few of the chapters. Topics also covered can include implementations of market strategies such as Online Marketing.

The logo design brief will not only walk you through the collaborative process but will illustrate logos in use with appropriate fonts and presented in mockups -printed and on screen. It really brings it home for many client to see their logo, their brand, visualised and I have found the Logo Design Brief to be a valuable to the director establishing their business.

Fluid

The process can be very fluid, collaborative and inclusive for the client -or I can take full control. I have worked both ways many times and find each approach works -my solutions are flexible and structured to what is needed.

Arrival

The finished logo should, in my eyes, tell a story. A logo can instill trust, various impulses and value. These and many other emotions are hard to measure, but ultimately the client and myself will arrive only at the finished logo when all parties are completely happy. Often the logo can come from eureka moments and likewise the finished article should elicit that feeling where you just know the logo is right.  Market research also helps you reassess expectations, challenging both designer and company director in the process.

Delivery

The delivery will be based on expert skill in design, using the latest tools to ensure pixel and printed accuracy at any resolution and in any format. I work with Adobe and Autodesk software to provide logos that are pixel accurate in any digital format -mobile, desktop or any platform. Printed, the logo should be scalable from small labels to billboards. Having worked many projects I have the experience of working with small and large formats and understand the challenges both ends of the spectrum entail.

You want a designer that really gets the process of not just digital but print -what might look acceptable on screen may not work well on a photocopied fax or letterhead.

Gary Hicks

Email: gary@traceofwind.com Mobile: 07414 509157