Make the Logo BIGGER?
Try the Trade Digital Print Guide to making the logo BETTER…
Our creative clients often tell us about their frustrations with clients who always ask for their logo to be bigger. It’s real hazard of the job! We get it – the logo is their identifier. The most fundamental element of their brand capital. The thing that their customer’s recognise about the business more than anything else. But is bigger really better?If you’re a designer, we know your answer is no. Especially if that logo is dated, gives off the wrong vibes or just looks out of place whatever you try to do with it. Getting a logo design brief is one of the most exciting jobs any designer can do: you’re shaping the basic elements of a brand so it’s got to be right! So let’s see if we can’t help you to make the logo not bigger but just better…
Follow our guide to keeping things simple, staying on track and producing a piece of work that your client will love and you can be proud of too!
Build a good relationship
The work starts even before you put pen to paper. And that means getting to know your client and their ambitions as much as possible. Building a good relationship at this stage is not only essential to creating the most appropriate, impactful logo, but helping to bring the logo to life, to give it the best chance in the marketplace and to help build the brand over the longer term – cementing long term client relationships along the way.
Top tips:
- Find out about the company – its history and its vision
- Ask about the owner/team – their expertise and ambitions
- Find out what sets their product or service apart
- Research the marketplace
- Get an understanding of the potential audience
Build a strong brand
The logo sits at the heart of all brand building activity. And that makes it a beacon for everything the company represents. So if you can get a sense of what the business or brand wants to achieve, you’ll have the kind of understanding that goes a long way to making the logo design process easier and more straightforward.
Top tips:
- Dig down into their mission statement and values
- Get a sense of their current logo and what’s driving change
- Research the client’s – and the customers’ – emotional responses to the current logo
- Ask about colours and fonts
- Ascertain how much change the client is expecting and why
Develop the design
This is your favourite part of the process and where you really come into your own. But before you go off and get lost in the creative process, it’s really worth going through this checklist so you know exactly what elements you’re working with:
Top tips:
- Ask the client about preferred colours and colour palettes
- Find out where the logo will be seen most – online or offline
- If it’s a logo refresh, decide what elements are staying and what has to go
- Find out about any restrictions
- Find out about any essential inclusions
Don’t blow the budget
Giving a realistic sense of what the project will cost and managing the process are the two most fundamental elements of any successful logo development project. In fact, they’re just as important as being a creative and resourceful designer. So if you can beef up your project management skills to match your exceptional eye for design, you’ll find that your work gets easier and better.
Top tips
- Establish the budget and account for any extras
- Make sure you know and are working to the deadline
- Make sure your ideas and rationale can be easily understood by the decision makers
- If you’re working as part of a bigger team or with partners or suppliers, make sure everyone’s kept in the loop and knows what the deliverables are
Get a good printer…
Yes, we saved the best advice for last but you knew it was coming! Having a reliable, trustworthy print that can deliver on quality and on the money is essential. And those are all of the things our business is built around. Agencies and designers across the country rely on us to deliver print exactly how and when they need it. If you’re looking for a printer you can trust, check out our final checklist:
Does your printer:
- Print everything you could ever possibly need?
- Offer all the ease of online ordering AND personal service?
- Do a FREE pre-press check?
- Offer a loyalty rewards scheme that offers instant discounts?
If they don’t – give us a shout. We can help you make the logo and the flyer and the 48 sheet and the brochure and the business card and the stand – and much more – all better.