A well-designed logo, carrying a clear idea and goal with a simple and flexible style, is considered one of the most important attributes of a successful company, website, or project, regardless of its type.
Before we begin designing the logo, let’s discuss the essential steps to start, aside from the routine matters we read about in logo design books (simplicity, looking at logos of global companies, their ideas, etc.). What I will present here is a simple routine for your approach to logo design and how you interact with the client.
Initially
Make sure if you are chosen to design a logo for an establishment, they have either searched extensively before selecting you, or you were simply the only option available 🙂. Therefore, you must take this responsibility seriously and work professionally because this logo will be attributed to you someday.
1. Know the company’s specialty: Learn about the company’s history, its fundamental characteristics, and the distribution of its branches. Try not to overlook any detail related to the company and remember to collect its old prints and designs if it’s an established company.
2. Sit down with the person in charge: Discuss their ideas and suggestions about the logo. It’s not necessary to implement them exactly as they are, but this will give you a background on the manager’s mindset and what they expect from you.
3. Short time does not mean distinctiveness: The idea that a logo can be finished in 24 hours is completely dismissed. A short timeframe means either the logo is pre-made from some website or that the quality of the work does not matter to you or the company’s official.
4. Do not undersell your services: And do not ask for a random price without study. Do not make discussing the price an impossible matter. Be flexible, convey your passion for the work, and your care for it when they outright reject your price… Pack your things, shake hands without holding a grudge, go to the park, and rethink the conversation that took place. Learn from your mistakes… and do not proceed with the following steps.
5. Before starting the design: Gather all the company’s information, organize it, arrange it, search the internet for similar companies, try to collect some ideas, and organize them in folders. Start implementing your ideas in a style that is far from imitation and in a simple and uncomplicated manner.
6. Do not kill creativity: The most important point in your work is not to copy from another company or a similar one. Never imitate. This imitation will be discovered someday and will be a black mark in your creative history. Innovate, then innovate, then innovate… even if in a simple style. Gradually, your style will develop and become professional, and others will start imitating you.
7. While working: It is advisable to work on more than one idea. Try to organize a visit to the company and show some of the models you have worked on to the official. They might completely reject an idea and give you some notes, which will be useful so that your work does not go to waste.
8. Have you finished the design?: Make sure the work you have done pleases you first. Also, try to consult some friends or designers around you; someone might give you a specific piece of advice that provides a different perspective from your own.
9. When they request a modification: It is rare to find someone who is completely satisfied with your work. Focus precisely on what your client wants and deal with their modifications smoothly and flexibly, but at the same time, do not let them think that they own you forever or can modify at any time.
10. Final step: Finally, display the logo on your personal website or on one of the Arabic or foreign sites, discuss it with members and designers, take criticism, use it as a means to improve yourself so you do not repeat your mistakes, and develop your style and skills.
In the end, do you find these steps correct and useful, or are they secondary steps that can be dispensed with, relying only on experience?