Logo Madness
Having a professional create a logo for your business through a creative firm can be quite pricey. Not knocking them. I used to work for one. As a freelance designer I am able to offer a more reasonable price but be prepared, it is still one of the higher end projects that I do. Why is that? It’s just one little logo? That’s just it. It’s not JUST one little logo. Another term we designers use for a logo is Identity. It is the face of your business. You will use it on every printed and web marketing piece you create. So it is important to see it as an investment. A successful logo is simple, timeless and will last the life of your business. Don’t mistakenly equate simplicity with effort. Achieving effortless simplicity is often not effortless.
When a consumer sees a quality logo they expect that you can deliver a quality product. I have personally passed up a business simply because their presentation of themselves wasn’t professional looking. Am I guilty of judging a book by it’s cover? Yep. But like many consumers a first impression means a great deal in my decision making. A good logo or well designed business card tells me that you take your business serious. Which means to me that you will take me as a consumer serious. So you have to ask yourself what is a making a great first impression worth to you?
When I get a request for a logo design, I spend hours researching and learning all that I can about your area of business. What are similar companies doing? Hours are spent sketching, brainstorming and developing ideas that are competitive in your field yet maintain the personality and uniqueness of your business. I take the best of those ideas to my computer. Fonts and colors are purposefully selected. Many elements are taken into consideration. Will it stand out on an ad or brochure? Will it look good in black and white printing as well as color? Will it translate well tiny on a business card?
See the progression from first draft to approved logo to a 3-D sign.
95% of the time I create logos in vector. I literally draw them. What does that mean to you? It means that it can be printed using any variety of printing methods. It can be color separated for screen printers, vinyl cutters and sign makers. It can be enlarged for a billboard and still hold it’s original quality. I assign Pantone spot colors so the colors remain fairly consistent from project to project. I understand printing and will give you a logo that will work for all your needs.
Logo was developed for a new linen rental company that specialized in weddings. Client wanted elegant but modern.
I don’t just create logos for businesses but also for ministries and organizations. The approach is still the same. The same care is taken. I start out asking a series of questions about the nature of your business or organization. I may ask you to send me some logos that you like. I DON’T COPY LOGOS. I’ve had some request that I just swap out the names on something they have seen. It’s often illegal but mostly just plain unethical. I ask for samples simply because I’m a visual person. Many times I get ‘We want something that’s hip (or classy, simple, stands out)’ These terms are fairly relative. When you send me a sample of something that you like, it just gives me a better idea of what you’re looking for. From there I research, brainstorm, sketch (by hand) and create rough drafts in Illustrator (my vector drawing program). I will create 4-5 rough logos in a variety of directions for you to choose from and we narrow down and revise from there. We perfect the final logo and I send you a variety of files for your use.
Logo for a middle school ministry. Had to be colorful and hip. First drafts on the left. Final logo on the right.
Prepare time to make all this magic happen. I generally ask for 10 business days to get the first round of ideas to you. The time from that point depends on how well we communicated ideas. Hopefully you love one direction we make some minor changes and everything progresses quickly. Worst case scenario I go back to the drawing board – which truthfully happens from time to time but not often.
Here are a few that I have created over the last year.
Left, logo for youth camp. Right, logo for youth girl's ministry.
Left, logo for student Bible study series. Right, logo for a gym.
Hope this clears up some of the logo mystery that baffles so many people. Please contact me if you are interested in having a professional logo created for your business.
