logo design process (part 2)

news | January 15th, 2011 | 0 Comments

i know it has been a few months already (and i finished this logo a long long time ago), but here is the rest of the design process for a logo. to see the first post, check it out here.

the big decision:
i will tell you this and so will most other designers: 99% of the time, clients will choose the design you least like out of the ones you propose to them. hey, they might all be cool concepts, but there’s always one that really resonates with you and just doesn’t with them. this is where the fun begins. you have two choices: to either shrug it off and just go with the flow (the no questions asked method) or to use this opportunity to explain your point of view as a designer and even possibly educate the client about basic design. i prefer the latter for a few reasons, but for the most part, i find that it leaves us both satisfied with the design in the end when we talk things through. and hey, half the time the client says “you know, i never thought of it that way before. i trust you, so let’s go with the one you like best.”

here is the one they decided to go with after we talked things through. even though i personally liked a different one, i also liked this one too and the reasons they chose it were valid (unlike some people who call for more bold more shine)

of course, this final version of the logo came after many many revisions. some clients only really need a couple. other clients need to see every little change because it’s hard for them to visualize it. color changes, text changes / modifications, all sorts of tweaks.

the finishing touches:
after choosing a final logo that they were happy with, i created png and jpg versions for them to easily implement onto their website. i also made sure my .ai file was tidy and neat and easily editable if they needed future changes. i learned to do this after working at a print shop for a year. day after day i would receive these crap design files from “designers.” don’t get me wrong, the designs were nice. the files were ridiculously hard to edit, fonts were missing because text wasnt outlined, layers and objects were thrown around… and colors, transparency, and all sorts of other things would prevent the design from being printed out properly.

do not send your clients the files until they send you the money. here’s the order of how things work: they are happy and you are happy with the designs. they send you the final payment. you send them the design files nicely named and zipped. then you make sure to follow up with an email saying something like this:

dear awesome client,
thanks for working with me on this project. i really enjoyed working with you. if youre ever looking for design work in the future, feel free to email me. i design business cards, flyers, posters, websites…..

you’ll be amazed at how a small two sentence email like this can bring clients back.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.