Logo design is a complex Process. Basically, it’s a symbol, shape or other elements associated with a brand or company identity, presenting the brand in a certain graphic way. The logo is an important issue for companies, customers and designers alike – as the brand’s core values take a visual form in the logo design.
A good logo design is more a creative process than technical. The technical aspect can be rather simple – matching the colors and fonts, drawing and positioning some shapes, and that’s mostly it, a couple of hours at most. The real work in a logo design is the brainstorming, thought-provoking creative process. The “Why” behind every visual aspect of the design.
A good logo is recognizable, has a strong statement, associated with a brand or company’s values. For example, a company that manufactures building materials could use bold, solid fonts and add a shape of a brick wall or roof tiles alongside the company name. However, an ecological company could use a certain green color scheme and add a leaf symbol. This way, logo design incorporates some human preconditions and age-old standards (like a brick or a leaf), which stir certain emotions and recognition in the viewer’s mind.
Additionally, logo designers must remember that the company might want to incorporate the logo in various physical and digital mediums, such as clothing, stationary, billboards, websites, TV commercials, vehicles, and more. Therefore, the logo design must fit a wide range of products and sizes.
The Challenges of a Logo Designer
1. Customer satisfaction
One of the key issues in any design for a client is the customer satisfaction. A designer may spend hours designing high quality graphics, and end up with customer disappointment. This problem is usually solved by having client meetings for brainstorming, guidelines and sketches, often produced by the clients themselves. When clients are not involved in the work process, it’s often a major factor for dissatisfaction, and a waste of time and resources for the designer, in addition to the discomfort and personal failure that the designer might feel.
2. Choosing the right design software tools
Choosing the design software could also be a major obstacle. In order to design a high quality logo, a designer must master the various graphic software and tools. Usually, quick sketches are designed in Adobe Photoshop, and the final version is designed in a vector based software, such as Adobe Illustrator. As mentioned above, logo design is usually more creative than technical, because logo designs are much less complex than newspaper ad designs, websites, fliers, etc.
Additional challenges that a designer might encounter is the need to purchase unique fonts or existing designs in order to edit them and shape them for the logo creation (Such as a costly vector drawing needed for the design). In most cases, clients want something unique that is not found elsewhere, so they will prefer a special font or design a specific letter in the company name.
3. Difficulty creating a design that matches the client thinking
Many times clients contact a designer for a logo with special design requirements. For example, the client might request that their logo have a connection to a certain product line, or the core values of their company. This might be a problem, as the designer is limited in terms of creativity, and the technical options that the software is capable of. Sometimes, a designer must balance the client’s demands with reality. For example, a client with a website that provides online apparel products, might want a logo design that includes the company name in English and Spanish, in addition to an image of a computer mouse drawn on a coat worn by a particular model he chooses. In addition, the logo must contain his first name next to the image.
In this case, the designer must guide the client towards more realistic expectations and suggest a cleaner design with simple elements. The designer can guide the client with questions such as “Is an element of online shopping more important to you than the model?”, or “Is English wording enough for most customers, or do you really need another language?”.
Remember, creating a clear and effective logo for the client and his customers, will eventually lead to your success as a graphic designer, and attract more clients.