This is a follow up to my original post: “Thoughts on logo design”

DISCOVERY

First we have the discovery phase. At this point in time we find out what personal brands client trends towards. What car does he or she drive, prefer, buy and really like. What restaurants do they frequent and enjoy. In this instance we would find out specific brands he or she purchases for their business. Also, what logos can they visualize in their head. In doing so we help identify the brands and styles this individual enjoys. This helps guide us to making a logo that represents our client. We also discover the the intricacies of the business operation and use these ideas as keywords in developing a logo.

After discovery we begin the design process:

Logo design process – we have an 8/4/2/1 process

This means, we start with 8 unique logos in the first round and narrow it down each time around. A less expensive option would be the 4/2/1 process.
ROUND I

8 unique logos are delivered for round I

We ask the client what elements they like from each logo and refine for round II.

ROUND II

4 logo revisions for round II.
Again, we get feedback and revise these iterations.

ROUND III

2 revisions for round III
more feedback and fine tuning the designs.

FINAL ROUND

1 final design

Time Frame: This really depends on the speed at which we get feedback for each phase. Overall time should be from 3-6 weeks depending on client response time.

Format: The logo will be a vector drawing which will allow for scalability from business card small to billboard size large.

Additional Logo Design Thoughts:

Some additional thoughts on good logo design. You want to make sure the logo works well “small” and in black and white. Think of some popular logos; Apple, McDonalds, FedEx, Nike, Target and VW, to name a few. All of these logos started out more complex then their current iteration and worked towards simplicity. What these companies have down over time is simplify the design. All of these examples work well with 1 color, which you have to keep in mind for printing and reproduction. In my opinion, what makes them successful is the simplicity. Anyone, regardless of art background, should be able to look at a logo for 3 seconds and be able to draw the basic concept of the logo. Your brain should be able to process *all* the elements of a logo by simply glancing at it.

Here’s a really good article:

Why Professional Logo Design Doesn’t cost $5

nice point, a good logo is, “describable, memorable, effective without colour and scalable.“