Logo Design

I love doing logo design.

Particularly when one has such delicious subject matter to deal with!

David Airey is a graphic designer whose work I really admire, and he is well respected throughout the industry.

He set out 5 principles for good logo design in a recent blog post:

1. It’s describable
2. It’s memorable
3. It’s effective without colour
4. It’s scalable (works whether it’s large or small)
5. It’s relevant to the industry in question

You can read the rest of his post here.

I agree with all of the above points, but in the practice of designing a logo, sometimes it’s difficult to bring these points across when you have a client who has just started their very first business, and has an idea of what they want their logo to look like, and that ‘look’ has all sorts of gradients and drop shadows in it.

However, having said that, even though as a designer we may know what is best (or think we do!) ultimately, my goal is to make sure I have a happy client who is going to recommend my services to everyone they meet.

This is why it’s important to present at least three concepts to a client. I usually present 2 which go along with the principles of good design, and then a third, which is exactly what the client asks for.

More often than not, the finished design will be somewhere toward my side of the scale, but still in a place that the client is delighted with.

Ultimately, it’s great to be able to bring a client around to your way of thinking. But if they leave your studio with a design with which they are going to sing your praises, and they have paid your bill in full, then consider it a job well done.

Here is a recent logo that I am still working on for a client.

The text still needs quite a bit of work, and right now the client has a preference for the last one in the series which I am glad about, as it will work beautifully in grayscale, and the entire concept has yet to be finalised, but so far so good!

Incidentally the background for this preview was thrown together quickly to best show off the logo designs with corresponding colours, and the client likes it so much that I’m going to incorporate it into the final website design as well.