Logo Process - What's yours?

This goes out to all the logo designers or anyone that has a fair share of their time vested in the making of a good logo.

By the way, I do all my marks in Xara!

There are times when I DUST off Illy but that is a rare occasion.

I'm curious at to what everyone does in the design process of a mark..

I find logos very rewarding! I have been lucky to create some very good marks for some bigger corporations - tho I can't list some of my best ones as I designed them as a ghost, so I must respect the anonymity of the client(s) - ;)

I myself, take time to research, and do all I can to implement the best things to convey the meaning within the mark.

I really enjoy the slight implications in a mark, like a punch here or curve there.. that says everything..

So for instance, I have a logo I'm doing for a marketing company.

First thing that comes to my mind's eye is the arrow going up and expressing growth and profit..

Nah!!! I finally settle on a abstract mark "Icon" to the left of the type and then did a custom typeface to fit the mark..

First shot and hit a home run! "It's always a nice extra when you and your client agrees upon a concept."

It's really funny for me as my approach is different with each concept!

But, my base process goes as follows:

- Get a detailed brief! " my questionnaire is pretty detailed"
- feedback from client!
- Start to research. " I do an extensive research on the field"
- feedback from client!
- Start to sketch. "I like to put ideas to pencil and paper first"
- feedback from client!
- Start the process of implementing what I have gathered.
- feedback from client!
- And finally, hitting the mark and getting to the revisions.

I also take in the psychology and symbolism behind colors, which can be a bit hard as each culture is different..

I must mention the thing that annoys me the most, when I know that something is best suited, BUT! they want a crappy web 2.0 with gloss and a refection type of thing! UGH!

Look forward to you guys sharing your process and experiences..

Mindseye.

To me, a logo normally only consists of shapes and a basic combination of 1, 2 or at most 3 solid colours. The "glossy" and "Web 2.0" thing is just one particular way of "implementing" a logo... (just wanted to give feedback on your last remark :))

You may find that people won't want to give up this information easily.
Their method is probably unique and is what sets them apart from everyone else.
It is a little like asking a chief for the recipe to his secret sauce!

- Andy

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they want a crappy web 2.0 with gloss and a refection type of thing! UGH!

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I don't know, mindseye, that avatar you are using is pretty glossy and reflective! [;)]

I agree with what you've said here for the most part. So many "normal" people don't think about what colors mean - whether implied via psychology or via real-world associations or both. They also don't understand that "blue" doesn't really describe the color they think they want.

I was working with a guy once and needed to do something with his non-logo and, considering that it was a skin-care product site that was to be created to go with this branding, I was thinking neutrals with a few pops of something bright but light. The current logo was primary blue, brightest yellow and red. 255,0,0,0 kind of thing... - like when you only 16 colors in Paint to choose from, anyway - not appropriate for cosmetics and bath oils!

My technique is to create a ton of ideas. OK, maybe not a ton, but a lot more than I would think sufficient. Then I create some more.

From this pile I cull out the designs that have promise and refine these designs.

I usually present 6-12 designs to a client.

Lesson learned: Never present a design to a client that you would not want your name associated with. That is almost always the design they'll buy. ;))