What Do Designers Do? – How Logo Designers Make Logos

What Do Designers Do?

A company logo is reputedly the most important part of your business.

A bad one could sink you, while an excellent one will set you up for life. But in terms of developing a logo, what types of skills do designers need? 

Some of the best logos out there are so simple, it can seem like child’s play to the uninitiated. Plus, most designers have super-advanced software programmes like Illustrator and Photoshop which basically do the whole thing for you in five minutes… right?

Well, contrary to how it may appear, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. 

We’ll take you from concept to completion to show you what it really takes to make a logo…

Say hello to our fictional company – Wine House! They’re in a need of a new logo and we’ve set them up with a fictional designer to complete their project…
(P.S – Our fictional company logo is nowhere near as polished or refined as a professional logo created by an experienced designer would be – but, you’ll get a general idea.)

So how does it start? We’re here to bust a few myths when it comes to crafting a company identity.

1. Research

What do designers do to start off their design process? Well, whether it’s a logo design process or a graphic design process – good research is vital. 

First, the designer and client will sit down together and discuss the project requirements. The client will outline their personal style, taste and tell the designer a little bit about what their company does.

Our fake company, Wine House, are a high street wine shop.
They’re a family run business spanning 2 generations, who want to reflect this with classic, formal colours and a logo that depicts what they sell.

Straight away, the ever-so-talented designer will begin to get a good feel for the company and build a picture of what the client wants.

After the meeting, the designer will go through these next steps:

1. Research some more: Competitors in the industry will need to be researched: what other wine shops are out there? Who’s operating in the local area?
   This stuff is important, as you’ll want your logo to a.) stand out from competitors and b.) not accidentally look exactly the same (hello lawsuit…) 
2. Get some inspiration: The designer will probably do some research into icons, pictograms, illustrations and logomarks (sites like Behance, Dribbble and Pinterest are amazing for design research.) 
   For example, for the Wine House logo, our designer researched “wine” and “houses“…
3. Share findings with the client: Ultimately, every designer does research differently. Some use books, whilst some designers create mood boards, (collections of colours, logos, fonts and images that match a certain look or style), specifically for their clients. Sharing their process with the client ensures the client is going to like what they create before any design work has been undertaken.

2. Sketches

Did you think everything was achieved on the computer these days? Not so, my friend, not so.

One of the quickest ways to get a concept down is to put pencil to paper. In fact, the designer may have even started to sketch out initial ideas during the research phase.

Sketching is important as the designer can get lots of ideas recorded down quickly, not to mention get those creative juices flowing!

Some designers send their initial sketch ideas along to their client when they present their finished logos to them. Sketches show that although only one finished logo is produced, there were actually many ideas and concepts that went into the design process. This is a part of the process that’s often lost on clients, since they only usually see the end product.

‘Why make so many logo ideas if you only end up using one?’ you may ask.

Well, multiple ideas need to be created in order to see which one actually works the best. You can compare them all against each other and the best designs will instantly stand out. If you settle for the first idea you happen upon, you’ll never know whether there’s a more effective design out there for you…

3. Initial concepts

It’s evident by now, that a logo is made up of many different factors – creating a logo that’s mediocre is one thing, but designing a logo that’s top-quality (from scratch) is another.

From those initial sketches, a few strong ideas will be taken forward and fleshed out in a computer software package, usually Adobe Illustrator as this produces vector artwork that is most suitable for logos. Then, the designer will develop and expand their original ideas to look more like a real logo. These are all still concepts though, so they may look a little rough around the edges…

The initial logo concepts will be the first artwork that is shown to the client – with the designer potentially showing a range of concepts and ideas here. The designer and client will then have a feedback session to discuss the concepts, so the designer can talk through the ideas behind each design and the client can have their say.

The client will decide which of the logo concepts they like best, and these will be taken forward and developed into a more polished logo. By this stage, it might be clear which will be the winning logo, or the client may still need to see a few designs refined before they can decide.

4. Refining chosen concepts

The next step is to refine the chosen concepts into fully formed logos. Depending on how the feedback session went, the client may have suggested multiple changes, so these will need to be incorporated into the design.

This is the stage of making a logo that really takes time. This is when the designer makes those rough concepts look polished and professional, playing around with multiple colourways and fonts, seeking out what works best for the company and brand. They will also test whether the logo will work on a dark/light background and at different sizes.

If the client is very sure of what they want, this stage can be completed rather quickly. However, if the client is still unsure what they want their finished logo to look like, this stage might require more revisions and versions of the logo to be made.

Once everything is complete, and you have yourself a brand new, sample logo that’s ready to go, the designer will once again sit down with their client and review the refined logo designs. From here the client will need to choose the concept that they want to take forward into a finished logo.

5. The completed logo

The final stage of the process is to make any last changes requested by the client and add the finishing touches to the chosen logo concept.

The client is now happy with the logo design (phew!) and this stage is all about finishing up loose ends, i.e. checking and double-checking for mistakes or typos.

The logo now needs to be just perfect, because, after this, the logo will be out in the wild where it’ll be used for all of the company’s branding. Any mistakes will reflect badly on the designer – so, no pressure.

Every designer is different, but many make a special presentation document to hand over the final logo to the clients. This includes their logo set out in various formats, colour palettes, typography, and any other branding design decisions that were made during the process.

What do designers do once the logo is perfected? The designer then goes about preparing it for the client. The client will usually need the logo in a variety of file types and formats. For any given logo there are often many versions of it that need to be created:

• Version for print (CMYK)
• Version for digital (RGB)
• Version for small sizes (often simplified, and detailed elements removed)
• Version for large sizes
• A version that works on dark backgrounds
• A version that works on light backgrounds
• Different combinations, such as with text, without text, text-only etc.

There could also be many, many more – the designer will need to clarify everything with the client. The client will need to be able to use their logo in ANY situation, so the designer needs to be able to future-proof for this.

So, when you ask yourself what do designers do? Hopefully, you’ll have more of a realised idea – and the answer is plenty! 

A new logo design is a great starting point for improving other areas of the client’s company. The logo can be used as a basis for implementing further branding changes like stationery, business cards, signs, websites and more – not to mention a great brand identity is never a bad thing… 

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