It is often the case that if you ask a customer why they need a logo in the first place, they may not know the answer. After all, every company needs a logo. As a new company, you may feel that it is impossible to operate without a logo. Replacing an old logo may give you the feeling that maybe it will improve your business. Often it does. But “just a logo” alone will not save a company.
The deeper point of this question is to find out what you want this logo to achieve for your business? Should it be an additional tool to promote your activities? Or are you planning to rebuild your entire service around this logo? Is the logo going to be displayed on big posters and banners, or is it just going to be an Instagram profile picture and a matter of will? Do you already have a working product/service or are you trying to save a dying business? This all strongly influences the steps you should take. So, before ordering a logo, you should definitely think about questions like these:
These are just a few sample questions to think about, but they will give you a first clue as to whether the logo is the magic wand that will get your turnover back on track, or whether you should start with more significant changes somewhere in your company’s structure, products or strategies?
When producing logos, websites and other promotional materials, many designers, designers, developers have probably come into contact with clients who have been commissioned in a haphazard or ill-considered way. Unfortunately, if the product is incomplete, the marketing strategy has not been thought through, or the team’s own motivation is low, then a very good logo, a nice website or a banner on a major highway alone will often not be successful. When we see this happening, we try to help the client with advice and support to ensure that the design work we have done can continue to bear fruit and fulfil its full potential.
If you come to the conclusion that yes, updating or creating your company’s visual identity is exactly what you need, you need to think about what it should be.
Often people look to generators or inspirational stock logos before really thinking in their heads, creating a picture of the so-called ideal logo in their mind’s eye. The ideal logo in this case is the average of everything you’ve seen in your brief Google search. It’s a good way to find out what your competitors’ logos look like, whether they work, what you should try and what you should avoid, but when it comes to ordering the perfect logo for your company, you shouldn’t start with visual inspiration, but with what your company is really like internally.
This is where the invisible barrier between the information you need and the spiritual and intellectual art-hipster’s “ooh-hawk” can quickly be crossed for some people, but the more you understand your own needs and the nature and soul of your business, the more accurate a logo designer can make for you. If the client has a good mind and is able to approach the logo design process conceptually, you can be sure that the result will be a really good one. Here are a few examples of things to think about before ordering a logo or other visuals:
These questions can be gone into in detail, but there is no need to go too deep. The important thing is that you can put together a small profile of your business that can be used as a basis for a designer to start working. If information is already publicly available about the company, the designer will do this if possible, but your input as a client and your own sense of your company’s image is key and will help us to create a much better logo or other visual.
Necessity is one thing, but as the person behind the business has his or her own aesthetic and fundamental preferences and tastes, you have to think at the most basic level. That is, the things you like a lot and the things you don’t like at all. The designer may suggest all sorts of shapes, concepts, colour schemes and ideas based on his or her best judgement, but in the end, you have to be completely happy with the logo. It’s perfectly okay to say to your designer, “hey, I think that green is really ugly” and they’ll come up with a new solution. Even if he’s come up with his own great story to use the green. However, it’s worth taking those big stories into account and making allowances for the designer’s ideas in the meantime. What’s best for the business may not always be 100% in line with your own aesthetic ideals. Finding a balance is key here.
Before ordering a logo, make sure you think about these simplest things. For example, that you would really like your logo to use blue and red and definitely not green. Or that you’d really like some kind of fierce mascot, and any kind of over-enthusiastic abstract nonsense doesn’t appeal to you at all. For a designer, these may not be obvious choices at all based on their personal preferences, and it is worth remembering that the designer cannot read the client’s mind in this respect.
When a designer sends you a bunch of questions or a form to fill in, it can seem like a complex and difficult task. You might even feel like, “What am I paying you for if I have to do all the work for you?” and that’s understandable. However, it is worth remembering that when commissioning a logo, the client and the designer need to work closely together and understand each other’s needs and skills. As much as they help the designer to make a good logo for you, comprehensive forms are also for you as the client, to help you better understand your needs and desires, so that you can be both an informed design client and a successful entrepreneur.
For us, the form part is simple. As an e-shop type solution, all the fields are given to you right away, and they are added or removed according to the data you fill in. This helps to keep the whole ordering process simple and logical, and ensures that we get the information we need. It also makes the customer think more carefully, so the end result is much better. Using our system helps to avoid unnecessary back and forth correspondence and reduces endless feedback loops and changes, because with a well-filled out form, both client and designer are on the same page.
The creation of a logo should not be just a mandatory step to get up and running quickly, but requires careful thought about the role it plays in a company’s identity. Clients often order a logo just for the sake of ordering a logo, but in reality it is important to assess whether the logo is a solution to a specific problem or just a superficial improvement. Important questions that should be answered before ordering:
A logo alone is not an all-powerful solution, but part of a broader strategy. To be successful, it is essential to have close collaboration between the client and the designer, thorough preparation (including company profiling), and an understanding that design is not a magic bullet to fix all problems, but a tool to support the long-term goals of the company. If the client is already aware of the issues and has thought through the issues when commissioning the logo, then we can provide the best possible service and experience.
If what you’ve read has made you think it’s time to order a new logo for your business, check out our services, choose the package that’s right for you, and we’ll make you a great-looking, functional logo that you can use anywhere, with no hassle. If you have any questions about what you’ve read, or if you’d like to order any of our other design services, contact us!
