What’s Fresh?

If you have ever found yourself curious about what kind of work is involved in a logo design, then this study might be of interest to you. I am going to take a logo graphic that I created for a client, and run you through the process step by step. So fasten your safety belts, this is going to be intense!

1. Soak Up Inspiration

In order to begin, you MUST place yourself inside the mind of a sponge. Once you have the project details from your client you can start opening your eyes to everything around you. There are so many incredible resources right at your fingertips, it would be a shame not to take full use of them. Here are a few places that I highly recommend looking into:

• iStockphoto – If you have already tried the main image search engines such as Google or Yahoo, try a stock photo site and you will find photography, illustration, video and more.
• LogoLounge Book Collection – These are essential for any designer interested in logo design. Each volume is organized neatly into different sections (i.e. “sports, shapes, enclosures, etc.”) for endless hours of browsing. Sometimes I will search through an entire book looking strictly for color schemes.
• Bookmarked Websites – If you aren’t as obsessive about organizing your bookmarks as I am, that’s okay. But my bookmark site feature sees a whole lot of action, and it really comes in handy when I need to get some great ideas or check out some trendy styles. Try LogoPond or Creattica, just to name a couple.
• Browse A Bookstore or Library – It wouldn’t hurt to step into the vast world of books and do some research on the subject matter for your logo design…

2. Sketch

Now that your brain is filled to the brim with ideas, it’s time to explore them through sketching. This is an ESSENTIAL step for any artist because it is the best method for unleashing your thoughts efficiently onto paper. These sketches will quickly tell you if they are worth exploring further as concepts. I recommend using graph paper, as this will make it easier to create custom typography and other precise illustrations. Here is an example of my sketches from the Bolt Flyers project.

3. Concept Exploration on the Big Screen

Next, I will scan my sketches, doodles, and illustrations in to my computer. This enables me to recreate the worthy concepts by tracing them with the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. This step is typically where I start getting picky with my work, deciding whether a certain sketch or idea is going to work. This is also an appropriate time to throw a bunch of different fonts onto your art board; I like to place them side by side to see which ones give off the right vibe.

Once you have some promising typefaces to work with, you can start pairing your type with your icon in various layouts. NOTE: I do not start working with color until the next step, these layout concepts should be created in black and white or grayscale so that you can give them ample contrast.

4. Organize, Finalize!

Once you have your layouts to choose from, it is a matter of choosing the most flexible one for the client’s purpose.