Guest Post by Francesca StaAna
Image credit: Bazstyle | Photography on Flickr
At first glance, hiring someone to come up with a logo design for your business may seem like a piece of cake. All you need to do is find a graphic designer, tell them to do their magic, and you’re all set, right?
Not quite.
For logo design projects, you need to recognize that your graphic designer can’t do all the work. Sure, they can take care of the technical stuff, but as the client, you’ll have to come up with a clear vision and you need to find a way to effectively communicate that to your designer.
The fact is most of the work that you need to put into the project will happen BEFORE you even officially hire someone. Below are a few things that you need to take care of prior to getting on the phone with a graphic designer:
How to Communicate With Graphic Designers
- Define your business – Be clear about how you want to come across. What is your business all about and what impression do you want to give customers? What sets you apart from the competition? Having a clear logo vision starts with these questions, so be sure you have this first step covered even before searching for a graphic designer.
- Know what you want in a logo – Make a list of things that you want and don’t want in your logo. This could include colors as well as specific design elements (i.e. do you want your logo to be boxy, soft, etc). You should also start thinking about the type of logo that you’d like to have. Do you want your business name spelled out (think Google or Visa) or would you prefer an image or symbol in your logo instead? (Think Toyota or Apple.) Not sure about what you want? Check out your competition. Look at companies that offer similar products or services and determine what you like or dislike about their logos. Be sure to bookmark the ones that you like for easy access. Knowing these things beforehand will make communication with your designer immensely easier and will increase the chances of you getting the logo you want without too much back and forth and revisions.
- Know your customers – It’s great that you know what YOU want, but before you move forward, make sure that your customers are on board with your vision as well. After all, they are the ones you’re trying to sell to. Do a survey with your customers (or with people that belong in your target demographic) and ask them what they think about your current logo. If you don’t have one yet, show them logos from similar businesses and gather their opinions.
Post-Production Communication
Once you hire someone…
Now that you already have a clear, customer-approved vision of what you want in your logo, it’s time to communicate it with your graphic designer. Here are a couple of tips to help make that process as smooth as possible:
- Show, don’t tell – Remember those logos that you bookmarked? They will come in very handy in this part of the design process. Always be as visual as you can when communicating with your designer. You won’t really be able to put your entire vision into words, so you need to let other designs do the talking. Show them the other logos and specify the things about them that you like. Use them to show your designer the particular color shade that you’re looking for, the logo “feel” that you want to have, etc.
- Provide detailed comments and feedback – Not 100% sold on the logos that your graphic designer came up with? Be sure to break it down for them. When providing feedback, specify the things that you’d like to keep and the aspects that you want to change. Again, use images to illustrate your point whenever possible.
Author Bio: Francesca StaAna is from LocalPages, a small business directory that helps consumers find and connect with local businesses. Connect with her on Google Plus.