Sometimes it’s best to turn to the experts for advice.

Will Kaufman is a fantastic photographer, graphic designer, and marketing genius.  He’s currently working for Newton Marketing in Boston, as well as running his own business, WSK Photography and design.   (Check out some of the work in his portfolio!) His photographs and design work range from fine art to commercial – he’s designed for industries from fashion to real estate.  Will is an expert in branding, logo design and product promotion.  You can see why I asked him for help as I was working on a new logo.  He’s full of amazing ideas, so I asked him to write a mini-series of articles as a guest blogger.  Here’s his first article, How to Design a Great Logo- Enjoy!

The Man Himself.

“Designing a logo is really difficult! Creating an emblem that embodies every aspect of a brand—its products, personality and personnel—in a clean, clear and even clairvoyant capacity is a function of diligent work. So, the truth is, if you design the perfect logo on your first try, you probably didn’t!

Whenever I try to design a logo I usually think I know what I want before I start. However, through experience I have learned that chasing after the perfect logo from square (or sketch) one, almost never works and is ultimately a waste of time. Here are the steps I follow when taking on this tremendous branding responsibility:

1. Research your favorite brands, from jewelry companies to car companies, and figure out what they are doing with their design. Really analyze them. What kind of typography are they using? How are different elements stylized? Heavy or light? Large or small? Organic or synthetic? Dynamic or static? Now you will know more about what you like, and what you don’t like.

2. Now list five to ten individual words that describe your brand. Next, make a list of three to five words for each of your favorite brands’ logos. Make sure to write your brand’s list of descriptors first. You do not want any interference from your favorite logos—you want them to help you find what elements of design correlate with what you think your brand is about.

3. Time for the sketching phase! Grab four or five 8.5×11 pieces of paper and make 20 little boxes on them (4 by 5). You now have 80 or 100 blank slates in front of you… go for it. Really, go for it! With your research in mind, make a minimum of fifty quick sketches. Do not spend more than three minutes per sketch; you can always go back to a specific idea or layout later, and you will. Push yourself to spew as many variations as you can muster—mix and match different fonts, stylizations and layouts.

4. After you have a healthy crop of sketches, you can harvest your favorite looks and feels. If you can’t find more than five different looking designs that you like, then you should sketch more. Study your top five sketches—time to figure out what elements of them you like and sketch another twenty to fifty variations that mix those elements up.

5. We are getting close to the final version now! Find your top three logos from step four and decide witch is the closest to what you want. Choose that design and finalize it. Things to remember while finalizing your design: this emblem should contain the elements that represent the words you found in step two and symbolize what your brand stands for.  Also, remember, your logo should be able to carry from a billboard or store sign to a letterhead or seal and still retain its impact on the viewer.

At any rate, the good news is there are millions of terrible logos out there… so, you have a good chance at not creating the worst logo ever 😉 Good luck everyone!

Best,

Will”