- When I'm designing logos in the early stages,
I typically like to look at how my logo designs
can work in a variety of compositions,
so I can explore and test my design
to see which ones I think work the best.
Now, it's important to mention
that I would not show lots of logo versions
of a single logo design to a client.
Developing lots of versions in the early stage,
is just for my own development
to test and develop my design.
Once I get to a stage,
where I feel I have developed enough options
and I have created something
that I think are working really well,
I will then look to choose the best design
in preparation to build a proposal document
ready to show the client.
Over the past few episodes,
I demonstrated how I took my scamp designs
and develop them into finished artwork in illustrator.
Now, it's time to reflect on the work
we have done up to this point and decide on which logo
we are going to showcase to a client.
In this video, I'm going to reflect on my logo design
and discuss some of the things we can keep in mind
when choosing our logos.
So let's get into it.
(gentle music)
So here I am with my design process checklist.
Once I'm happy with the logo compositions I have created,
and we have checked the task,
I can now move on to task two in step three of phase three.
The third step in the visual artwork and design phase
is finalize logo compositions.
In this video, we are going to focus on task two,
decide on a logo design.
So by this point on the course,
if you're following along with your own design
we should now have a few versions
of our logo design to consider.
Looking at my scamps
I created earlier in the design process,
we can see I had a few ideas
of how I thought the logo could work
for this particular design.
And here are my finished logo design versions
I have developed in illustrator
with a few new versions I have developed along the way.
If you want to take a closer look at my logo artwork,
you can find them in the course folder.
The course folder,
comes with my complete logo design solution
I will be demonstrating on this course,
including all my design example files
and documents at each step to aid your learning experience.
The folder also comes with design resources,
such as a logo design process checklist,
process documents and templates,
a project folder structure, color sample charts,
and a logo proposal document example.
All of which you can not only learn from,
but use in your own design process.
To get the full learning experience
and use the resources to help develop your own logo project,
I recommend you get the course folder.
Download link with instructions is in the description.
So when the course folder open
click into the design process example folder,
click into the Design folder,
into the Artwork and Design folder,
into the Route1 folder, into the Form folder,
into the Versions folder
and click on the illustrator doc labeled
example local versions.
And you will have the same document I have open here.
So now I need to decide on which one I'm going to go with.
As a general rule,
we don't want to show too many logo options
for one design to a client, this can be too overwhelming.
At the end of the day,
it's our job as a designer to be decisive
and choose which one we think is right
and get behind that 100%.
We really don't want to put a bunch of logos
in front of a client and just ask them to pick one,
that looks like
we are just asking them to do our job for us.
As designers, we should be confident in our own work
and make a clear decision for them for good reasons.
Now, when it comes to deciding on a logo design,
there can be a lot of factors that need to be considered.
Also, it can be very subjective.
If we showed our logo design to a thousand people,
we would get a lot of mixed reviews.
So when choosing a design,
I try not to pick one that I think I like,
but try to pick one I think works the best,
is the most appropriate
and is the most versatile for the context.
So now I'm going to quickly reflect
on my logo options I have here.
So for me personally, for number one,
this is a standard combination mark.
So we can feel confident this will be versatile
and works very similar
to how lots of combination marks work.
Overall, I think it looks great.
However, I do feel it's a bit cliche.
There is nothing particularly original
and exciting about the composition.
A lot of logos look like this, which is fine,
but we do want to try and do something
a bit more exciting here for a music festival.
For number two, I think the emblem logo works really well,
because it's like a badge
keeping in mind that this logo is for a music festival
and this would be really versatile.
I could see this logo working really well in large format,
as well as small.
I could see this as a sticker or a print on a t-shirt,
on a big flag and in big neon lights.
I think this one would look great on merchandise too.
It's a really nice self-contained lockup.
For number three, I think this is a bit more alternative
and not the obvious choice.
Again, keeping in mind that the logo
is for a music festival.
This does feel a little bit more unorthodox
and contemporary, which I think could work well.
Again, I could see this logo working really well
in large format as a sticker or a print on a t-shirt
and on a big flag and so on.
However, is stacking the logo like this
immediately legible?
For number four, this is an alternative to number three,
which looks to place the logo mark more simply
to the left of the stack to type.
For number five, this is an attempt to stack number four,
so it can fit more into a tighter space.
But personally, I like to stack letters,
but I wonder if it's immediately legible.
For number six, again, we have another example
that is a bit more alternative and not the obvious choice.
For number seven, I am considering another way,
how the wordmark could pair with the logo mark
in a more unorthodox composition.
For number eight, I think this is a really fun way
of incorporating the elements together.
I could see this one working really well
in large horizontal format as a banner
or down the side of a big poster.
And for number nine,
again we have another unorthodox composition
where I am considering an alternative way
the wordmark could pair with logo mark.
So lots of things to consider here.
So which logo am I going to go forward with?
So in this instance, I'm finding a tricky
as I think they all have some good qualities.
Now, to help me decide,
I always ask myself the following questions:
which one is the most appropriate,
which is the most versatile
and which matches the brief requirements the most?
When deciding on my logo design,
I'll always make sure I have good design reasons
for my choice and not personal preferences,
such as likes and personal tastes.
So for this project,
I'm designing a logo for a music festival.
The brief requires something contemporary,
fresh and exciting.
So I feel I need to go with the design
that is a little more unexpected and memorable
with a lot of impact
and that's going to be really versatile.
Also, this is a design for a music festival,
which is going to have a large range of collateral
across print and digital.
So for me, my conclusion is,
I'm going to present logo one to an eight as a set,
as I think these three logo permutations
would work really well across a variety of media.
Now, it's not uncommon for some brands
to have a few permutations of a logo design,
so they can be used in a variety of contexts
for best results.
Initially, I'm thinking logo two takes the most boxes.
For a music festival, I think it would work really well.
It's the most versatile out of the bunch,
it's great as a badge,
it works well in small and large formats
and would work well on merchandise,
which is what the music festival is planning to do a lot of.
Now, I also think logo eight works really well
because it's a really fun way to mix the elements together
that would work harder than logo two
in shorter, wider format.
So even though I think logos three, four,
five and seven are cool,
there are some doubts over legibility.
So on this occasion,
I'm going to go with one, two and eight.
Now, keep in mind,
some of you watching may disagree with the choices I made
and if you did, that's okay.
At the end of the day, if you're working on a project,
it will ultimately be your prerogative
to decide on what you think is best
or maybe you will be working as part of a larger team.
You may have a few logo options, which are all working well,
so there may be no right or wrong choice.
What's right, is your choice and what you think works.
Just be decisive and get behind your design 100%,
believe in your choice
and make sure you have good reasons for your choice.
Because if a client or anyone else
does not like your design,
be ready to back it up with good reasons.
Good reasons for design
will always trump likes and personal tastes.
(gentle music)
In this video, I reviewed an ask myself these questions
in regards to my design.
Now, you are welcome to follow along with my example,
but if you're following along with your own design,
I would recommend you ask yourself the same questions
for your design and choose a logo design
you can take forward into the next phase.
So if you're following along with your own design idea,
take a pause and carry out your process.
Before moving on, make a decision on your final logo choice
and once you've decided on your design, let's continue.
So those are the questions I typically ask myself
and how I decide on which logo design to go with.
When deciding on my logo design,
I'll always make sure I have good reasons for my choice
and not personal preferences,
such as likes and personal tastes.
Now, once I have decided on my logo design,
the hardest part is over.
However, there are still a few things
I need to do to get the logo in a finished position,
ready to present to the client.
Now, some of you may be wondering what about color?
And you would be right.
Now, I have my finished artwork in the bag
and a chosen logo design
I can now focus on completing my logo and think about color.
Now, color is a huge part of logo design,
and I always like to wait until I have the form factor
of my logo sorted and a chosen logo before I think about it.
With my finished artwork and a chosen logo design,
I can now focus on color.
So in the next video,
I'm going to demonstrate how I think about color,
how I consider color and choose color for my logo design.
So see you in the next video.
(upbeat music)