10 Questions to ask yourself before you hire a logo designer
So you need an awesome logo? That’s great news! You are taking an important step toward creating a brand for your business or new idea, and that’s exciting!
Designing a good logo involves some work and a bit of research. You’ll want to put some thought into your logo, not only because you want it to look nice, but it will be the name and face of your brand. We all know how important first impressions are, right?
What makes a good logo?
Let’s quickly go through some of the aspects of what constitutes a good logo and maybe help you get some of the lingo down before you start talking to a designer. A logo involves the name of your product or business, and can include (but not always) these important items:
- A color pallet that represents and communicates your brand (Playful, serious, innovative, trustworthy, etc.)
- Typography or font
- An image or icon/mark
- and a tag line.
Each of these requires some thought, so we’ll go through a few questions you can ask yourself about your brand and to decide what you want your logo to end up looking like.
Here are 10 questions that can help you and your designer nail your new logo project:
You will find these similar questions in what’s usually called a Creative Brief. I use these before I start many different design projects that relate to branding. These questions are not unique to my process and you’ll find that most designers use these same questions or similar. Here are my favorites that I find are useful to me.
1. What is your service and product?
You know your business better than anyone so write down what your business represents and what kind of service or product you will offer to your customers or clients. Obviously, you will want to tell your designer the name of your company or product.
2. Who are your competitors?
If your designer knows who your competitors are he/she can do some research to get a feel for how they display and represent their brand. If you hire the right designer, he/she should put in the effort to set your logo and brand apart from your competitors, while also designing a logo appropriate for that industry.
3. Who is your audience, and demographic?
Think about who will be buying your product and service. What is their lifestyle? How old are they? Where do they live? Are you targeting women between the ages of 45-60 with a sweet tooth for cake bites? Or a young male 18-25, skater boy who listens to ‘Tyler, The Creator’? Those two logos are going to look very different, trust me!
4. What kind of personality and characteristics best describe your brand?
Are you contemporary with high energy? Or traditional and established? The best way to figure this out is to complete a brand spectrum worksheet. It looks something like this…
| Circle the number that most closely matches your brand | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Friendly) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Professional) |
| (Energetic) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Careful, Planning) |
| (Modern/High Tech) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Classic and Timeless) |
| (Cutting Edge) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Established) |
| (Fun and Happy) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Serious) |
| (Accessible to all) | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | (Upscale) |
Not one characteristic is better than the other. The most important thing is to pick the ones that best describe your brand. You can learn more about how I use a Brand Spectrum Worksheet here.
5. If your logo/brand was a famous person, character in a movie or book, who would it be?
This one really makes you think about the personality of your brand and will give your designer a good description of style and direction.
Don’t like this one? Here are a few others that are similar you can use instead or include.
- If my brand were a season, it would be…
- if my brand were a flavor, it would taste like…
- If my brand were an animal, it would be…
6. What logos do you like that really hit the mark for you?
After you’ve got a good feel for your brand personality go find some logos that you like that have a similar feel to what you are going for. Figure out what you like about them so you can communicate that to your designer. Do you like the color scheme? The font? The style?
7. What colors do you want included in your logo?
Your logo can have just one color or a few. Your designer will be able to suggest a color scheme based on your brands characteristics that you come up with, but it’s good to recommend something if you are particular about what you want.
8. How will your logo be used?
You really need to think about where and how you will be using your logo. Will it be on packaging? Will you be using it on clothing/fabric? This can help you and your designer determine how many colors, how detailed the design should be, and how the layout should end up. If your logo needs to display well on fabric you will want to keep it simple and clean, making sure it shows well in one solid color.
9. What’s your timing and Budget?
This is always a good question and maybe should be the first question you ask yourself… How will you get this project done and who is going to design your logo? You can save a lot of money and do it yourself, hire your cousin’s nephew, or check out some templates. Do you hire a freelancer or go big and pay an agency to do it? The answers to these questions are dependent upon what you can afford and what you are willing to pay.
10. How many stakeholders are involved with this project?
Is your opinion the only one that matters or do you have partners who will weigh in on the logo and brand decisions? It’s a good idea to get all the stakeholder’s answers to these questions which can be very helpful when coming up with your brand. I’d suggest making a copy of all the questions and get each person involved in the decision making process to write down their answers.
You can download a printable version here to make it easy!
Conclusion
Hopefully these 10 logo design questions will help you get your project off to a strong start! I believe if you take the time to process these questions you and your designer will nail your logo design and give you something you can be proud of.
*These questions above are typical questions you find in a creative brief for logo branding or a design project. These are a mixture of questions I’ve found useful to me and my process. I give credit to the many designers and creative professionals I’ve learned from in my career.