By the Skin of My Teeth: Logo Sketches

Well, I can’t call them finished, and they sure ain’t pretty, but when I say I’m going to do something, I do it.

Over the past week, I’ve been working on rough, conceptual sketches for my new logo, and I definitely find myself leaning toward a particular style and layout. It amuses me to show you a few of those sketches at left, because this is where vision and mind-reading really come into play.

I almost never bring a client in on this stage of the design process. The mental translation of pencil “doodles” to final polished product is too much to ask of anyone, especially if their skills lie outside the realms of art or design. Too, they would have to be something of a mind-reader to “see” what I envision in the sketches I create.

Nonetheless, this is how all of my logo designs – and most of my other designs – are born. Sometimes a few sketches are all it takes for that ideal piece, and other times it takes page upon page. But this is where I cut loose with creativity, imagination, flights of fancy and artistry – guided heavily by hours of research, of course!

In DMT Artistry’s case, I’m in a particularly tricky situation. I’m both an exacting designer and an exacting client. There’s a very real danger of sketching myself in circles, and not settling on anything. That’s where the accountability of this blog comes into play.

Don’t let me do that!!

I look forward to coming to you next week with a decided direction and a significantly more detailed sketch.

On a separate note: Congratulations to Amy of UU@Home on winning last week’s blog challenge and the accompanying prize of a complimentary business card design!

Next Week’s Blog: Sketching My Way To Logo Nirvana.

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”  ~Michelangelo

Dawn M. Tomczyk-Bhajan  |  DMT Artistry, LLC   |  www.DMTArtistry.com

All content Copyright © 2012 DMT Artistry, LLC, unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved.

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What Goes Into a Logo Design?

They reflect the culture of our company, they act as our number one visual “spokesperson”, they incite brand recognition, they are the “seal” we use on all of our marketing materials… so, why is it that logos inevitably wind up being the first piece of marketing we give to unemployed, cousin Jeb with the antiquated, pre-Adobe, graphic destruction program?

I’ll let you in on a secret: Every time this sort of travesty happens to a perfectly respectable business, we designers mourn quietly over the death of a design that could have been spectacular – that could have LAUNCHED the business, instead of anchoring it to ground zero.

There’s a great deal more that goes into a logo design than pasting arched lettering around a piece of clip art. In this blog, I’m going to give you the down-and-dirty version of what goes on behind the scenes of a true, blue logo design:

Interview. To create a truly unique, truly representative design, a designer will want to know about your company products and services, competitors, target audience, business colors, corporate culture, intended marketing use, your personality… and that’s just to name a few. You never know WHAT will spark an idea, and any designer worth their salt will delve as deeply as possible to generate ideas.

Brainstorm. The designer next digests the information, mulls it over, researches other industry designs, brainstorms, sketches, pulls out some hair, erases, sketches again, and ultimately returns with one or more Logo Concepts that embody your business.

Customize. Next comes the discussion about what feels right for the company, and what modifications may need to be made. Everyone is unique and, so, everyone has a different vision. These need to be understood and processed in order to make an excellent logo.

Design. It’s alive! At this stage, the chosen Logo Concept is brought to life! This is easily one of the most exhilarating portions of the logo design process.

Review. Edits are made. Then the new draft is reviewed. This cycle goes on for as long as it takes to hone in on that “right” design.

Finalization. The final logo is perfected and agreed upon by all parties.

And then everything’s done, right?

Wrong! Now the designer has to create and provide you with files of various sizes, types and resolutions for your various marketing needs. A wall-sized banner uses a completely different file than a website mini-graphic. The logo also has to be redesigned into a greyscale, black-and-white and, sometimes, one- or two-color version for those times when full color is not an option. In many cases, for more detailed logos, a simplified version also needs to be provided for smaller printing jobs, where details would get lost in the translation.

It’s not an easy job, but someone’s gotta do it. Or, rather, someone WANTS to do it, and that someone is me…

Because there’s few greater joys in a designer’s career than breathing life into the logo design that will send a company into orbit – or resuscitating one that cousin Jeb nearly annihilated.

Stay tuned. In upcoming blogs, I’ll share additional design-process secrets about logos I created for myself and my clients!

Business in need of a logo? Logo in need of a makeover? Either way, I can help:

Dawn M. Tomczyk  |  DMT Artistry, LLC  |  810.923.4582  |  dawn@dmtartistry.com