The unknown always causes discomfort to us, humans. There is nothing that bugs people’s mind more than “not knowing what to expect”. We are here to ease off the pressure for you. The logo design process can be complex or simple, and this could lead to outstanding or devastating results. To make matters worse, you may have to part, or you may have already parted away with a deposit for the designer to begin your work.
So, what are some of the factors you can look at to lessen the risk? We can start with their…
Experience
Well, this may be a bit of a crossroads situation, will you factor in the number of years in the design space or number of projects executed? Also, what if new designers represent a new paradigm shift in the design space? This is a tough call, a decision you will have to arrive at on your own. This is, however, my take on this, experience may not count for anything. I normally take on new logo design projects as new challenges. The only role experience has played in every project is the way we approach inquisition into your brand. The way we get to understand your brand today is fundamentally different than how we did it 3 years, 5 years and 7 years ago.
Thinking of design as a new project helps us capture new trends in the market and incorporate them into your logo design as need be. Though, with experience comes the…
Case Studies/Portfolio
You definitely want to see what they have done before. You need to get a sense of who their clientele is. The portfolio though may not be as good a solution as you might miss out on a good designer as you will judge by what they have done. You will miss out because you may judge a project that was not meant for your industry. The way you need to look at the portfolio is objectively assess their approach to the project and whether it suits you. You can tell if the project showcases their creativity. Better yet, if you get to meet them or call them, get a comprehensive logo design case study in their portfolio and enquire just to understand how they tackled this particular project and why they tackled it that way. This brings me to the next important point:
What is their Logo Design Process?
If you rely on creativity alone, the results will always be random and unpredictable. You need to understand what process the logo designer will follow to arrive at your brand identity. The most important here is the inquisition process. What nature of questions will they ask you to uncover secrets of your brand?
After inquisition, how do they distill this information into a single simple picture? This is why I view the development of a brand identity more than just creative visuals. It is about connecting the brand to the visuals and for it to have a deeper meaning when observed by the intended audience.
This should be the determining factor for the choice of your designer. An established process always delivers expected outstanding results. This is at the very core of design. After establishing this you need to know about their…
Production Skills
Well, not necessarily your design agency’s ability to produce business cards or letterheads, but their ability to grasp “From Design to Print”. We normally handle production and we have received several designs that are awesome on screen, but it ends there. If you are planning to use production in any way including on various marketing collateral, the design should work both on screen and in print.
Too often do I see effects being used that cannot be produced at all and the result is a disappointed client. An understanding of the production environment will enable the designer to understand the end product in the real world. Otherwise, you be forced to spend again to edit your designs.
Packaging of the Service
How much is it to design a logo? This is often the first question thrown at you by the client and it is normally very hard to answer. Hard because at that particular moment you don’t know what the client wants. Pricing is always a sensitive issue but this sensitivity can be done away with once you see the value of the service being provided. We like to use packages so that we offer more value, after all what will you do with a logo alone.
Notice that pricing should come as a last factor, because if it is factor number one, you are not looking for value, rather just a quick fix. Value cannot be delivered within a few hours, value must follow a process, and for long term value, look at your brand identity as an investment into your business and not a cost.
We hope the above factors help you in choosing a creative agency for your new brand identity. Pulsar is a branding agency with expertise in the digital marketing and creative fields. You can definitely assess us to see if we meet some of the aforementioned criteria.
