How did you go about choosing a logo for yourself?
- Thread starter gcol90
- Start date
Gianluca Teti
Member
This is a very tough one, actually. My visual branding teacher used to say that designers should have their logo designed by someone else, even though it might sound crazy. The problem is that very often we are unable to evaluate ourselves objectively.
In any case, the freelancer logo is ideally a compromise between you and the world you are trying to reach. It embodies who you are, what you do, who your target audience is and how you position yourself with the competitors; there is a long research work to do before even picking up a pencil.
In any case, the freelancer logo is ideally a compromise between you and the world you are trying to reach. It embodies who you are, what you do, who your target audience is and how you position yourself with the competitors; there is a long research work to do before even picking up a pencil.
Yeah, that's my problem. I want a logo of sorts that's going to be memorable. My initials are GC, so I was basing the logo off that, but I've got nothing apart from just that. A 'G' and 'C', and have no idea what I can do with that - apart from adding my name to it, but what I've thrown together isn't very inspiring. In fact, it's a load of rubbish, I threw it together in about 5 mins, and that was just so my site had something, instead of just my name.
http://garethcollett.com/ - it's in the top right.
Mind's at a blank on what to do.
http://garethcollett.com/ - it's in the top right.
Mind's at a blank on what to do.
S
Sean Lee-Amies
Guest
Something that a lot of designers do when working on their own stuff (which is probably why it's a good idea to get someone else to do it) is to simply ignore a lot of the steps that they would normally do for anyone else because they think that they already know everything about themselves and so don't need to do any planning or exploratory stages and go straight into trying to create their perfect logo on the first attempt. Some times this can work and after looking at yours I believe that to be the case, it looks pretty good actually! Although you need to better align the baseline of your slogan with your symbol. However, if you want to ensure that you have found the best possible design and style for your logo then I would start at the very beginning and treat yourself like every other client.
If that isn't applicable, something else you might want to try is to create a design brief for your logo explaining everything in depth, and give it to someone else who is trying to create their own logo and get them to come up with a number of concepts, you of course doing the same for them. That way you're both more likely to treat it like a real project, and if you're anything like me, that urge to impress should kick in and you might just discover something amazing either for yourself or the other person.
I know when I created mine, I went through several hundred variations and very quickly lost the ability to determine what looked good and what didn't, which I normally get after working on the same thing for too long. As Gianluca said, there's a lot of work to be done before picking up the pencil, so goo luck and let us know how you get on! Feel free to share any concept sketches or ask for feedback
If that isn't applicable, something else you might want to try is to create a design brief for your logo explaining everything in depth, and give it to someone else who is trying to create their own logo and get them to come up with a number of concepts, you of course doing the same for them. That way you're both more likely to treat it like a real project, and if you're anything like me, that urge to impress should kick in and you might just discover something amazing either for yourself or the other person.
I know when I created mine, I went through several hundred variations and very quickly lost the ability to determine what looked good and what didn't, which I normally get after working on the same thing for too long. As Gianluca said, there's a lot of work to be done before picking up the pencil, so goo luck and let us know how you get on! Feel free to share any concept sketches or ask for feedback
Yeah, I think that's the problem. Logo's as is aren't my strong point - something I need to work on, I've only really come up with a few, but they've been liked/used etc. And for myself, I'm finding it difficult to 'work out me', if that makes sense?
Hmm, yeah I might do that. Still in touch with people from uni, so I might speak to them. If not, am sure if they do come up with anything, it might spark off something with me to build upon. It's probably a bad habit I'm in, but I tend to not turn to a pencil and paper, I usually dive right into it, but I'll try and come up with some sketches/ideas and see where that takes me.
If not, I might just stick with what I have now and tidy it up, decide on a more suitable type face etc.
Thanks for the tips!
Hmm, yeah I might do that. Still in touch with people from uni, so I might speak to them. If not, am sure if they do come up with anything, it might spark off something with me to build upon. It's probably a bad habit I'm in, but I tend to not turn to a pencil and paper, I usually dive right into it, but I'll try and come up with some sketches/ideas and see where that takes me.
If not, I might just stick with what I have now and tidy it up, decide on a more suitable type face etc.
Thanks for the tips!
S
Sean Lee-Amies
Guest
No problem, I look forward to seeing the end result, what ever your decision!
If you're struggling to work out you, then there might be a larger issue which you will need to rectify before you can create a consistent and true brand around yourself. You need to think about you; your career, where you want to end up and how you want to get there. But also you need to think about what makes you, you. Think about what you want to make you stand out from everyone else, why you want to work in this profession, your values and work ethic and then possible styles that you prefer etc.
Once you know what you want to do, it will become much easier to translate that data into a true brand that represents your ideals and make you stand out from everyone else who aren't prepared to really sit down and think about their future in that way.
As for using pen and paper, some people like it and some people don't. It's not about what tools you use it's about the process that you follow in order to get to your end goal. Regardless of how you do it, in your head, on the screen or on paper you need to have some kind of exploratory stage where you can start putting together different ideas and combine elements to create shapes, symbols and ideas that you wouldn't otherwise.
If you're struggling to work out you, then there might be a larger issue which you will need to rectify before you can create a consistent and true brand around yourself. You need to think about you; your career, where you want to end up and how you want to get there. But also you need to think about what makes you, you. Think about what you want to make you stand out from everyone else, why you want to work in this profession, your values and work ethic and then possible styles that you prefer etc.
Once you know what you want to do, it will become much easier to translate that data into a true brand that represents your ideals and make you stand out from everyone else who aren't prepared to really sit down and think about their future in that way.
As for using pen and paper, some people like it and some people don't. It's not about what tools you use it's about the process that you follow in order to get to your end goal. Regardless of how you do it, in your head, on the screen or on paper you need to have some kind of exploratory stage where you can start putting together different ideas and combine elements to create shapes, symbols and ideas that you wouldn't otherwise.