If you want to know how to communicate with logo designers to get the best result possible for your digital brand, keep these 9 tips in mind.       

Working with Logo Designers

Logo designers have an important role when it comes to the creation of a brand’s image. People may see your logo dozens and dozens of times without context. They may see your logo before they know any other information about your digital brand. This is why it is important to have a crisp and accessible logo that makes a visual punch. To get this result, clear communication with your logo designer is key. Use these tips to make the process of creating your logo design as smooth as possible.

1. Content Comes First

Often, clients will approach logo designers with little to no actual content for their brand. Logo designers cannot make effective and specific logos and graphic designers cannot make brochures or posters for a brand if they have no information or reference points to work with.

A logo is only one piece of digital branding, and in order for it to be a cohesive part of a brand’s identity, a lot of the content which makes up that identity must be in place already.

SEE ALSO: Using Content to Spice Up Your Digital Branding

2. Know What You Want

Do your homework and know what you like, dislike, and need. Even the most talented of logo designers will not be able to give you the perfect logo if you don’t know what you want.

While all designers love a little bit of free reign, they need direction from you to understand your aesthetic, brand, and its personality.

Consider making a mood board of your brand. A mood board can include inspirational images, preferred colors, fonts, and examples of things which will inform your digital brand’s identity. Below is an example of a mood board. It is an Interrail and Eurail Visual Identity Moodboard by Cristina Buonanno.

It can also be helpful to present them with some examples of logos of other brands that you like. Explain why you like them and why you think they work. This will give them an idea of your visual tastes.

3. Google Images Won’t Cut It

If you are creating a small leaflet or poster or logo for something like a local yard sale or local music showcase, you can most likely take images from wherever you want.

For small events or business ventures, such as a church bake sale or small-scale handmade jewelry business, it is very likely that no one will notice if they break copyright law by nabbing random images off of the internet.

SEE ALSO: How to Legally Use Images in Your Digital Branding

However, in a commercial sphere, this can land you in hot water very quickly. Trust your logo designer to create an original logo design that is appropriate for your digital brand.

4. Have Realistic Expectations

Professionals in many fields often present clients with clearly written contracts outlining what they will and will not do. They outline what their services are and what they cost. Despite this, clients will still often try to twist a logo designer’s arm for free extras and expect them to do things that are not outlined in their contract at all.

For example, if you come to a designer of any kind with no actual images or information, and expect them to create your brand image or even take photographs for you for free, you are expecting them to do the jobs of other people for no pay.

A logo designer is there to do one thing: to design your logo.

No one expects a plumber to also fix the lights in their house for free, after all.

5. Freelance Logo Designers Often Have Multiple Clients

If you are working with freelance logo designers, you have to be prepared to accept the reality that you are not their only client.

While a decent freelancer should make you feel as if your project is being given ample time and attention, the reality is that they are likely juggling a few projects most of the time.

If you need everything done yesterday and whatever you have just thought of changed immediately, be aware that a quality freelancer might be unable to make last minute changes on the spot because of their workload with multiple clients.

6. Trust In Your Logo Designer

As a client, your opinion is ultimately most important and you know your audience and your brand’s personality and goals best. However, on the journey to creating the ideal logo, having faith in your logo designer is key.

Once you communicate what you want clearly, it is important to give designers space to fold that into an eye-catching and effective design that really represents your brand. If you do not like the logo, of course, it must be fixed, but obsessing over design minutiae you are not familiar with is a surefire ticket to extra stress.

7. You Get What You Pay For When it Comes to Logo Design

Businesses are always trying to cut corners and be frugal, but your logo might not be a place where it is appropriate to do that. After all, your logo represents your business and brand identity, and it may be the first impression large numbers of people get of your brand.

While it is possible to go on Fiver and have a logo drawn up for you in a few hours for a few bucks, logos made quickly and without care for low prices often look fast and cheap. Even large brands paying top dollar can fall into certain design traps from time to time. For example, several of search engine Bing’s logos were mocked across the web for years due to their fonts and overall design. That is not the kind of attention you want for your digital brand.

High quality and effective original work takes time, exploration, and skill. Professional logo designers are not just compensated for the final product, but all that goes into working with you to create something that you will both be proud of.

SEE ALSO: 10 Graphic Design Rules You Should Never Break

8. Logos Look Different In Different Applications

Getting a logo created is not a one and done deal. Logo colors look different in print than they do in real life, and need to be in different formats and sizes for different web applications. For example, putting the exact same logo file in your business’s Facebook profile and on your business cards can lead to warped logos, which look incredibly unprofessional.

Some people attempt to alter logo images themselves, and if they are not computer and design savvy stretch them out or distort them beyond repair. Let your logo designer know where you intend to use your logo, so they can send you files that will translate well and look beautiful in all of those applications.

9. Be Honest Early On

Logo designers want to do their best and work with you to create something that you absolutely love. If in the early stages you feel they are on the wrong track, it is important that you let them know before they create something that’s not right for your brand. Go deeper than “I don’t like it.”

Tell them what you don’t like and what they need to change. The early stages are the best time to provide this feedback.

After all, both of you benefit if they get it right the first or second time. Neither of you wants to spend weeks and weeks struggling over a logo. Some logo designers even eventually drop clients who require countless minute changes to their finished logos and are impossible to please.

The Secret to Working with Logo Designers

Ultimately, like with any relationship, honest and focused communication is the foundation of both parties getting what they need to succeed.

While there are some specifics to working with logo designers, as long as you know what you want, can communicate it well, open to collaboration, and work with a talented logo designer you can trust, you will end up with a successful logo.

What brands do you think have an effective logo design? Which brands do you think could improve? Comment below…