10 Things I Wish You Knew Before You Hired Me To Design Your Logo

Welcome to the world of logo design! It’s an exciting place, but it can also be intimidating and confusing. In this article, I’ve pulled together some of my best advice for designers and their clients.

Before you start reading, there are a few things that I should say:

This article is written by someone who has been hired by several hundred businesses to design logos over the past ten years. As such, it may seem like it’s written from the perspective of a designer rather than an actual client. 

That being said, everything here is based on real experiences with actual clients (and if you have any questions about anything in this article let me know!).

The advice contained in this article comes from my own experience as both a designer and a client working together on projects – so if there’s something missing that you think should be included here then please let me know so I can include your experience!

Takeaways
1. Understanding the Design Process: Gain insight into the steps involved in the logo design process and what to expect at each stage.
2. Clarity on Brand Identity: Learn how to communicate your brand’s values, mission, and personality effectively to the designer.
3. Importance of a Well-Defined Brief: Understand why a comprehensive design brief is crucial for conveying your vision and expectations.
4. Researching the Designer: Discover the significance of reviewing a designer’s portfolio and assessing their style and expertise.
5. Effective Communication: Learn about the role of open communication in ensuring your ideas and feedback are well understood.
6. Collaboration and Feedback: Understand how collaboration and constructive feedback contribute to refining the design.
7. Balancing Creative Freedom and Direction: Explore ways to provide creative freedom to the designer while maintaining your vision.

1. I Want To Understand Your Business

You need to tell me what your business does, who your customers are, and what market you serve. I need to understand how you want to grow, how big you want to be, what kind of results you’re looking for, and which goals matter the most to you. Then I need to get into the nitty-gritty details of what makes your brand unique (or not).

I also need to know who the competition is in order to make sure that my designs don’t look like theirs and that they don’t look like yours either!

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2. I Want To Know Why You Are Hiring Me

If you are hiring me to design your logo, I want to know WHY you need a logo. This will help me understand the purpose of your business and ultimately design a better logo for you.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why am I starting this business? What is my mission?

• How will the logo be used? Where, when, and how often will it appear in promotional materials and on social media?

• What makes my company different from others out there? What is my USP (unique selling proposition)?

• Who is my target market (i.e., age range, gender, income level)?

3. I Need Constructive Feedback

When you ask for feedback, I need you to be specific. Don’t just say “I don’t like it.” Tell me what you do like, and tell me what you want the design to accomplish.

This way, I can give you better advice and create something that meets your needs better than ever before. It also means that if we decide not to work together at the end (which is fine!), we can part on good terms because I’ve given my best effort and learned a lot from this process!

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4. No, You Cannot Sit And Watch Me Work

When you come to me with a logo design, I will be sitting at my desk working. That’s what I do when I’m designing. If you want to sit and watch me work, that’s fine, but don’t expect me to be able to do my best work while you’re staring at me like that. 

It’s distracting, uncomfortable, and just plain weird. And if all of this sounds familiar that’s because it is! We’ve talked about this before: 

You’ll either have a really good friend who doesn’t mind being watched as they perform their job or else there needs to be an hourly fee added on top of the usual rate for having them sit around watching TV instead of doing anything remotely productive for your business (and thus costing more).

5. I Will Be Asking You A Lot Of Questions

One of the most important things any designer can do is ask questions. While it may seem like there’s no end to them, they can be useful in many ways. Questions help you understand your client and their needs, which is vital for creating a logo that works for them and helps them achieve their goals. 

They also help you get information from your client when they are unsure about what exactly they want out of the design process. It might feel like an endless barrage of questions at first, but after doing this for years it has become second nature to me and I know that it will benefit everyone involved!

6. Why Do We Have To Have A “Kick-Off Meeting”?

I want to put your mind at ease by stating that a “kickoff meeting” is not a sit-down with the designer and client. It’s really more of an update on what’s going on, so everyone knows where they stand in the process.

What happens during one? Well, we review the project brief together and make sure everyone is on the same page about what has been agreed upon. 

Then we review all relevant material everything from previous designs to research findings so as to set expectations around how this will all come together in the end (and if you have any questions at this point in time, don’t hesitate to ask!). 

This also allows us both to get better acquainted with each other as well as our respective businesses: Who are you? How did this come about? What are your goals for this logo design project? 

This part is especially important because it helps build up trust between us before we go ahead with anything else; after all, good communication leads to better results!

Lastly… We create a shared vision for success for ourselves through goal setting and establishing timelines for milestones.

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7. I Am Not Cheap, But My Work Is Worth It!

When you hire a designer to create your logo, you are not hiring them to create a pretty image. You are hiring them because they can solve problems and create experiences for your users. This is not something that comes naturally to everyone; it requires time and practice to learn how to do this effectively!

The process of creating great design can be overwhelming at times there’s a lot of work involved in making sure that each piece of the puzzle fits together well before you can even think about finishing up the project. 

That being said, there are many talented designers out there who will make sure everything goes smoothly from start to finish, and boy are they worth every penny!

8. There Will Be Mistakes (On Both Our Parts).

As a designer, I know that there are no perfect solutions. Sometimes your logo will look great on paper but not on the web. Sometimes it will look good in black and white, but not in color. 

It’s impossible to predict every possibility before you see the final product, so please understand if something goes wrong it doesn’t mean I’m a bad designer!

9. Yes, You Could Get Someone To Do This For Much Less Than What I Charge.

In my experience, most designers who offer their services for $100 or less are hobbyists. You wouldn’t take your car to a mechanic who charges $100, would you? Why would you hire a designer who has no formal training and no experience?

A professional design firm is like any other service business: they have employees (maybe even an intern), they pay sales commissions ($50k+ per year) and they need to cover overhead costs like rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc.

The more value I can add in terms of time savings and increased brand awareness; the more money I can make. The reason why so many freelancers charge a fortune for their services is that people don’t understand what goes into providing those services.

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10. I Will Try My Best To Meet Your Deadlines

If you want to meet a deadline, give me more time. If you want to meet a deadline, give me more money. If you want to meet a deadline, give me more information. If you want to meet a deadline, don’t change your mind!

Changing your mind is one of the biggest reasons why projects go over budget (and behind schedule). You may have had an idea in your head that seems perfectly reasonable at first but when it comes down to doing the work, things aren’t as easy as they seemed in theory. 

And then if I try and talk with you about it being harder than expected even though I warned about this possibility before we started working together you might get upset or defensive because “it will be fine” isn’t what anyone wants to hear from their designer at this point in time.

In order for us both to stay happy with this process and ensure that everyone has fun during our collaboration together, I recommend giving yourself plenty of room for error when setting out deadlines for yourself (or your client) so there’s no pressure on either side:

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Conclusion

Finally, take a moment to look at your logo. Is it bold and memorable? Does it look like something you would want on your business card or website? If not, we need to go back to the drawing board. 

Keep in mind that when you’re looking at a logo design, it’s easy to get caught up in the details of how things are supposed to look – but what really matters is whether or not people understand what they are seeing at first glance. 

This can be achieved by watching how people respond when presented with your logo design: do they smile? Do they smile and make eye contact? Or do they frown and walk away quickly? 

The goal here is for people who see the logo design for the first time to have an immediate reaction because of its simplicity (or complexity) without having any doubts about its meaning or purpose.

Further Reading

10 Crucial Things You Must Know Before and After Hiring a Graphic Designer

Discover essential insights for a successful collaboration with a graphic designer, covering both pre-hiring and post-hiring considerations.

Before You Design a Logo: 10 Things to Consider

Get a comprehensive list of factors to think about before diving into the logo design process to ensure a well-thought-out and impactful design.

10 Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Logo Designer

Learn about key aspects to consider when hiring a logo designer, ensuring a smooth collaboration and a logo that aligns with your brand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Final Logo File Format?

The final logo files are in vector format, which means you can use them at any size without losing quality. They come in both AI (Illustrator) and PDF formats. If you don’t have experience using these formats, don’t worry! 

I will also provide an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) version of your logo that can be opened in other programs such as Photoshop or InDesign.

What Is The Logo File Format?

Logo files come in a variety of formats including PSD, JPG, and PNG for raster images; AI for vector graphics; EPS for encapsulated postscript files; TIFF for high-quality photographic images; PDFs for printable documents, etc…

Why Do You Charge What You Charge?

I have been doing this for over 8 years, and I know exactly how much time it takes to design a logo. I also know my value as a designer in comparison to other designers out there who charge less than me but aren’t nearly as experienced or talented. 

As with any field of work, people are different and should be compensated accordingly – especially if they are skilled at their craft! When we pay more upfront, we can avoid spending more later on re-designs because the first design was not done right in the first place (which happens all too often).

What Makes You Different From Other Designers?

My approach to logo design is very unique; it is based on research and the use of color psychology instead of trendy fonts or trends which will date your brand quickly and make you look unprofessional in today’s fast-paced business world where things change constantly around us (think about how many logos have come & gone since 2010). 

My style has been called “Timelessly Modern” which means that even when trends change around us, our logo will still look great because its foundation was based on timeless principles that never go out of style like balance & symmetry, contrast & repetition, etc…

Conclusion

I hope this has been an insightful read for you. I know it was for me, and it’s a reminder that there’s still so much to improve on. The truth is, we’re all going to make mistakes you, me, and everyone else in the world who tries to do anything great. 

It’s impossible not to stumble along the way when you’re learning new things all the time! But what matters most is how you respond when things go awry: do you get mad and give up? Or do you pick yourself up and try again? 

Because as long as there are people out there with passion in their hearts who refuse to give up (and let’s face it: if they DID give up, where would we be?), then we’ll always have someone or something inspiring us from afar.

The best advice I can give anyone trying something new is this: keep trying! If at first, you don’t succeed, try again! 

You might fail once or twice more before getting it right…but if your heart’s in it and if what makes sense for your business matches up with what makes sense for your potential customers then there’s no reason why failure should ever stop them from realizing their dreams.