visual communications for raleigh durham chapel hill cary

Because of all of the logo design contests and do-it-yourself logo software, many people believe they don’t need to hire a professional designer to create their business logo anymore.

With a do-it-yourself logo created with clip art icons, you won’t be able to trademark your brand. It isn’t unique. Clip art logos give the impression that your business isn’t unique either. A good brand identity sets you apart from your competition.

Logo design contests sound like a great idea on the surface. After all, you’ll have lots of designers creating lots of choices for you. But your logo contest is only one out of hundreds or thousands out there. Contestants can’t afford to spend much time on each entry. You likely aren’t getting original concepts. Designers may just use clip art or recycle icons they’ve created for someone else and slap your name on them. Even worse, they may show you marks other designers created before — setting you up for a potential lawsuit.

There’s definitely not any research done into your organization. And without the benefit of talking with you to truly understand what your organization is, how can you expect a designer to speak for your brand?

Discovery

Only a professional designer will take the time to talk with you to find out what your business is. What sets you apart from your competition? Who are you trying to attract? What kind of visuals appeal to you? Your designer will research your competition to get a feel for your industry.

Brainstorming

After getting a good understanding of your brand, goals and personal taste, your designer uses techniques such as word association and sketching to generate ideas.

Refinement

After the brainstorming phase, designers review their sketches and decide which ideas are worth further exploration. This is when a designer moves onto the computer. Shapes and fonts are refined. Color choices are applied. Several concepts are brought to near completion. Your designer will ask for your feedback on a few well-developed concepts. Then your final choice can be perfected and become your brand identity.