Re: Experimentation & Process

This is a very good start as far as design topics. First off, logos are very difficult to design for especially if you're designing for a business. It's so many factors that must be taken accountable for such as the marketing, branding etc. Jen, I can totally understand where you're coming from when you mentioned how you'll have an idea that you think is strong and you can't seem to break away from that idea when starting the process. That kind of process does limit your ideas and you're creativity because you won't have many options. Working in the real world you're clients will want to see sometimes 3 to 4 different concepts, so you can't really rely on just one. (Although, we usually have 1 that we think is the strongest).

For me, when doing logo design, I try to follow a few steps to guide me to the end product:

 First, I need to determine who the logo is for? What will it be used for? Will there be different variations? Who's the audience? Is there a color theme related to the brand?

Once I can answer those questions, then I can do some research. I'll research the target market, other competitors if any and the market in general to see if they're any trends.

After that, I'd start sketching ideas. I'll try to sketch as many as I can even if they don't look right or not quite the way I originally imagined. I'll do 20-30 sketches. I'll review the sketches and try to pick 5-10 that are really strong, stand out and actually is working.

Now, I'd recreate my sketches digitally using photoshop, illustration and or indesign. I'd produce many versions using different colors and shapes to see what's working. Usually, at this stage I would show to a client as an "idea" that I'm working with. If the client can approve 1 or 2, then I'd work on those exclusively.

After that, I'd refine and revise the logos for client to review before I finalize the design. After the logo has been reviewed and approved by client then I'll finalize and package the design in high resolution. I'd include different formats such as TIFF, JPG, PDF etc. I'd also have the print and web version just in case.

I've attaching a video that's similar to the process that I use by designer Chris Stones. He uses the software called blender when scanning in a 2d image to work with digitally. I haven't used this yet, but I'm interested. Also blender.org has a lot of cool information that you could use as well.