Business Logo Design - Is Clients Input Important

Remember! Your success lies in client satisfaction, and your client would be satisfied when you come up with a business logo design that has all the elements mentioned in the client brief. Make sure you thoroughly discuss the brief with your client in order to avoid any confusion later on. Input from your client is always essential before you start working on the project.

I am going to revise all the questions you need to ask your clients while discussing the brief with them. This would dig out exactly what your client wants and of course this practice would save you a lot of time you will be wasting on revisions, in case the logo fails to convince the client in the end.

Nature of the business: Every logo has to be associated with the business/product and has to have a concept behind it. For that you particularly need to ask your client about the nature of his business. Whether your client is in construction business, wedding consultancy or have recently opened a beauty salon, it is best practice to get to know their target audience. A logo which associates and communicates the right message of the business to its target market gets instant recognition. So make your client speak, this would help you to search for the latest trends in that particular industry.

Brief your client about different types of logo designs: Asking your clients abruptly about the type of logo they want is something every designer should avoid. Instead, a far better idea is to first brief your client about the different types of logos. Let them speak up what they think is appropriate and then give your feedback as to what should be more suitable according to the nature of their businesses and products. Deciding what treatment should be given to different logos is a crucial aspect and must be clarified before starting the project. Give your clients examples of Iconic, Illustrative, Textual or a combination of them because there is a possibility that they might or might not know about it.

Let your Client decide the colors: It's always advisable to discuss the colors of your client's logo. Remember, as a logo designer your utmost responsibility is to satisfy your client's needs. If you create a logo according to your aesthetic taste, with colors you think go best with it, while your client mentioned some other colors in the brief; there are 90% chances that your logo would get rejected. He would come up to you and say, “I never asked for these colors. What made you choose them and forwarded something I never wanted?”

So it is better to give your expert opinion, right at the time of discussing the creative brief because more often than not, clients don't know anything about the trends and even the basics of logo designing, yet they impose their personal preferences, which should finally be spelled out before you start the project.

There are different categories of colors which should be kept in mind according to the target market of your client. It can be subtle pastel colors when targeting small babies and their parents, while it can be bright, sharp colors for teenagers specifically. For adults, there should be a mix of both light and dark colors, whereas, try a combination of soft and dark ones for middle aged adults and older people.

Ask your client the number of colors to use in the logo. It is best to use minimum colors, however, it depends upon the nature of your client's business and the product portfolio. If your client owns a toy shop and needs a colorful logo for his business, even then it is best to advise to stick to a maximum of three colors, not more than that.

Themes and Words: Professional logo designers always involve clients in a discussion related to logo design prior to starting their projects. It is best to ask your clients if they have any specific theme for their logo or if they want any words to be incorporated. It is your duty to suggest if your client has no idea whatsoever about the themes, designs, visual enhancements or the words but keep in mind that no one knows your client's target market better than your client. So always engage them to come up with the best possible results.

Probe the ultimate Don'ts: It can be a possibility that your client might not exactly know about what design should his logo be, but he must clearly know about the elements which shouldn't be a part of the design in any way. So as a designer, you must jot down all those elements which you won't include in the logo. If you don't practice this, you would end up pissing off your client.

Ask your Client their favorite logos: Ask your client about their favorite logos. So what if most of them end up with Nike and Apple. There would be clients who might be interested in logos which they think are well designed and have impact. This would give you a better idea about their tastes and requirements.

Last but not least, as a designer, you should have better answers to most of the questions mentioned above but as we say, client is the king, and any designer's ultimate responsibility is to satisfy the client. Hence, openly welcome the input of your client at every stage of designing his business logo.