Okay, so everyone has seen the ‘My design process’ blogs detailing the individual process of each designer. For logo designers I think we all work in a very similar way as a whole, but I wanted to target in on 1 very key aspect of the process which is usually glossed over – research.
In this post I decided to give a bit of insight into my personal research process for a logo design but I’d love for you to let me know any other things you do, or sites you use so we can compile a list of helpful resources.
Step 1 – Define.
Before you start to research, you need to know what you’re researching. Most of this will have been obtained in the brief or in your follow-up questions, but here’s a few main points I make sure to know.
Intended market placement (upper class, budget class etc..), Target age/market & Design style (corporate, illustrated etc..).
Step 2 – Check out the competition.
A good way to determine a clients focus is to see what they list as their main competition. Usually clients want to try and emulate the market leader, so see what they’re doing that makes them successful. Be careful here – you don’t want to be ‘inspired’ by them, but there may be some underlying things they do well in their layout or marketing that you can leverage too.
Step 3 – Be the end user.
This is something I learned when doing my Advertising training. If you’ve seen the movie ‘What Women Want’ with Mel Gibson you’ll see a guy immersing himself in the brands he’s trying to sell – trying on stockings & nose strips. While he does go to the extreme, it does help to try and work out what the end user is looking for in the product – then sell your product to that strength. That way you’re not trying to convince someone to buy something, you’re helping them to solve a problem.
Step 4 – Google random things associated.
Once you have all the technical data in your head, go looking at the market. If you’re doing a sport-related logo, look through all kinds of sport photos and sites, get the vibe of current focuses and technology (remember the end user often knows more about the product than you, so don’t play too dumb).
Some things I DO NOT do.
When researching for a logo, I rarely look at logo inspiration sites (except as a last resort). The problem is that when you need inspiration for a specific job, another logo may either stick an idea in your head that you can’t move away from, or indirectly (accidentally) guide your style to end up with a design that’s similar to an existing logo.
Here’s some resources I use.
- Tools
- Tin Eye : Reverse image search to compare any look-alikes
- What The Font : Helps when you want to know the font used in something else
- Font Squirrel : 100% free commercial fonts
- Looks Like Good Design : Loads of general design inspiration
- Logos
- LogoPond : Awesome logos for drooling over
- Logo Of The Day : Shorter list, but higher quality
- Logo Moose : Another short list of high quality logos
- Brands of the World : Vector versions of all kinds of logos
- Stock Photos
- Inmagine : Nice photos and watermark-free comps
- Shutterstock : Cheap vector files for help with embellishments
So, are there any research techniques you use? Any sites that help you get inspired? Add it in the comments.
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