One of my favourite things to do as a Designer is to pick my client’s brain about why they want their logo to look a certain way.

I am curious about exploring their vision and how they come to decide on an image icon for their brand. This process helps with understanding a client’s unique needs when the project goes into production. Oftentimes, they will leave it with me to figure it out which is great and validates that they have placed their trust with me, but the project is a lot more fun and challenging when they bring their own ideas and I get to put my spin on it. The process is similar to drafting a tattoo and forever wearing it on your skin, in fact, think of your logo image as your business’s very own tattoo. I always encourage clients to connect with their logo on a deeper, inspiring level for 5 main reasons:

1) It will motivate and inspire you to keep pushing your business

2) It’s a long-term commitment

3) It makes for a cool story and humanizes your brand

4) It holds a unique significance that is all you

5) It will help you stand out

With that said, the following suggestions translate well for abstract businesses. This means businesses that don’t necessarily have a definitive, pronounced name that would suggest an easy image pairing. For instance, if your business is called Pink Elephant Studio, this would align best with an image of a pink elephant in the design. However, if your business is called Conan and Associates, this becomes abstract and is open to suggestions for design image.

Narrowing down all the great things that make each of us unique into a single composed image may seem like an oversimplified and complicated procedure. To make the process less stressful, stick to introducing only two main ideas to your logo, and be open to presenting them in a very minimalistic and simplified fashion. It is important to note that while it is great to incorporate all of your ideas, it is much more effective to display only important details of your ideas—leave the heavier details to be incorporated into the rest of your branding materials. I find that a lot of business owners get caught up in the logo design process that they overlook the entirety of the brand as a whole and how it could potentially come together with various elements in play. This can be a huge setback to the overall look, feel, and message of a brand; therefore, allow for all the pieces to flow together.

So how do you organize your thoughts around this subject?

Consider your cultural traditions, personal growth, and symbolical events and/or objects to start but inspiration can ultimately come from anywhere. Dive into concepts that will render well with your brand so that they instill curiosity and open dialogue with its viewers.

The actual work behind connecting your thoughts and ideas to your brand image is the job of your Designer, which is where I come in. If you are working with your ideas and still pondering them, let’s connect so that I can help you sort out the details and bridge your vision to a strong communication design!