The value that an effective logo brings to a business is priceless, meaning that there is alway a demand for cleverly designed ones. A logo design identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo does not sell the company directly nor rarely does it describe a business. Most logos derive their meaning from the quality of the thing they symbolise, not the other way around. In essence, what a logo means is more important than what it looks like. In this article, we’ll provide you with some tips on how to get your logo design business off to the best start possible.
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1. Register Your Logo Design Business
Your first point of action should be to legally register your logo design business. However before you do this, you should decide how you want to structure your business. You can work as a sole trader, start a business partnership or register a company. You will need to obtain an ABN to work as a sole trader or in a partnership. Further if you want to run your business as a company, you will need to register a company.
2. Learn How to Design Evocative Logos
Now that you have registered your logo design business, you can commence learning how to provide the best designs for your customers. An effective logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simplistic and intentionally conveys a message. The basic principles of logo design are that it has to be:
- Simple
- Memorable
- Enduring
- Appropriate to the business
Following these tips will ensure that the logos you design serve their intended purpose.
3. Establish Your Design Process
As your business gathers momentum, you’ll want to have a process in place to handle client requests and new jobs. A good process will look something like this:
1. Design brief
Get a good idea of what the client is after by providing them with a questionnaire or conducting an interview with the client. Doing this will help make sure that you and your client are on the same page.
2. Research
After you’ve gotten a good idea of what your client wants, it’s time to start doing some early research into your client’s industry, their competitors and what type of customers they want to attract.
3. Sketching and Conceptualising
Sketch out some early ideas, and work on these as you do further research or as fresh ideas come to mind. You can send works in progress (WIP) to your client to check that you’re on the right track.
4. Presentation
The final step is presenting the logo to your client. You can also present them with variations of the logo to be used for different purposes, or on different backgrounds. For example, a red version of the logo may be used on neutral backgrounds, but on coloured backgrounds it may be black. Also be prepared to make revisions if the client feels the logo could be improved or better match what they had in mind.
4. Have the Right Contracts in Place
It’s important that when you take on a job to have an agreement in place. This will cover things such as payment, deadlines and intellectual property. You should also have an intellectual property agreement which will transfer over all the intellectual property rights of the logo you have designed to your client. After this, the client will be able to register a trademark for the logo, and their business will have exclusive rights to it.
Conclusion
People often recognise the logo before they even recognise a business’s name. For example, the golden arches of McDonalds are recognisable almost anywhere in the world. In this sense, designing powerful logos is a service consistently in demand and can earn you a tidy profit in the process.
