What a TRÜF Logo Exploratory Looks Like May 07, 2011 / Technique

We are sometimes asked why a logo takes so long to create or why it costs what it does. With all the cheap stock logo sources online now, the impression is that you simply hit a magic button and a logo pops out. But in reality the process is quite extensive and calls on years of experience to come up with simple and unique ideas. We wanted to show you a snapshot of the recent exploratory we did for a reading technology group.

First, we need the client to fill out a questionnaire to help us understand their company, target market, goals, competition & a list of adjectives that best describes the vibe of their business. Once a creative brief is settled on, we begin the sketching phase. We believe the computer is a tool, not an idea-machine, so we always start by keeping it loose and take pen to paper first. The Thesaurus is also a useful tool to find words that help describe the company or vibe, which can often generate an icon idea. In this case, the mark needs to be about reading, innovative ideas and technology.

Once sketches are done, we move to the computer (Adobe Illustrator) and literally explore. Here we’ve shown a couple pages from the exploratory, but typically a project can generate 10 or so pages of marks, icons, shapes, colors, monograms, typefaces, etc. Sometimes new ideas can happen in this stage as the process flows organically from one idea to the next. Nothing gets deleted until we feel we have a nice batch and decide on which to present. The editing process is the most challenging, and we pick the ones that we feel best meet the strategy and problems outlined in the creative brief. Typically this is a range of 3-5 concepts giving the client something to choose from.

Dribbble is a great way to get feedback on your designs, if your client doesn't mind you posting the work in progress!