When our team approaches a logo design, there are steps we take before sketching and conceptualizing the visuals should even begin. Because the logo is part of a bigger brand story, it’s important to start with what we call “guiding words.” These words give designers an idea of your brand’s personality, which informs how the visual representation of your brand should show up.
TAKEAWAY #1: Establishing your brand personality should come before logo design.
Using the guiding words, we create a collection of imagery, colors, textures, and typography inspiration in a mood board. This further defines the persona of your brand and serves as a way for us to check in with our clients.
TAKEAWAY #2: Mood boards are a tool to set logo design on the right path.
Often when design begins, it’s helpful to get the obvious solutions and ideas for a logo out of the way during the sketching process. This allows us to notice new ways to approach the design and incorporate ideas from the mood board as well as details that catch our eye as consumers.
Once we have a few ideas, we start designing logos purely in black and white. If a logo doesn’t stand up or isn’t legible without color—it’s not strong enough. When color is introduced, simplicity should still be a guiding principle so the final logo becomes timeless. When applied in many ways and living in different spaces, it should still accurately represent that original brand persona.
TAKEAWAY #3: Simplicity is the key to a remarkable logo.
Project Feature: The Rendezvous
The Rendezvous Pizzeria & Steak Shop is a family-owned restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania using old family recipes, new creativity in pizza, and opened under the next generation of owners and leadership. Our logo design was inspired by the original restaurant’s logo and the nostalgia of beloved family stories while incorporating a clean and modern aesthetic to take The Rendezvous into the future. Read more