Logo Design Worksheet

While it’s fun to jump into the visual aspects of your logo design, it’s always better if we start with the why. In this case, background information on you and your business. Help us understand the people, services, products, industries and so we choose compatible aesthetics for these aspects.

Know Thy Customer Like the Back of Thy Hand

Why do jeans have two legs?

I’m sure you are sensing this is a trick question when we clearly know the answer.

The point is my version of the modern architectural and industrial design principle “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION.” The reason to design a print campaign should be that your target reads periodicals in paper format.

It all starts from an intimate knowledge of your target customer. How they access information about your services/products, should determine where you communicate to them. With this understanding, it important that we have a clear picture of whom you are talking to so that we present your brand in all its glory.

This may seem obvious but we often are surprised at how vague descriptions of the ideal customer for a service or product can be.

In this section, we want exact specifics as much as possible in the form of demographics, behavioural, and attitudinal characteristics. What do don’t want it to do is be stabbing in the dark. Doing this exercise on this worksheet will save our creative team countless hours of execution time.

Let’s break your services or products down into: Features, Benefits, & Values

The FEATURES of a product or service are similar to the physical features of a person. Think about your phone: touch screen, front-facing camera, apps, face recognition, sound, and storage capacity are all features.

These FEATURES enable specific BENEFITS such as ease of use, a visual and verbal connection, freedom to star in your own creativity, accumulate memories, and change your theme song on the fly.

A target customers VALUES will be determined by what is important to that customer. Oftentimes these values are used to make decisions and this is where there is room for common ground with a brand.

In general, it is best to list one FEATURE with a corresponding BENEFIT so that we can pinpoint what BENEFIT comes from what FEATURE.

Tapping Into Your Brand

How would you describe your brand?

A brand can be broken down into a few components:

The IDENTITY of the brand is expressed in its logo, typography, color palette, packaging, and retail environment.

The TONE of the brand is expressed in the attitude of the copy, voice-over, or composition of the layout.

The VALUES of the brand are expressed in the channels the brand’s messaging is communicated in, the associations or partnerships it fosters, and the processes the brand uses to do business.

William Feather said, “The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men — the man he is and the man he wants to be.”

When you look closely, you can see that companies do indeed play to both consumers. Companies post their manifestos in stores, “go green,” and go to great lengths to tell the public what their values are. BE SURE YOU ARE TAKING YOUR CUSTOMER’S VALUES INTO ACCOUNT WHEN YOU THINK OF YOUR BRAND.

You have completed the Logo Design Worksheet. Now our design team will meet to review your brief. Please schedule your appointment below for a project meeting with Donovan and Jeff to discuss your brief and outline the next steps for the design of your logo.