Logo Designer | Newcastle, Australia

FAQs

How many colours should my logo use?

Oooh, good one! Typically in a brand identity I'd say 5-7. But that's an entire brand. The break down is 1-3 primary colours, 3-4 secondary colours and some neutrals (black, white, navy, greys, creams).

But for a logo on it's own, max 1-3. Remember simple colour palettes are 80% more recognisable than complex ones.

So now you know how many colours you need, you need to take into consideration the psychology behind using them, warm and cool colours, monochromatic, complimentary. A colour like a bright yellow is considered a comforting colour, while orange is striking and eager for attention. Orange and reds are used heavily in the food manufacturing and fast food industries. Blue triggers calm feelings, so a lot of medical businesses use it. Facebook uses blue to keep people calm and make sure they are comfortable lingering on the platform. Greens organic and environmental, but also used in banking and insurance. Black, white, grey and deep purple have that regal, high-end feel to them.

You need to match the colours to the vibe that you're creating.

What's your logo design process?

When I create anything, I follow a fairly standard process to ensure the final design meets your needs and the audiences.

Kickstarter call. This is your chance to tell me everything about your brand so I can take down a design brief.

Research – I need to understand your industry, its history and your competitors, but more importantly your brand strategy.

Moodboarding – Before any conceptual work, I create mood boards for the logo, and once these are signed off - the sketching starts.

Sketching and conceptualising – Logos are sketched based off the brief, research and moodpboard work. This is a really important step. Sketching evolves the imagination and helps me see logos in different ways.

‍Presentation and your chance to feedback – I'll put together a PDF of the concepts for you to see, with designs shown in context so you can visualise how it's starting to take shape. You're role is to gather feedback and concisely feedback to me to allow me to accurately develop the logo.

Delivery and support. All the files are deliver on final sign off and support agreed upon is delivered.

Why do I need a logo?

A graphic designer aims to make a logo that is recognisable & trustworthy, while communicating core values. A logo is a part of your brands visual identity, and needs to communicate your brands strategy. Its shapes, colours, fonts and images should be different from other logos in the same market niche. Logos help you stand out.

I heard that there are 5 principles of logo design - what are they?

A logo communicates with customers, and resonates with them on a personal level. It needs to be memorable to. A lot of this comes through choice of fonts and colour palette.

Your logo needs to define who the brandi is and what you do. To make sure your logos lifespan is longer than a tailors tape measure, you need to apply 5 fundamental design principles.

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Keep it simple. Your logo needs to be quickly identifiable. Our attention span is 8 seconds and getting shorter. And your customers need to know it's you straight away. Good logos deliver the unexpected, they are unique with being complex.

Look at Apples logo. It's super simple, yes it's changed form and colour over the years, but it's been simplified in line with their brand. It's smart, and can lend itself to application on many areas of the brands visual design.

It needs to be memorable – for the right reasons. Keep it appropriate to your business. If you're a florist being remembered as the company with falling leaves, will be memorable, but perhaps is suggestive that all your flowers are on their last legs.

Make sure it's timeless – avoid design trends! This logo needs to stand the test of time. Look at Apples again, that's 45+ years of the same form. How will your logo look in 10 years time? It's not unusual for a logo to hit 100 years, look at the London Underground logo. A red circle with a blue horizontal bar going through it that simply reads UNDERGROUND.

It needs to be versatile – modern logos come in a variety of shapes for use at different sizes. With the evolution of smartphones, it became the neccesary for smaller logo formats. Your logo should have the versatility to appear on anything from a smartphone or a pen to a billboard or a plane.

Make it appropriate – your logo should be fit for your audience. For example a logo for a feminine jewellery brand could be sleek and sexy in execution, but this probably wouldn't work for a professional service or a kids toyshop.

Can I design my own logo?

Of course. Anyone can design their own logo. Most businesses start off this way, using tools like Canva, Fiver and logo generators to create free/cheap logos.

But one, question I would ask is how do you want your brand to be presented? If you want to be unique, using a tool like Canva or Fiver can align you with thousands of other businesses, all trying to stand out.

A logo performs a lot of tasks and needs to be easily recognised and tailored to fit your target audience.

Who owns the rights to my brand identity design?

You do! Once I receive your final payment, you're assigned all existing and future Intellectual Property (IP) Rights to anything that I create for you. I'll be storing a copy and sharing how amazing you are to my social channels, so I reserve the right to showcase your talent.

I need a refresh, not a rebrand. Can you help?

One of my favourite tasks is collaborating with brands to refresh logos, colour palettes and explore new fonts. Assuming your brands strategy is in place, together we'll refresh yout brand to enhance what you already have. Take a look through my projects or get in touch to start a conversation.

What constitutes a round of revisions?

I offer one concept with up to 3 rounds of revisions. A concept is a presentation of the design/brand (logos, colour palettes, typefaces, photography/illustration style, etc.). A revision refers to me interpreting your feedback and actioning it, to present you with a developed concept.

Be sure to compile all your feedback into one concise email to make the most of a round. You don't want to accidentally use up a round.

Why don't you use the fonts used in a logo throughout the rest of the branding?

Your logo should be at the top of the hierarchy! It needs space to breathe. Positioning the logo next to a heading wih the same font pulls the attention away from the logo and unbalances the design. Different fonts give your brand more personality.

There are occasions, for legibility and accessibility, that I do choose one font. For customers with disabilities, it can be detrimental to use multiple fonts.

Why do you only supply one branding concept?

I'd love to supply all my concepts, but through my exploration of ideas, there will be ones that get rejected. Alongside the brand analysis form and the moodboard you select, my focus will narrow, and I'll design one concept from that. The concept will be aimed at the end-user. If you read through our Brand Identity and Logo Design service, there's a more thorough explanation.

Logo and Visual Identity Design

I'm Martin, a graphic designer who's worked with over 200 brands.

Your Brand Strategy

Moodboarding

Logo design & identity development

Brand guidelines

Extras: Brand collateral

Extras: Photos & videos

Ready to build the brand you and your customers love? This is the perfect start.

FAQs

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