Being a writer, it’s a given that I love words and the amazing power they harness. But I’m a sucker for graphic design too. Watching a great designer put my vision onto paper is like watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic do all the things I wish I could on a football pitch.
I’ve been thinking a lot about design lately as I’ve been rebranding my business. Thinking of our new name and strapline was fun, but an uphill task. In fact, I ran about 30 miles in the hilly woods around my house before inspiration caught up with me.
When it came to imagining a logo, my brain was a blank space. It’s like when I play Pictionary. I can’t visualise an image of an object and I certainly can’t put it down on paper. If you’re ever in a room with me and someone pulls Pictionary out, leave if I try to make eye contact.
With my achilles’ heel in full view, I decided the most sensible thing to do would be to outsource my logo design. After some initial research I decided to work with an excellent graphic designer, Lesley Mann, who I’d worked with during my years in the Irish daily press.
I told her our name, The Writing Lab. She liked it. Good start. And I explained our business values and the visual style I hoped to achieve with our website and corporate identity. I said words like modern, dynamic, clear, thoughtful, scientific, cool. Yes, I still use the word 'cool' at 37.
And so the process began. First I received a page of rough ideas. Fat fonts, thin fonts, serif, sans serif, lower case, upper case, pencil icons, words written over a test tube.
Lesley was clear to point out that this was a really early stage where she was trying to understand my preferences for certain design basics, such as typeface, colour and concept. The polish would come later.
I made my choice. I liked the lighter typeface (right) written in lowercase and loved the simple pencil design. I chatted with Lesley and she said she’d develop the design and also work up a couple of others that she thought had potential. My next conundrum looked like this (below).
Lesley had worked up a very smart concept of typewriter keys (top), which she was keen on, but it didn’t feel right for my brand. I favoured the narrowest typeface (blue) and Lesley was happy to develop it.
During these early development stages I was also working on designing the website you're looking at now. When I had a few spare minutes, I Googled ‘best logos’ to see what else was out there. I sent a couple of my favourites over to Lesley, along with a draft of the website.
She explained that she had big conceptual plans for the logo - which were on the same lines as my thinking - but that she’d wanted to nail the basics before she added the shine and polish.
With that, Lesley sent across a final selection of ideas, which incorporated the simple, but striking pencil icon.
I picked my favourite and left it to Lesley to really dress it up. I was starting to love it. There was one final decision to make, however, as Lesley sent across five subtly different ‘final’ decisions (two are right). Spot the difference.
At this stage, I really couldn’t pick a favourite, so I put my faith in Lesley's hands and asked her to choose.
She polished the chosen one and here it is.
I’m delighted with it. It’s a contemporary design that beautifully tells the story of my brand. I’m really proud to see it fronting the business.
Now I've told you our story, here are my tips on how to get a logo you love.
1. Find a designer who understands your vision and wants to design for you - rather than themselves.
2. Understand that finding the right solution takes time and discussion. Don’t expect to see a brilliant polished concept right away.
3. Invest in a good designer. Don’t be seduced by cheap deals on freelance auction sites. I really think it’s false economy. Excellent logo design requires skill and experience and is worth paying for.
4. Make a clear and simple list of what makes your business unique and what your values are and communicate these clearly to your designer.
I couldn’t recommend Lesley highly enough. You can contact her for a quote at lelnott@googlemail.com