Apr
27
10 Ways To Start A Logo Design
Recently a client approached our studio to design a logo for their community health organization. After spending some time with the client discussing their vision, I was able to take away enough information to start developing 10 concepts in grayscale. I like to work in grayscale first to keep the client focused on design and not color choices. Color will be discussed in the next design stage.
1. I began this assignment with a very bold and simple design using the “BC” from Beacon Community to anchor the graphic visually. A “medical” cross is used in the design to help associate this organization with it’s community health objectives.
2. This second concept uses a lighthouse motif to incorporate some of the direction I received from the client.
This element gives the logo design a very focused appearance with tight typography to support the weight and feel of this graphic. I focused on the word “Beacon” to create a visual tie between the graphic element and the name.
3. To mix things up a bit I created this design to have a very strong iconic, retro feel.
The words “Southeast Michigan” would be too small to be useful in business card/letterhead applications but at this stage of the design cycle I don’t like to censor ideas.
4. Using human imagery in some of the designs gives the concept a “warmer” feel. After all, this is an organization that works within the community.
This font balances the weight of the human figures and contains round characters that create harmony within the elements.
5. This concept uses the typography from #4 but includes the lighthouse motif along with a starburst element.
The lighthouse feels a little dated, will be replace with a more modern version.
6. Here I am using a simple graphic as a metaphor of connecting. The font is used in a lower case format to echo the flow of the graphic. This treatment, along with using various weights, gives the design an interesting and friendly vibe.
7. Here I have shifted the focus from the name of the organization to a bold use of the 4 initial letters. The trick here was to again work in the lighthouse motif along with the starburst.
To add interest to this design, I centered the organization’s name under the 2 center initials. The font weight and color is chosen to contrast with the heavier cap initials.
8. Using a shooting star motif from earlier materials I created a family-friendly logo. I used a fun, lightweight font to contrast the weight of the star family. The falling star element creates movement to visually tie the whole design together.
9. Using the font from design #8, I wanted to try something a little different than lighthouses and people. Here, I use an organic shape to anchor the “medical” cross to the design. This creates a more abstract feel than the previous concepts.
10. Here I used the same organic element but rotated it and added a reflection. I used a light font for the ends of the text element while focusing the weight on Beacon and centering the graphic element above it to create focus and balance to this design.
Currently, these concepts are under review with the client. From this review a couple of ideas will be chosen to take to the next stage for further development to the design and color schemes. I will post the results of this first review within the next few weeks along with step 2 of this process.
