Designing a logo varies on the type of logo you are creating, the purpose of the logo, the client, the type of designer you are, and lots more other reasons. Many people do not know How Long Does It Take to Design a Logo, the amount of time that goes or that should go into creating a strong and efficient visual identity.
A logo is the pillar of a brand, most times it is the first thing the audience comes in contact with when exploring your products or services, so it requires lots of time and energy in order to create a suitable one. At the same time, you would probably want to work as fast as possible in order not to lose clients and also to make more money as a freelancer, therefore protecting your reputation and reviews.
Designing a logo could take a minute and, in some cases, you might spend hours, days, weeks, or even months on a logo design project.
So how long does it take to design a logo?
Averagely, a logo design project takes about 3-5 weeks of work and research, but as mentioned earlier, this time differs and can be influenced by various reasons and factors.
7 Steps to Designing a Logo
1. Interview Session with Client
This is the first and one of the most important steps in your logo design project or process. If your client is available within your geographical area then you should schedule a face-to-face session with him/her because this allows you to break down your client’s body language and help you to understand who he is and what he wants. Also, you can schedule a video call if your client is not available within your geographical area.
The purpose of having these sessions with your clients is to be able to understand them and their projects. You will be able to ask them lots of questions about their business, the industry, their target audience, competitors, goals, and more. The answers to these questions are what you will use in strategizing and creating a visual identity that works.
This session also allows you to bargain, negotiate and agree on pricing for the project with your client. It’s safer and more advisable to require a 50 or 60% upfront payment from your client before kicking off the project.
Sending your clients to fill out questionnaires is not as efficient as having a session with them.
2. Project Proposal
This is the second stage of the logo design process and it includes creating a proposal and making sure all terms and conditions are agreed on before proceeding. The proposal contains everything the client will need to know about how you will work and deliver their project. Everything that has been discussed in the interview session will be combined and laid out in order to form the proposal.
The proposal includes details about the projects; duration, the logo process, pricing, terms and conditions, cost, deliverables, and a lot more. Most times you can have your client append his/her signature as a means of proof that he/she has accepted the proposal and is fine with the various terms and conditions.
3. Research
The research stage takes lots of time, this is the stage where you sit down, brainstorm, and understand the real concept behind the visual identity you are working on. You can also take a peek and look into their previous brand/visual identity (if it’s a rebrand)
You can take further views into their business, you can also check the target audience, what they do, their vision, mission, goals and lots more. It is also important to research your client’s competitors, what they do differently, their flaws, how they communicate with their audience, and more.
Looking into the visual identity of other brands within your client’s industry can also be very helpful as it will help you have an idea and structure of how you will design and present your client’s visual identity.
4. Inspiration & Ideation
There’s a saying that “new things are created from recycling the old things” or just like our 10th-grade Chemistry teacher would say, “Matter is neither created nor destroyed, but can only be transformed from one form to another; the Law of Conservation of Matter”
This theory works like the inspiration phase of a visual identity design process; getting inspiration from other projects and using is for yours. (This is not copying directly, doing that can lead to legal charges against you and your client.) It works like charging your brain with electric fields of creativity and ideas of other designers, these electric fields collide and create a new form of a whole new idea and therefore create your own visual identity, just works like the Law of Conservation of Matter.
You can get inspiration from websites like Instagram, Dribble, Logospire, Freepik, Pinterest, and a lot more. These websites give you an idea of what other designers are doing and also help you stay in trend in the logo design industry.
5. Sketching
During the inspiration stage, you must have saved lots of creative ideas in your brain. In this stage, you put those ideas into sketches; this stage comes with preference. You can decide to use the traditional method (pencil, not pen and paper) or use the modern method by making use of tools or software like Autodesk Sketchbook, and Adobe Fresco.
The modern method can only really be effective if you have a drawing tab or a stylus pen. This allows you to be able to draw, sketch and erase without much stress and still emulate the traditional method.
Also, note that these sketches are rough sketches, they are just more of putting all of your creative ideas in a book in the most presentable way ever, it also allows you to explore more and various ideas, after sketching, you can now pick various versions of logos that you think might work for the brand.
Tip: Every logo in this stage should be in black and white in order to be able to focus on the form of the logo itself, as the colours can cause distractions.
6. Meet the Client
After completing your sketches and picking some of the best sketch ideas you have, schedule a meeting with the client again and present those sketches to the client. At this stage, your client gets to pick one out of those sketches.
You can scan and send your sketches if you are working remotely, and you can schedule a face-to-face session if you live within your client’s geographical proximity.
7. Logo Presentations
This is the time to move on to refining your sketch digitally, making it look good, and adding colors. The logo can also be optimized, and saved in different versions; .png, .jpeg, .svg, and more.
You can also make different versions of mock-ups just to showcase how the logo or visual identity will work in real-life. Also, what you should be creating should fit into the brand’s use, create a school badge mock-up if you’ve created a visual identity for a school.
For a final, you will have to create a brand identity guide, this is just a PDF file filled with guidelines on how other designers or the brand should use their visual identity in its marketplace. This includes, the brand colour, font, tone, and more. The brand identity guide gives prescriptions on how to maintain brand consistency.
FAQs
How long should it take to design a logo?
The average time for the completion of a logo design project is 3-5weeks
How long does it take to create a brand design?
Creating a brand design takes a long time because it also includes strategizing, research, and visual identity. The average time for a brand design is 4-6weeks
How much should you charge to design a logo?
Depending on the type of project, client, or designer that you are, the price varies but the average price for a good logo design is between $100 to $1000
How much does a simple logo design cost?
A simple logo design project costs around $80 to $100
What are the 3 rules of good logo design?
- Unique – A visual identity should be unique and completely different from any other one
- Memorable – Your logo should be something that can occur in the mind of your audience over time
- Minimal – Your logo should be as simple as possible
Do logo designers make money?
The average net worth of a logo designer in the US is around $56,011
How long should a logo last?
The average duration of a logo should be 10 years. This is why it is advisable to always design a logo that can stand the test of time and not flow out of trend
How long should a rebrand take?
An average rebrand should take about 12-18 months