“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Andrew Grant
In marketing, you have mere seconds to catch your target market’s eye and convince them to give you their precious attention. Planning your messaging and branding with this in mind is key to having a successful presence in your industry. Consumer mindsets change, though. Messaging will fluctuate as industry trends evolve. But there is one element of company’s brand that should represent company values, unique selling propositions, and offerings all within an instant:
Your logo.
Every company dreams of having “Golden Arches” notoriety and brand cult recognition with their customer base. Who wouldn’t? Your logo is just as important to your company as its name. A well-designed logo will visually marry your company’s lifeforce with how you want to be perceived by the public, and will help you drive a stake of equity into your industry.
We got together with Carol Armitage, our Senior Art Director, to get an inside scoop into how Marbury works through logo design with our clients. She highlights a logo design for Marbury client, Hoop Roll, and walks us through each step in the creative process.
Step 1: Get sketching
We like to kick off the design process with a strategic intake session. This meeting brings our client together with the creative team to begin pinpointing feel, branding highlights, and overall brand vibes to all consider during the logo design process.
For Hoop Roll, the client wanted a logo that would speak to all ages while evoking feelings of light-heartedness and fun. The logo should allude to how the game is played. With those prerequisites in mind, sketch designs were created. Industry research was done beforehand to ensure that there weren’t logos already in existence that were too similar to what the design team was envisioning.
Step 2: Initial thoughts
Once sketches are completed, the designs are implemented digitally. There are usually a few designers working on logo design concepts, which provides many options for the Marbury team to internally review. Once first-round cuts are made, the remaining design options are formatted in black and white to present to the client for first impressions. Showing the designs in black and white ensures the client and design team focuses on the bones (graphic elements and composition) of the logo design without getting hung up on color options prematurely.
Step 3: Client review
During the first review presentation, the client is usually shown 5-6 logo options. Our account and creative team will guide the review discussion to help nail down likes and dislikes with the foundational layout of the logos. Once a clear direction is agreed upon, we move on to the fun part: adding color!
Step 4: Pick a color, any color!
Okay, maybe not any color, but this part of the design process is where artistic expression really gets to shine for the client and the brand voice they are trying to portray. Using the brand feel as a guide (traditional, modern, cutting edge, etc), our design team painstakingly chooses a color palette – we believe color conveys the soul of the company and products or services offered. As Hoop Roll is a game designed for all ages, bright and eye-catching colors were used to convey the “This is fun!” vibe the client wanted customers to catch onto while playing their game.
Steps 5 and 6: Final review and revisions
With colors added, the client receives a final small group of logo versions with colors to review and make a selection.
Once the logo is finalized, we will provide single color, grayscale, and multiple file type options to ensure the logo fits any need the client may have for it! Marbury will also provide a branding guide, if needed.
Your logo is your equity and presentation to the world. It’s not something you should take lightly and it is a part of your branding to which you should dedicate careful time and consideration. We would love to help you master this key element of your company’s identity! Contact us today at group@marburycreativegroup.com and let’s give your company the “Golden Arches” logo treatment!
