Hi everyone,

I work in accounting for an entertainment company that’s notch a new venue. The show has promise, but our logo is extremely outdated. I have excellent experience with Photoshop and a honestly excellent eye for what’s eye catching and memorable. The management here is very open to new thoughts, and I’d like to present several drafts for a new show logo, but, I’ve never presented anything that may possibly be used on this large of a scale for business purposes.

To the graphic designers/others who have experience dealing with graphic designers – what are the issues that arise when designing a logo for a company? In particular, here are the questions I have:
1) How many choices would be wise to present? I want to have options, but don’t want to overwhelm with designs.
2) How large should the file be for a draft? What format? How large should it be if I’m designing something that’ll appear on billboards or magazine advertisements?
3) Are there any legal consequences that I need to keep in mind when designing a logo (if I use Photoshop, do I need to tell it or pay any type of royalty to Adobe for by their software? I don’t reflect I need to but I just want to be sure)

Any other tips for presenting this to management? Any tips from those who have designed logos before? I reflect this is crucial to the success of our show, and I want the advertising to be spot on. It’s the first thing people see in ads, and really forms an opinion whether we like it or not. I want them to be turned on to the thought, and thus need to present this in the most appealing way possible.

What it boils down to is that I know I can do it, but I want to do it right the first time. Delight lend me some advice for those with experience in creation, presentation, or someone who has had things like this presented TO. Thanks so much.

Best answer:

Answer by Matty B
Well, that sounds like reasonably an undertaking. I’ll do my best to answer the logistics of presenting a logo concept. I do have to start this with an honest observation even if. Being able to design a successful logo takes time, training, skill, investigate, and talent. It will help you in the long run during this process to know that you aren’t a designer. The fact the you were considering making this logo in Photoshop is overwhelming evidence of that (but I’ll talk about that later). So, let’s start with your questions.

1. HOW MANY CHOICES.
Knowing how many choices takes time to learn. When rising a relationship with your client you can sometimes learn how involved in the process they are or want to be, and therefore get some insight into how many options will give them too many choices and lead down a terrible road. It also depends on who has power over the praise of this logo. If one main person is in charge of making the choice, I usually show 2 or 3 options. If the choice maker is a assemble of people, like a board, I show one option.

2. SIZING
The actual size of the logo shouldn’t be an issue, and this is where Photoshop comes in. You never, ever, ever, make a logo in Photoshop or any raster-based program. Logos need to be made in a vector based program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape. Vector-based programs productivity graphics that are re-scalable to any size without pixelation or loss of quality. You never know what your logo will have to go on in the prospect, which is why a vector format is the only reasonable option.

3. LEGAL ISSUES?
You don’t have to pay a royalty to Adobe for by their software, but you can run into legal issues from by a font to which you don’t own the licensing rights for.

As far as tips for presenting—it took me years to learn how to present a logo in such a way to get a “yes” from the client, and I still don’t do it 100% if the time the first round. What I can tell you is that clients are rarely objective in viewing a logo. Aesthetics are something we all feel personal about, and a clients’ personal feelings about style and color can get in the way having a constructive discussion about the logo. So, be prepared to defend the choices you made in the logo, and have reasoning behind why you did what you did. It’s vital to subtly remind clients sometimes, that logos are made with the clients’ customers in mind, not the personal tastes of the clients themselves.

One last thing I want to right you on. The logo is not, and should not be the first thing people see in an ad. The ad should be the first thing people see. When designers make a logo they include branding guidelines that state how the logo should be used in different contexts (ads, letterhead, harvest) so that the logo isn’t overpowering the message you want to get across to the customers. A logo should be a whisper, not a shout.

Hope this helps, and excellent luck.

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