From Designing to Delivery 1

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Hello there! Welcome to another day for learning. How has the learning process been? Have you been learning new things? I hope you have. Let me hear your feedbacks please. The comment session here, a personal mail, or a comment on any of the social media platforms you find the post. Would you prefer a one on one which will be my phone number? You will have to reach out via social media first #winks. Please reach out, I am eager to talk personally with my readers.
So, let’s move. We looked at the design brief in the last post and I know it was all insightful and step by step. If you notice, these posts are following a particular progression. We have learnt about the elements of an iconic logo, we moved on to the ‘what to do after getting that contract of that iconic logo (the process of design),’ then we moved on to how to create a design brief which will help you in that process. Now that you have followed the process of receiving the job, let us look at the process of working on the job and delivering it.
A whole lot of us (including me) make this mistake of going straight to our laptop when we want to create a design. I have come to realise that this process limits our flow of inspiration and thereby we tend to not create a relevant logo. What is the essence of creating a logo for your client that cannot stand the test of time? It’s beautiful, awesome, message carrying but it becomes archaic very soon, old fashioned…no…it shouldn’t be. So, what are we meant to do first after we get that job?

Mind Mapping
After you have summarized the design brief, you should be able to get a word central to the whole brief, write it down. This process is to help you see the whole different directions that your design can come from. The how to is to write the word central to the design brief then branch out from it, writing other words that spring to mind as you think of that central word. This process helps you to collect your thoughts (be focused on the design at hand), generate ideas in directions you wouldn’t have thought of, get into a creative groove and associate words with images.
Remember the handbag company in my previous post (Step 4)? Let’s say the name is ELEGANCIA. That’s the Spanish version of the word ‘Elegance.’ You will agree with me that the central word here is Elegance, now think of all the words that comes to mind when you think of that central word – beauty, carriage, poise, outfit, accessories, affluence, mind blowing, simple, colours, Peacock, graceful, stylish, Swan, ballet and so on. At this point, let’s move to the example below.


Sketching
After mind – mapping, your mind is going through a lot of ideas, you might want to highlight the words generating the strongest ideas. Now that you have your ideas, sketch them with pencil and paper, not on your laptop. The use of pencil and paper is actually easier and faster than your laptop. Sketch all ideas coming to mind, some will stay on the initial concept, some will be tossed, keep sketching until you get to a place you have been able to create something on your sketchpad. Now let’s go to your laptop. Here is an example of a designer’s sketch for a logo.
Black and white first
It’s usually better when your client is not confused with colours right? This is why it’s better to get the black and white logo approved first, should in case you will still add colour. The black and white form helps your client to concentrate on the form of the logo and the idea it communicates. And if you are of the school of thought that a logo without a colour won’t thrive or is boring, white and black are also colours you know, you might want to do a google search to see big brands that their logos are in white and black. And do you know that a black or white logo can be put on any surface and will still look very good. You might want to start creating some logos in black and white. One basic thing to take note of is that when your logo is in black and white, it can always take up any colour as the need be, and most times the only way to achieve this is to avoid backgrounds in your logo. 


Deliver your jobs with mock ups
We are moving gradually to the delivery stage. It’s best to let your client see how the logo you have created for them will look like on their product, on their website, on a bill board, they will appreciate it the more. It will also give them a sense of more understanding. If you are designing Elegancia’s logo, they should see it on a hand bag, don’t you think? This will make them be able to visualize better.
One tip as regard reviews, please note that it will always happen. Learn to save your jobs with dates and not codes that you have forgotten that only you understand so that you don’t get your clients confused. Now let’s go present your ideas.


Presenting your ideas
Remember I mentioned in the post ‘Elements of an iconic logo,’ that you shouldn’t give your client more than two ideas to choose from. You don’t want your efforts to go to waste. Go with all confidence you can muster. Because really, it’s your job, your area of expertise that your client knows nothing about. Don’t let them get you, using the influence of that it is their job and they paid you. Well, you were not paid to do what they say, you were paid to do your work in a way it will benefit them.


At this point, I think we should call this part 1 and continue part 2 in a few days. There we will be going fully into presenting your ideas. Thank you for starting this journey with me, it’s been insightful for me as well, let’s do more together. In case you have friends that are creatives, please don’t forget to tell them about Creatives’ Corner and what you are learning form here, let them join our community. Don’t forget to subscribe and send a mail for new topics. 
See ya!

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