What is a logo design brief?
A logo design brief is a document that describes your business and brand, laying out objectives and challenges for your designer to solve. By laying out details about your business and marketplace onto one document, you will have a guide for your designer to follow and execute an logo design that’s aligned with you.
It’s so important to help the person working on your branding understand your business, but also your vision. Your vision and your business is only understood by you and is difficult for somebody else to interpret it just by a quick summary or a look at your website.
Missing details can lead to a design that misses the mark. Try and give your designer as much detail as you can about what you do, what makes you unique and who you’re up against. To help you make the best results possible, I have laid out 10 details you must include in your logo design brief.
1. Company Name
Company name may sound straightforward, but how do you want your company name to be displayed in your logo? You could have Ltd on the end of your company name, but is that relevant for your logo design? Also, would you like your name to be in capitals letters or lower case?
This part of the brief is crucial, as your logo designer may use their creativity with your name or make it part of the core concept, which may be difficult to alter in the future. Save time and money by making sure you are clear on the name for your logo design.
2. Tagline
Taglines are incredibly important as they bring clarity to what your company does. It can also be used to anchor an emotional message to your logo which could make a huge impact. Although taglines are great, not every company needs one and it is something that can be considered at a later date as taglines are rarely the core focus of the logo concept.
Do have a good think about the possibility of a tagline if your company name does not leave any clues to what your business provides.
3. About your business
This is the most crucial part of your logo design brief. Make this as clear as possible.
- What products or services do you offer?
- What are your unique selling points?
- Do you have a brand personality or ethos?
- What makes you different to your competitors?
Answer these questions in as much depth as you can. Even the smallest of details can spark creativity which can really make the difference in your logo. Write as much as you can so your designer gets a full understanding of who they’re designing the logo for.
What makes you unique (your USP) will always try to be reflected in your logo design to truly make you stand out, so make sure it’s stated clearly in your brief. Even make it bold if you can!
4. Target Audience
Who are the customers you are trying to target your goods and services to? Your logo design will need to connect with your audience, so this is critical for your designer to develop a style or visual representations that will resonate with your audience.
- Demographics such as gender, age, martial status, location, job title, company size etc
- Values and beliefs of your customers
- Specific interests your customers have
If you don’t get this across, you could end up with a logo that’s repelled by your audience. If it clicks with the wrong audience, that’s even worse and could cost you a lot of money spent on marketing and advertisements to the wrong people!
Write down the characteristics of your audience so your designer can come up with a laser focused design that will be irresistible to your customers.
5. Unique Selling Point
I mentioned briefly before that your USP should be included, but I believe that it’s so important that it should be written in more depth. U.S.P. Unique Selling Point.
What makes you unique? It doesn’t have to be a different product or service. It can be the way that you conduct business. Got a different message or ethos to the rest of the companies in your marketplace? Add that into your brief and let’s get you a brand that celebrates your individuality!
- What’s different about your product or service?
- What are your brand values that make you unique?
- Do you have a unique process or business model?
Blending into a marketplace is like playing hide and seek with your customers – you will make them work to find you. So make sure you stand out as a leader in your marketplace and attract customers who see you as somebody with a different proposition than the rest.
What makes you different represented in your logo will give your audience a far easier choice between you and the rest.
Download a template brief with a perfect example!
6. Overall feel of logo
How would you like your logo to feel? Do you want it to look modern or traditional? Corporate or fun? You can have a mix of styles you would like your logo to evoke.
Let’s take a client of mine, David Taylor Plumbing & Heating. He wanted a more prestige and modern feel to his branding and that enabled him to get away with charging higher prices as his service looked better quality than the rest of his local competitors. Of course the service was excellent and well worth the money, but the branding did the work to create that powerful first impression.
If you don’t have any ideas then your designer can advise you on that or give them the opportunity to have full creative control and let them choose a best fit for your brand. As they’re the experts it’s not a bad idea to give them some freedom if you are struggling to think. As long as you have written lots of details about your business and brand, then there is no reason they can’t get this right for you.
7. Specifications
If you have a clear vision for your logo, write it down in your brief! If you have specific ideas you would like to see come together, write them down too.
- What graphics or representations would you like included?
- What style(s) would you like your logo to be?
- What type of font do you have in mind?
- What shapes would you like your logo to be?
- What colours do you have in mind?
Having your own ideas is great, but do leave some freedom for your designer to adjust, tweak and refine them. Also if possible, let your designer come up with a completely new design idea without your input and compare them both.
It’s great to have different ideas to explore and it can really make the logo design process enjoyable. Personally, I’ve had clients that have come up with some superb ideas that have beaten my own but there’s also been a great amount of times my ideas have completely swayed a client that was set on their own.
Specify your ideas, but consider leaving some freedom for your designer to introduce some of their own ideas.
8. Example logo designs
Found some logo designs that you absolutely love? If you think your logo could pull off a similar style of another brand, send them over in your brief. Having a visual reference for your designer to look at will have a huge impact on your logo and will ensure they’re logos are accurate to your expectations.
Have a look around at some logos around the web on logo inspiration websites or is there a couple of logos that catch your eye in your logo designers portfolio?
This part is of the brief is incredibly important if you have added certain style specifications. Back it up with images and there will be no misunderstandings of your vision between you and your designer.
9. Competitors
Who are the main competitors you are up against? If you let your logo designer know, they can try and find opportunities for your logo to stand out. You may see trends in your competitors’ branding and this is something you do not want your designer to follow. This can be a great opportunity for your logo to stand out.
Provide them with links to their websites if you can ,as that allows your designer to have all the information about them in one place. including their branding that’s on their website to look at.
Your designer can then see where they can make your branding better than your competitors and make you different to them.
10. Your website
Providing your website in your brief is a helpful way of letting your designer find more information about your company easily. Your website will contain lots of info that you may have missed on your brief. If social links are present, it gives them a chance to go into even more depth!
If you have a website you’re happy with, giving your designer a chance to look at it will be great way to ensure they design a logo that fits perfectly with it.
Download your FREE logo design brief template & example
To help you with you brief, I decided to create a template brief that includes an example of a real company that we have worked with. The results were incredible due to their brief being so detailed and easy to follow.
You can look at the example, fill in your own brief and even print a blank copy to work on.
Get your logo design brief example and template now!
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Logo Design Checklist for Powerful Branding
Your logo is your first impression so it's crucial you have a great design. Use this checklist to make sure you get it right.
