Most logo projects that drag on for weeks have the same root cause: the designer had to guess. Ten minutes spent answering a few simple questions before you start can be the difference between loving the first round of concepts and starting over.
Short answer: a good logo brief covers who you are, who you serve, how you want to feel to customers, what you like and dislike, where the logo will be used, and any must-haves. It does not need to be long. It needs to be specific.
The ten-minute logo brief
- Exact business name and spelling, plus any tagline you want included.
- What you do, in one sentence a stranger would understand.
- Who your customers are: homeowners, families, contractors, fashion buyers, patients.
- Three words for how you want to come across, such as dependable, bold and local, or calm, premium and modern.
- Competitors, and what you want to look different from.
- Logos you like, from any industry, and what you like about them.
- Things to avoid: colors, symbols or styles you dislike.
- Where it will be used first: truck, sign, shirts, website, packaging.
- Must-haves: an existing color, a family initial, a cultural element.
- Deadline: a print order, a launch or an inspection date.
An example brief
“Eastside Tile & Stone. We install kitchen backsplashes and bathroom tile for homeowners in Detroit and Grosse Pointe. We want to feel precise, trustworthy and a bit upscale, not like a big-box store. Competitors mostly use blue houses and tools; we want something cleaner. I like simple monograms and a navy or deep green. No cartoon tools. First uses: van door, yard signs and Instagram. Need it before a home show in two weeks.”
That paragraph gives a designer almost everything needed to produce focused concepts on the first try.
How to give feedback on concepts
- Start with what you like, then what to change.
- Be specific: “make the name heavier” beats “make it pop.”
- Look at concepts at real size, on a phone and printed on paper.
- Limit the opinions. Ask one or two trusted people, not everyone you know.
- Mix elements if it helps: “the icon from concept 2 with the font from concept 3.”
What happens next with us
Send your brief by form, phone or text. A Detroit designer reviews it, asks any quick questions and sends 2 to 4 original concepts, usually within hours. You refine one directly with the designer, pay only when you are happy, and receive every file with full ownership. See the full custom logo design process, or if you are on a tight deadline, the same-day custom logo option.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (313) 329-6047 and a designer will build the brief with you, or text a designer at (832) 736-7336.
