Logo design: what actually happens during the process

Logo design typically takes two weeks, with the actual drawing taking up only a small part of that time. Most of the time is spent on decision-making before the first line is drawn and on fine-tuning afterwards — ensuring that the same logo works equally well on a 16-pixel browser icon as it does on the side of a van. This article walks you through the four stages, what you need to decide at each stage, and what you should end up with.

Four steps

Step	Duration	Who makes it?
1. Questions before putting pen to paper	1–2 days	You provide the answers, we ask the questions
2. Directions	3–5 working days	We
3. Final touches	3–5 working days	We, you comment
4. Handover	1 day	We

In practice, the schedule is delayed for one reason: the responses for stage 1 are taking a while. That’s the only point at which the work comes to a standstill because of you.

1. Questions before putting pen to paper

This stage determines the end result more than anything else, and it is also the one that many people want to skip. The questions are uncomfortably specific:

• Who is your customer? Not ‘everyone’, but the person who calls most often.
• What do your competitors look like? We’ll take a look at them. If all the logos in the industry are blue and round, that’s a fact — not necessarily a rule.
• Where does the logo actually appear? Website, invoices, workwear, car, signage, social media. The list determines how many versions are needed.
• What don’t you want? This is often the most useful answer on the whole list.

Without these, you end up with a pretty logo that could belong to anyone. This is the most common way for logo design to go wrong — not because it’s ugly, but because it’s interchangeable.

2. Directions

We present three distinctly different styles, not twenty variations on the same theme.

The reason is practical. Choosing from twenty options isn’t a choice but a drain on your energy, and the end result is usually the one that most closely resembles something you’ve already seen. There are three approaches, each with its own rationale, from which a decision can be made.

Each direction is shown in context, not on a white background in the centre of the screen: in the website header, on the business card and as a small icon. A logo that looks good when large but disappears when small is not a finished product.

3. Finishing touches — here’s the work

The chosen direction is refined until it’s ready for use. This is a stage that nobody sees, and it’s largely what determines the price:

• Versions: Horizontal and vertical; logo only without the name; single-colour black and white. The single-colour version is mandatory: stamps, fax forms and engravings do not recognise colours.
• The smallest usable size. The browser icon is 16 pixels. Most logos become a smudge at that size, and the solution is to simplify the design — not to make it smaller.
• Protected area. How close are others allowed to get? Without this, the logo will end up plastered all over the first brochure.
• Colours in two values: one for the screen and one for print. They are not the same figure, and using the wrong value in print is a costly mistake.

4. Handover

Check two things here. These are the same questions you should ask any designer before placing an order:

• Can you provide a vector file? The supported formats are SVG, AI, EPS and PDF. If you only provide a PNG, your first sign order will cost the price of a new logo.
• Are the rights, including the right to edit, transferred? In Finland, copyright is vested in the author and is not transferred upon payment of the invoice. This is agreed separately.

We’ve looked at rights, trademarks and prices in more detail in the article ‘How much do logos and corporate identities cost in Finland?’.

If you already have a logo, but only as an image

This is a common scenario: the logo was created some time ago, the designer cannot be contacted, and all that remains is a PNG file or, at worst, a screenshot. The process of converting it into a scalable format is called vectorisation.

There are two things you should know:

• Automatic vectorisation isn’t enough. The software can trace outlines, but the end result typically contains hundreds of unnecessary points, uneven curves and the wrong font. Proper vectorisation involves redrawing the graphic based on the original.
• The font needs to be identified or replaced. If the original contains handwritten text, it must either be sourced or redrawn. A font that is almost a perfect match becomes apparent as soon as the new and old material are placed side by side.

Vectorisation is clearly cheaper than a new logo, and it’s the right solution when the logo itself works — the only problem is the file format.

What we need from you

Your part in the whole project is small but essential:

When	What	Time
Getting started	Answers to four questions	approx. 30 mins
Getting started	List of places where the logo appears	10 mins
After the directions	Selection and rationale — why this, not that	15 mins
After finalisation	Comments all at once, not in three batches	15 mins

It’s the last line that causes the biggest delay. Comments in three batches on different days mean three rounds of corrections instead of just one.

In demand

How many rounds of revisions are included in the price?

We have two: one after the initial direction and one after the final touches. This is almost always sufficient once the questions in stage 1 have been answered. If the direction is completely changed midway through the project, this constitutes new work and will be priced separately — we’ll let you know this in advance, not afterwards.

Can I give some examples of logos I like?

It’s worth it, and the most useful thing is to say what you like about them – the design, the colour, the feel, or how they’ve been used. A mere collection of images can easily result in the logo resembling someone else’s. Examples of designs you don’t like are just as useful.

Do I need a business logo, or is a text logo enough?

A well-designed name alone is often enough – more so than you might think – and it’s cheaper and more durable. A separate logo is worth considering if you need a small symbol – an app icon, social media image or engraving – or if the name is long. First, ask yourself where the logo will appear when scaled down to less than a cent in size. If nowhere, a logo isn’t necessarily needed.

What if I don’t like any of the styles?

In that case, something has been overlooked in the questions in stage 1, and we’ll go back to them — we won’t draw any further directions on top of the same initial data. In practice, this is rare precisely because the questions are asked before the pen is put to paper, not afterwards.