Initial presentations to a client are exciting, nerve-racking, and an obvious necessity for any logo design project. One big question though, How detailed and refined should you make the concepts?
I tweeted my process a while back and received some replies of curiousity. As it's the one year anniversary of that tweet, I figured it was time for a little show and tell. But first, the typical ways to present initial logo comps.
Sketches
Sketches and notes in a notebook
Present comps that are too rough or loose and the client may have difficulty realizing how the concept could actually work. Asking a client to visualize a sketch as an actual logo is tricky. Most need to see something to know if it works or not. I'm sure you've had the scenario play out where you describe an idea to a client, but they're not quite on board with it. You sketch it out on a white board and they start to see what you're getting at. But it might not be until you can show them the idea in place, using their brand colors and imagery, that they fully grasp what you were talking about in the first place.
As an aside, I ran into a similar issue recently with a web project. We'd been working on the copywriting for various sections of a site as they were being simultaneously coded and added to the content management system. The client had some difficulty fully grasping how the content was going to work. Once we showed them the site with content in place, they loved it and were able to give much better feedback. Seeing is believing.
Vector Mockups
A presentation with a logo that is too clean or tightly implemented can make the client feel what is shown is the final logo rather than a direction or concept. Or they come to the conclusion that what you've presented isn't exactly what they're looking for. What we actually want from this first presentation is for the client to focus on the idea and concept, rather than the execution of that concept. The details can be flushed out in further iterations.
And now, an alternative.
Sketch to Vector to Trace
Tracings from vector file printouts
The approach I take, and a few other designers I know take as well, is to present clients with a traced version of a vectorized logo. Mind-blowing, earth-shattering awesomeness right? Okay, maybe not. But here's the reasoning and why it makes sense: it gives a client the feeling of a refined concept to which they can give feedback without worrying about minute details or whether they will go over budget by doing so.
One example: there are fancy serifs or a particularly complex icon that would be difficult to represent in a raw sketch (especially for those of us lacking raw drawing talent). Tracing a vector printout makes this possible.
Another scenario: the concept requires you to show a serif to give a more sophisticated feel but you don't want the client to get hung up on the differences between Bodoni and Mrs. Eaves; a sketch will help with this.
Step-by-step
Logo presentation printed out
- Start with brainstorming and concepting like any other project
- Move on to sketches (as per usually)
- Refine a few directions in vector format (Illustrator)
- Print these out
- Trace the print outs
- Scan the tracings
- Present these to the client (with accompanying notes)
And now?
Depending on the client and whether you feel this approach makes sense for them, I encourage you to give it a shot and take this approach. If you already utilize a similar approach, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
About The Author
Matt Crest runs a communication design studio in Denver, Colorado. He likes his wife, ampersands, bicycles, and trying to figure things out. Learn More.
