A logo (abbreviation of logotype; from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) 'word, speech', and τύπος (túpos) 'mark, imprint') is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordmark.
In the days of hot metal typesetting, a logotype was one word cast as a single piece of type (e.g. "The" in ATF Garamond), as opposed to a ligature, which is two or more letters joined, but not forming a word. By extension, the term was also used for a uniquely set and arranged typeface or colophon. At the level of mass communication and in common usage, a company's logo is today often synonymous with its trademark or brand.
For me to best understand what you need and avoid any situations where the client does not know what they want but only knows what they do not want, I will need to know a few things from you, like the style: formal, casual, playful, corporate, kids, biker, heraldic, Gothic, feminine, classic, bold, outrageous, funky, and so on.
As a professional, I am not limited to any styles, despite my personal preferences, so I am therefore just as efficient doing work for a feminine boutique as I am for bikers and comic books.
Because I limit the number of changes and options to a reasonable number, we need to help each other by streamlining this process as best we can.
If you have a very clear idea of what you need, it is a good idea to provide a sketch or show me something similar.
Then, I usually ask which colors you have in mind and work from there for the color scheme: if you prefer bright primary colors, black and white, sepia, pastels, metallics, full color, one or two colors, and so on. It is important that this be done carefully so as to accommodate the various printing methods that you will use with your logo.
For example, if you know that you will be doing a lot of screen printing and embroidery with the logo, it is a good idea to stick to 1-3 spot colors to keep your future print costs down, but if it's going to be used mainly online, anything works.
Then, I can give you the option of various logo types with the estimated costs that I offer:
This is not widely known, but it should be, in my opinion, and another reason to feel at ease when working with me, because the law states that, unless otherwise stated, any original artwork created is by default owned by the designer or person who created it, unless it was created under employment. This means that if it is not clearly decided from the start, a designer can freely approach a company for which they designed a logo and start demanding royalties, exclusivity to do all their design work, and a variety of other strange similar requests. Although not often, it happens!
It is therefore good to know that I am open to discussing variations with you; for example, if you want a better logo design fee or a free logo even, I can hold onto my rights in exchange for exclusivity for all your design work. In this case, it's similar to renting the logo from me, and most big businesses and brands work this way with their design agencies.
In most cases, though, you just want the logo that you paid for to be yours to do with as you please, and I understand that, so by default, that is what I offer my clients, and the proof that the logo is your property will be stated on my invoice to you, so you should never have to worry about me ever coming back to you years later, after you have made a complete success of your business and start to legally make outrageous demands.
You can then further copyright it or trademark it with your attorneys if need be, and I will offer anything needed from my side to assist you with that.
