So you have designed the logo you think will work best for a company, you have done all your research, played around with ideas and now the logo is ready to take on a life of its own, but before you hand it over to the marketters who will let it loose into the market – and before it is used in all marketing material – you might want to curve your enthusiasm and have a second look.
For creative individuals the rush of setting ideas to paper always leads to an eagerness to have their work out there. Before you have a final logo to show the company, or your boss, you might want to consider the following:
1. Play with a number of designs: When you are thinking about what the logo should look like, you will most probably have many ideas. Use all these ideas to sketch out your thoughts and then incorporate these ideas into a few logo designs so you always have a back-up if what you consider to be the best logo for the company isn’t accepted.
2. Testing out the logo: Marketters often use focus groups to test out their products before they hit the open market. You can do the same with your logo. Before you go to the company with your design (if you are a freelancer) or before you go to your boss with your final ideas, you can test the logo design out in a screening process. Make sure you get feedback from the individuals taking part. You can hand out questionnaires and also interview them. It might be a good idea to video-tape their reactions so you can refer back to them when fine-tuning your current design or for other logo designs to come.
3. Ask the right questions: You should firstly try the logo out on people within your target market and ask the right questions that will get you to the right logo. For example, you can ask if the logo is unique, if it feels exciting, and what message the logo brings across. This can be done in a focus group, as an email campaign or you can simply ask friends and family who would use the product to give you feedback, but make sure that they are honest and are not afraid to hurt your feelings if need be.
4. Keep track of the logo once it has a visible presence: Just because your logo is finished and it is out there for consumers to associate with, it does not mean that your relationship with it is over. You can still ask for feedback on it, keep an eye out for how people are reacting to it on social media, and you can always tweak it according to the market’s reaction, before too much is invested in it.