We love October at DPM. Why? Well, we think it’s the month that people most want to create new logos, new branding and change their lives. So Spring has arrived (some weeks ago actually), you’ve just thawed out and… you’re thinking about a new business or re-inventing your existing business… We’re not here to talk about what makes a good logo or what makes a great logo but it is very interesting how many corporate ID and online logo resources there are out there. It does our heads in actually. All we can do is sit back and quote the way we quote, undertake the process in the manner in which we have developed it and make happy customers. Believe it or not our very first project ever as DPM was in fact a logo. It was created by our Director Radi Safi for a company called Chile in the Eye. A retail store in Balmain.
What’s important about choosing the right agency for your logo is a well balanced set of skills between their crew members. Not everyone is an illustrator and not everyone enjoys corporate design. Our process has always been to backwards brief the client, come back with sketches, mood boards and inspirational material, gauge a reaction and then have three of our designers go away and create three or four ideas independently. We then get together as a team and compare our ideas. It’s great when you see a couple of common themes popping through. Between those 12 or so concepts (many are well fleshed out by now), we choose the best few (anywhere between 3 and 6) and present these to our client. By this time we have researched the industry, the business, the competition, we’ve lived and breathed the name for a couple of weeks and are well and truly ‘in the zone’.
As soon as a logo comes through the door we lock away solid studio time. Very few designers will do this which is very unfortunate. It means the project gets the attention it deserves. More often than not we insist on showing are client real world examples of the logo in situ and if we’re also developing their identity guideline include a comprehensive outline of where and how the logo will be applied. The steps are fun and inspirational and we keep our client in the loop at all times. Logos are step one and they are usually the first thing people see. They are always worth the investment but do your research and make sure your designers have their bases covered.
