420 Design Blog
That logo stinks; what would you do?
31 Oct 2007 | Angie H
Once in a while when my best friend and I are out and about, one of us will be talking about a poorly designed logo and she’ll ask me, “What would you do?” Nine times out of 10 I don’t have an answer.
Up until recently, this bothered me. I mean, I’m a designer, so I should come up with a decent response, right? But then I realized why I couldn’t come up with an answer right then.
Sure, there’s the whole sketching thing that we designers do to get to a particular solution. But what it really boils down to is discovery - a crucial step in the design process.
The discovery phase is really all about the client and the target audience. It’s where we ask questions of the client that apply to their business. And it's the foundation upon which any project is built. Without it we would simply be designing for the client rather than for the client's clients. That's rarely a good thing.
By asking questions about the client's history, their customers, their short- and long-term goals, we get a good sense of what we're trying to communicate, both in a bigger picture sense and a smaller picture sense. This step is absolutely significant so that we design a solution that is appropriate for not only the client's brand, but their message.
If your designer doesn't ask these kinds of questions and instead sticks to just aesthetic-type questions you may not be getting the best solution for your company.
Design (general), Identity Design + Branding