It’s important that we describe what we believe about logos before we get into how we create one for a business. 

Logos are valuable, there’s no debate from us. A logo is crucial because it makes or breaks the way a brand can be perceived. As well as set the tone for brand messaging and further design elements in the future. To help explain what I mean by that, you can’t put lipstick on a pig. There’s no hiding from a bad logo.

Your logo should mean something special, and have multiple points of storytelling even if all are not apparent to the viewer upon a glance. 

The person who looks at the Apple logo sees an apple and maybe reflects on how it’s unique for a tech company. They might think of how simple and clean it is.  Whereas Apple sees a story of discovery and innovation, drawing inspiration from the story of Issac Newton discovering the law of gravity. See how many elements of story, design and perception they can pull from? 

We Always Start With…

Every single project, including branding at brandch (and with any studio I am sure) has to start with in depth brand discovery. We have a unique approach to onboarding that ensures not only a complete understanding of a client’s brand, but showcases where we can find spots for improvement and helps them articulate the intangibles.

Human Branding Framework

Our developed framework highlights that the best brands are the most human. They connect with what makes us human and with our emotions over excessive sales points. They resonate through having seven strong pillars that  formulate their brand.

The Human Branding Framework call is around 3.5 hours, which leaves enough room to ask the right questions and dive deeper into the client’s brand framework.

By understanding them through this lens, and being able to see where they can improve upon, we’re able to find areas to fill and pull from to create a logo that truly works for their story and beliefs. 

Onto Research

Then we create a brand moodboard that helps direct the creative direction of the logo and brand we are creating. Typically filled with inspiration, textures, and brand words.

From the moodboard we navigate into user persona’s, trying to understand who is perceiving this brand. What are their pain points and desires, as well as expectations by looking at how competitors communicate online. This is where the kind of part comes in, we cannot show you fully the asset here, but we can blur it!

We use these persona’s as a refinement point. 

Now We’re Creating

Notice how we didn’t start designing until almost halfway through our process? Creating a logo is more than just sketching- it’s setting the foundations for why this brand is the way it is, and how we decide to communicate that.

Once we start creating, we create over 25 versions of a logo using a combination of different brand words. 

It is crucial in this phase for us to not judge harshly what we create, and continue to draw for hours straight, not spending much time on refinement but friction-less creativity. This helps us create logos that we may not have thought of if we spent time judging and refining each one on if it was good, right, or wrong before ever getting to see endless possibilities.

From the 25, we select contenders and receive anonymous user feedback. This helps us understand outside perception a bit better, as designs created in a closed off room might be out of touch with what connects with others.

The Winning Logo…

From the 25, we selected a top logo or two to discuss with a client. Some become top contenders because they pull directly from storytelling, and others become top contenders because the ideal audience receives it the best. 

For this logo, we were inspired by their origin story. With their original shop having a large tree, and their new shop having one too. The business was passed down from father to daughter and we couldn’t ignore the imagery of history repeating in a legacy honoring way. Thinking of a father tree and a daughter tree with one leading and one following.  The business is also located in the PNW, so evergreens are a common staple. And with competitors sticking to cartoon-ish mascots, we thought it would be effective to speak to people based on the environment and not silly mascots. 

We love doing this. 

Visual storytelling is powerful. We connect to images and icons since the dawn of existence, it;s inherently human to connect to symbols that mean something.

Don’t let your logo fall through the cracks and carry no depth. It’s not about it looking beautiful, it’s about story and connection. That your brand signals something you are proud of.