What is a Logo Design Brief?

Traditionally, the brief has been an essential tool for successfully executing any type of design project. The brief serves as a guide to designers for inspiration and direction, while staying aligned with the client goals and business objectives.

A Logo Design Brief is typically created by an Art Director or Creative Director to hand off to a designer. But even if YOU are the designer working solo, I still strongly recommend doing this exercise to help organize and structure your creative explorations.

Plus writing a brief a great way to be exposed to what it means to be in leadership role as AD or CD. You’re not going to remain a Senior Designer forever, right?

THE BENEFITS OF A LOGO DESIGN BRIEF FOR DESIGNERS

The #1 benefit of a well written brief is that it loops in the client from the start, gives them an intellectual stake in the process and the outcome. It makes the ultimate result (the logo) much easier to “sell” – because the client helped develop the framework you use to be inspired.

You need a Logo Design Brief to enable you to create meaningful, authentic Logos. Otherwise it’s all guesswork and conjecture. Would you build a house without a blueprint? Nope. Would you build a website without wireframes and Information Architecture? Never. So how can you create an effective logo without knowing precisely WHO you are designing for and WHY they will care? Enter the Logo Design Brief.

This article will help you not only understand the benefits of a Logo Design Brief, but also how to write one as a solo freelance designer. You’ll approach the creative challenge with confidence knowing you’re following professional practices, while you’re enabling yourself to do your best work. This provides the best opportunity of producing work that matters.

DISCOVERY IS NOT A BRIEF

There is a very common misconception that simply getting the client to complete your Logo Discovery questionnaire equates to a Brief. It’s just not the case. Yes it is a critical part of the process, but it’s not the Brief.

The actual Logo Design Brief is written after the client completes your Logo Discovery questionnaire. It is written by the creative consultant, in collaboration with what information the clients supplies you. It is only then you will have the information you need to write the Brief itself.

Refer to this post: #1 Biggest Mistake Logo Designers Make and get a copy of the Authentic Logo Discovery document I use with my clients. THIS is your starting point.

You can’t create an effective #logo without knowing precisely WHO you are designing for and WHY…CLICK TO TWEET

The Logo Design Brief in 10 Steps

The outline below is very useful in writing a comprehensive Logo Design Brief. This defines everything the designer needs to execute solutions to the creative challenge at hand.

Note: This article is specifically focused on the development of a custom Logo for a Freelance Graphic Designer, therefore it has some distinct differences from a standard Creative Brief an advertising agency may use to give to a team for a classic ‘design’ project (a website, poster, brochure, or packaging project, etc).

1. OVERVIEW

Note: This is the 20,000 ft view of the creative challenge. 
For the purposes of this template, I am using a sample subject of Quentin Tarantino.

Category: Custom Logo Design & Twitter Profile Brand Extension.
The Brief: Custom logo & Twitter profile capturing the essence of the famous movie director Quentin Tarantino.

2. MARKETING & BUSINESS GOALS

Note: The general goal of a new logo is to elevate the company as they evolve away from their old existing brand, into something with more relevance and authenticity. Ultimately the company wants to improve and strengthen their relationship with their customers/target audience.

The Goals: Since this is a logo capturing the essence of an individual, not a company, business goals do not apply to this creative challenge. If the client stated specific goals in the Discovery, they would be placed here.

3. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS & DELIVERABLES

Note: This is where you define the exact text to the used, and list out the details of the logo expectations. Is this logo a wordmark, lettermark, symbol/icon, or combination? Are there any color restrictions? Speak to the usage requirements, although it’s assumed the logo should be flexible enough to be used in both print and web, and both large and small usage. Also outline the various expected deliverable formats of the final approved logo – vector source file(s), PDF, JPG, PNG, 1-color and full color versions, etc. Everything the client will need to use their new logo moving forward. Check out my Free Logo Design eBook for more information about delivery of file formats.

Exact Text to be used for the Logo Design: Quentin Tarantino

Requirements: This custom logo is not constrained to a specific format, it can be a workmark, symbol/icon, or combination. The designer will decide what is most appropriate. It is also up to the designer to define the color usage. If you feel a 1-color black logo fits the concept, then so be it. If you use color, I suggest working in RGB vs CMYK for the most vibrant color for presentation.

Deliverable: The Logo deliverable will be a high resolution jpeg – at least 2000 pixels on the horizontal of an 8.5 x 11 page. The original Logo should be created in vector format, then you’ll export the logo to jpeg for delivery.

4. TARGET AUDIENCE

Note: Define the demographics: occupation, gender ratio, average age, nationality/location, psychological demographic, lifestyle preferences, and motivations of the target audience. If there is more than 1 target audience identified, please label them as primary and secondary. This info is pulled from the Logo Discovery your client completed. Very important to remember: The TARGET AUDIENCE is who you are designing for, you’re not designing for the personal aesthetics of your client.

The Target Audience: Because of the notoriety of the subject, the target audience is large in this case – anyone that is a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s work. That could mean anyone from 18 – 80. I will say however, the overwhelming age range would fall between 30 – 55, and more male than female.

More male because QT makes movies that are incredibly violent, full of cursive language and racial epithets, and the plots of his popular movies have revolved around gangsters, samurai, war, and western genres, which are mostly popular with male audiences. Tarantino includes lots of homages from older movies & genres and writes scenes that are “pop culture-friendly” that would appeal to fellow movie buffs, who may tend to be more male.

Having said that, if you look at his movies most of them have very prominent female characters and sometimes they are the lead as well. Very few directors have created female characters with such integrity and strength. It’s important to note is Tarantino is a master of character development, male or female.

5. RESEARCH TARGET AUDIENCE & COMPETITION

Note: Find out what primary pain points the Target Audience is experiencing, and what pain needs relieving.

Audience Research: Try to visualize the primary target audience based on how they are described above.

Competitive Research: Analyze the commonalities of other movie directors may share with QT. Look for similar color palettes, visual associations, imagery, etc. Make sure you take notice of both the visual and verbal tone of voice used by these other directors. Identify any common themes or connections that may appear during your research.

6. INSPIRATION

Note: Provide brief examples of style / overall look you want the logo to achieve. What aspects of the current branding can be used as a starting point for the design? What feelings or metaphors reflect the spirit of your product or company? What tone & style needs to be achieved?

Tone & style: intensity, dramatic, violent, angry, brilliant, bold, vengeful, impatient, chaos with a pinch of sarcasm, humor, and in your face honesty.

Visuals: Below are visual examples of style & overall style of Tarantino’s past movie posters. Also included are photos of the director himself.

Potential Visual directions to consider: BOLD fonts, hand-lettered rough characters, splashes & splatters, the color red, unexpected approach, unique one-of-a-kind textures, decidedly UN-corporate.

Some of Tarantino’s Movies:
The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs.

Example Links: Everything Tarantino, Tarantino, 13 Tarantino Characters, & some Notable Quotes.