SoMaFusion :: travelogue

You just know – you know?

The moment you see it there are no two ways about it. Your first reaction – especially if it’s a logo for your project – should be one of “Yes! That’s the one!” All your theorising and comparisons with the design brief will come later but the moment you see the thing you know.

For us it was like this. I started dancing around singing “we’ve got a logo” (honestly). Manolis declared “well since you’re dancing I guess we’ve got a logo”.

Tweaks and colour combination discussions are to follow in the coming days but for now I am just glad that Lefteris is the designer that he is.

I knew it - even though there is nothing I could have done to avoid it.

We got some drafts from our designer and I remained unconvinced. I looked into it, I spoke with Lefteris (the designer), I spoke with Konstantina (the PR girl I can trust), I spoke with Manolis (the other half of SoMaFusion) and I couldn’t figure it out.

Until I went back to the writer’s drawing board (that is, my trusty notebook, yes, they still exist) and I started writing and doodling (very badly may I add) and it hit me.

What I had left out was a prioritisation of characteristics. In other words a list of our key characteristics informing the logo in order of importance.

Why do this? Well, there is always a good chance that fitting all of them in one logo is out of the question.

Doing the list helped me focus my mind on what is important for us and helps the designer focus his mind on what should be more prominent.

So here it is. As I’ve said before a logo is a journey, not a simple tick in a box.

getting closer
Originally uploaded by LeLon Is Idea(L)

I mentioned the other day that we found a designer – the talented Mr. Lefteris Koulonis (see his updates on Less Like More and you’ll know) and we are working with him to come up with our logo.

I finished our design brief, Manolis went over it and he’s happy as well so I’ve just whizzed it off to Lefteris.

I just wanted to blog about what a design brief is all about. I could write a lot but I think the picture above says it all (and what do you know, it’s one from Lefteris’ photostream).

A design brief is all about getting closer to your vision, to your designer and to your audience.

It should be a succinct document (not necessarily short. But definitely very clear) which will help the designer understand who you are, what you do, what’s your vision, what’s your market, what are your design preferences. It is definitely not a document whereby you instruct the designer what to do. It is a document that puts your designer in a frame of mind.

Ours includes

• Introduction to SoMaFusion
• Market Position
• Activities
• Main message/ vision
• What the company name means
• Our requirements (in terms of where & how we will be using the logo

I doubt that’s enough but I think that for now they will introduce Lefteris to what we are all about and we will be able to discuss further and find more areas that we want to explore as we go along.

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Here are some good resources I found on writing a design brief.
- How do you write a design brief? by David Airey
- The Ultimate Design Brief by Shaun Crowley on Freelance Switch
- The Logo Design Process of TOP Logo Designers by Jacob Cass on Just Creative Design

I’ve worked with graphic artists in the past producing logos for clients and if it’s one thing that makes their lives miserable is a client that says ‘oh, just sketch something and we’ll talk about it‘. Usually good graphic artists reject projects which give them no guidance and rightly so. How can you do your job to a high standard if you don’t have the tools?

Here is what I’ve learned (so far) that you need to have before you even start talking to a graphic artist or even thinking about a logo.

What your company does
This is not as easy as it looks. We sat down and analysed what we’ve done in the past, our skillsets, what we could outsource, our contacts, our aims, our plans for the future.

What is your business plan
I know the phrase sounds scary – I left it up to Manolis to draft and then we sat down and discussed it, even though we still have some way to go. For the first few weeks I always think it’s neccessary to think about market position, gaps in current offerings and why it makes sense to work the way you intend to work.

The name of the company
Explain – this also helps focus your mind, let alone the designer, on what the name stands for, what it represents. For us it’s all about our skillset and our belief that the combination of content and code does wonders.

What sort of clients/ projects are you going for?
The audience shapes the message – I think I don’t have to analyse this more.

So, what have I left out?

Over the years I’ve drafted and helped with some business plans. You can find loads of advice out there, I wholeheartedly recommend the guide to preparing a business plan by Business Link. If you are in the South East (UK that is) also try to visit the Business and IP Centre at the British Library, they offer advice on planning and seeking funding.

From my experience though there are two things that most people tend to forget about before they start putting pen to paper. That’s function and audience and how these change over time.

Function
By that I mean what is the function of the business plan. Is it there to provide a road-map, to set-up processes, to measure success in the future, to secure external funding? By deciding on the function it is easier to draft but never forget that the function could change in the future.

Audience
Once you have deciced the current function then the current audience will also be clear. For example it could be just an internal audience, you and your partner or your employees. By all means make it relevant to them but remember that in the future things may change.

Changes in function and audience
You may not want to ask for funding now but you may want to do so in the future. Think about that from the outset and include it in your consideration of function and audience. This will help you find out if you have any weak arguments and address them from the outset.

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It’s a bit cheeky of me to be writing this post since Manolis is actually drafting our business plan, but I’ll do one better and send it to him as a ‘keep in mind when drafting’. It’s all fun over here at SoMaFusion.