E27?-?How to convince clients to accept your?logo designs

Logos are a crucial part of the visual identity of a business. So crucial that the final decision of a logo tends to be subjective, based on the views of your client. 

“Do they like it?” If yes, then you’re good to go, but if no, could lead to multiple revisions which are not good for anyone, especially you, the designer.

We, designers, are “manipulators” (there, I said it). 

But no, we are not here to deceive businesses by creating poor visuals. Our job is to convince our clients that the design decisions we have made are the best for their business, based on a standard process.

Having a clear design process and showing it to your client across the project really increases the chances of your logo getting selected. A clear process helps to remove the emotions from the final design because you didn’t arrive there by chance but through a detailed roadmap.

From my 3+ years of designing logos and identities for businesses, I’ve developed a solid process which helps give my clients (and myself) confidence that the final logo I have presented is the best for their brand. 

Here’s a breakdown of the process in detail. 

Involve them from the initial call.

Right from the moment your client calls you, every action you take will raise or lower the level of confidence they have in your work.

Show up for the scheduled call on time and make sure you’re properly dressed (For a video call, the minimum you should have on is a shirt and a cheerful face). Speak confidently and ask questions that give you more ideas about the business.

You can also walk them through how you work with clients, so they know what to expect during the project. Usually, I give a quick summary of my process and share a brief PDF document they can go through after the call.

A good first impression goes a long way to show professional you are. Your client will subconsciously trust your design decisions more.

Present a brand stylescape

A stylescape is a visual moodbaord that shows how the brand could look like, based on your research and answers from the client on the initial call. It should generally include colours, imagery, fonts, logos etc to help provide a visual cue of the brand.

Presenting this to the client, before the final logo makes them feel more involved in the design process. They get to see your journey right from the start. 

As you present the stylescape, try to get some feedback. Get to know what they love or hate about it, or what they would like to be updated. This way, they get to feel more involved in the decision-making process. It's like they’re making the logo, side by side with you which gives them more confidence in the outcome. 

So now, you’ve moved from describing the brand with keywords and phrases to visual styles. 

Present the logo drafts

At this point, you should present 2 to 3 strong logo concepts you’ve been able to develop. Your aim here is to narrow down to a concept, together with your client. 

Don’t just send it over as a PNG file. Make a simple PDF presentation showing each concept and its breakdown where you get to explain how you came up with them. This gives you the chance to explain each concept in detail and get some feedback before building the mockups.

There are many ways to approach this, but I recommend presenting the logos in black and white, without any mockups or applications. 

This will help you get true feedback from your client on each logo. It will also avoid them being easily attached to a concept, maybe because of colour, when in fact, another concept might be better. 

You might also need to make some tweaks based on your client’s feedback. You don’t want to build out a whole brand presentation, only to find out the logo won’t work, trust me.

Make a fantastic brand presentation

Now you’ve narrowed down on a concept, together with your client. You’re sure of what they want and what works for the brand. This is your opportunity to show what the brand can become in full detail. 

Explore your creativity to the fullest by showing some fantastic brand applications with high-quality mockups. When your client sees the approved concept in its full glory, they will be blown away.

They will be fully convinced that it is the best logo for them because they’ve approved the stylescape, narrowed on a final logo concept and now, they can see that concept being fully built. 

Bonus Tip: Get feedback from design friends along the process.

Sometimes, as designers, we get so caught up in our work that we might not easily see areas that need work. Whenever possible, try to get a second (or third) eye to give you some feedback on your logo concepts, before presenting them to the client.

There are various design groups on Facebook and LinkedIn where you can get feedback from other designers. You can also share your concepts with a design friend. If you don't have any, send them to me and I’ll give you feedback.

All in all, do good work. Add this technique to your logo design process, do your best and you should have happy logo clients and the end of the day. 

What steps do you take to get clients to accept your logos? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading another episode of Journey of a Nigerian Designer.

If you want to work on an identity project for your brand or you want to chat about design, connect with me on LinkedIn or send a mail to akpanrmmanuel269@gmail.com