How Logos Are Made

People don’t often get a behind the scene look at the logo design process unless they’ve committed to going on that journey for themselves. So i thought it would be interesting to take you through a real life rebranding project and show you what’s involved in designing a logo from the ground up.

Here you will see;

1. The Design Brief
2. The Design Process
3. Presenting 3 Logo Concepts
4. Final Logo

So let’s take a look at the Frontier Pets rebrand.

1. The Design Brief

The Back Story

My client (Di) wanted to take JunkYard Dog to the next level. Her vision was MUCH bigger than selling some ethical dog products and she felt that Junkyard Dog was keeping her business small.

Let me tell you why.

Di’s vision is to END FACTORY FARMING.
Wow! At first when i heard this it seemed impossible. But when Di told me how she was going to acheive this, I got it. It’s big, and she needed a new name, logo and identity that would encompass her vision.

In short, she was to achieve this by developing her own Raw Freeze Dried Dog Food by only dealing with ethical farmers. Using the WHOLE animal to make dog food and treats.

Here's Di's previous brand that just wasn't appropriate anymore for where her business was heading.

The New Name & Tagline

After brainstorming sessions with myself, Di and Trudy from Vim & Zest, (and many sleepless nights for Di), we came up with the name which would encompass the bigger vision, and still be a great pet food brand name.

Frontier Pets
Ethical products for a better world

2. The Design Process

Research

Before I start anything, i Research. Research. Research. In this case i knew the new logo was going to be shown on dog food packaging. So i went to see what else was out there, and who her competition is. So i looked in pet shops, supermarkets and looked online for other dog food brands.

The Thought Process - Brainstorming

This is the part when I brainstorm and put down as many ideas, concepts as possible.
If i’m designing 3 different concepts, i’ll work on them one at a time. Each concept will go through a similar process.
Sometimes i draw these ideas by hand, and sometimes they’re images created on the computer. Here is a sample of my brainstorming ideas for the 3 concepts.

Let’s take a look more closely at the ideas behind the logo that was chosen.

The concept for this design was taking the main brand themes ETHICS, PETS and CREATING A BETTER WORLD. I then translate those ideas into visual representations of this and put them together.




Here I played around with reversing the cat and dog out of a circle to give it the appearance of a world globe.
I tried many variations to see which one was the most obvious and striking.

I added in the curve from the globe to make it look more like a globe, which also adds a hint of a smile.

3. Presenting 3 Concepts

4. The Chosen Logo

Refining a logo often happens before i even present the designs to a client, but as part of the design process, there often are refinements that happen after the logo has been presented.

In this case Di wanted to change nothing! I had nailed the brief. She cried when she saw this particular design and from that moment on, Frontier Pets was born.
She liked the simplicity of this design, the clever concept of the world icon, and the happy image of the dog looking into the future.

 

"I’ve been in marketing and advertising all of my life.  I’ve learned that the best outcomes come from designers who listen, who question, who borrow your shoes and walk around in them for a while - in other words, who immerse themselves in your product and your ideals so that they can best represent them. Mel does all these things and more.  I have never, ever, worked with a designer who nailed it on the first go.  I have never, ever, worked with a designer who encompassed a product so well that she made me clap and cry at the same time.  That was until Mel.  And Mel continues to get it right as she works with me on developing my brand.  Mel - I will never, ever leave you."

 

Diana Scott, Founder, Frontier Pets.

 

Frontier Pets is picking up momentum, and without being biased, her dog food is seriously THE BEST dog food on the market.
Do yourself a favour and try it out. (and know you’re doing your bit to end factory farming). www.frontierpets.com.au