+ OKAY, NOW WHAT'S THE UNABREVIATED PROCESS?

1. DISCOVERY MEETING
Design holds no place in the discovery meeting. You hold the information that I need to create an appropriate and effective design. We'll start the process with a simple client survey. From there we outline your marketing plans, profile your clients and target audience, discuss your competitors and nail down your goal.

2. INTERPRET + RESEARCH
Using the information from our discovery, we will aggregate adjectives, identify themes, sort similarities to get a full picture of your brand. We will investigate what your competitors are doing.

3. THE THREE C'S
We collaborate by starting with the 3 C's: Click, Collect & Compile. Click a pic that inspires you (graffiti wall, local artist installation, cool exterior signage, your morning breakfast). Collect materials, postcards and business cards (yes the paper ones) and share them with me. Compile brands, images, logos, color palettes and pictures on Pinterest and invite me to view them. Half of developing a beautiful brand or design is research. Once we finish with this, it’s on to the fun part!

4. DESIGN
Using our research, I’ll present you with 3-4 base designs that I think encompass the essence of your brand. Your feedback is important - what you like about one thing, what you dislike about another. I will include mockups to give you a sense of how it would feel in person. This stage is a conversation. Great communication creates great design! These ideas/feedback will then be paired down and combined to 1 final design with an option for a logo mark if applicable.

5. THE GRAND FINALE
Once your logo is all shiny, sparkly and ready to be shown to the world I will release all files to you and provide you with a complete branding guide. These will be the tools that you will be able to build everything from going forward. Don't forget though if you want to design anything further that we have not discussed in the agreed T&C's (newsletter, business cards, signage, social media banners or profile pics...you get the picture) you'll still need a designer to create these for you. The good thing is, I just may know one.

+ WHY DO I NEED TO FILL OUT THE DISCOVERY MEETING PDF?

If you don't know who you are, then it is equally hard for me to figure out how to brand you to the world. It asks some simple questions about your favorite objects & colors to more detailed questions on your demographics, perfect client and other brands you like to. We want to make sure we are creating something that speaks your truths to your audience.

Take a look at this great article on the success of Warby Parker and how they sold "their story". This may better help you on why I ask these questions.

+ WHAT ELSE CAN I EXPECT TO DO?

1. PINTEREST BOARD: After we both have worked on the Discovery Meeting PDF, I will send you a Pinterest Board to start to understand the general mood of your brand. You can go crazy and pin anything from tones in a picture you like to other brand logos you dig. This is a visual brainstorm that we will share with one another.
2. EMAIL: Feel free to snap a picture around town, a business card you like or graffiti you walk by that exemplifies that cool kid vibe you are going for. The more I see about you, the better I can show you off.

+ WHAT IF I JUST WANT A FONT BASED LOGO?

Regardless of the style of your new "logo" you'll receive the same research, attention to detail, and process of coming up with 3-4 designs. I sometimes go a bit further with font based logos and show you a few more options so we can get the right look & feel of your customized font. Sometimes finding just the perfect font takes just as long as designing a mark.

+ WHAT DO I GET TO SEE WHEN YOU PRESENT ME WITH THE 3-4 LOGOS?

After I have narrowed down my favorite logos to present to you, you can expect to receive a PDF document showcasing them for you to compare. This will show the logo with a suggested customized palette, mockups in various situations based on your business (i.e. Restaurant:perhaps on a menu, beer glass, t-shirt), and as a mockup on a mobile device.

+ ONCE I SEE THE INITIAL DESIGNS, WHAT HAPPENS?

After I have presented you with the 3-4 designs, we'll have a chat about things you like/dislike favor/ not favor. From here I will take this info and fine tune one final logo taking into consideration your advice and my design eye.

+ HOW DO I PAY?

You will pay in 3 installments. The first payment is due before we start, the second after you have been presented with the first 3-4 designs and the last after the the logo has been finalized before files are transferred. You’ll receive an invoice for each payment that you can pay through Venmo or Personal Check (if you're old school like my mom). *contact me personally if you would like to work out a payment plan as well. I'm a business owner as well and know things get tight.

+ THIS IS ALL GREAT, HOW DO I START?

Send me an email, and we'll meet for a coffee. My favorite part is getting to know you so I have the correct direction/brand vision for the project, a clear line of communication and so you know that I'm not some total geek who sits in a dark room with big headphones drinking Monster.