Collaborating with clients can be a challenge–if you know, you know. Explaining what you envision to someone familiar is hard enough, never mind a complete stranger whose money is in your pocket. The last thing any designer wants is an unhappy client after they spend hours, weeks, and sometimes months creating their logo.
Crafting a logo from scratch or in a rebrand is both difficult for clients and the designers who execute it. A simple way to fix this? Asking a whole lot of the right questions that’ll hopefully make all the difference. The key to asking the right questions is acknowledging where a client is, but uncovering where a better future lies.
The goal of this list is to create an identity that not only looks best for the company visually speaking but also that makes the most sense. The only way to do this is to ask questions that not only relate to the present but the future. Here are some of our favorites that have proven to work not only for our clients but our own brand.
The Basics — About the Company
Many designers look at the visible surface, asking basic questions about product/service offerings or their current audience. Although covering the basics is the right place to start, there’s a whole lot more to branding than what meets the eye. Asking more in-depth questions can really help dig into their identity as a company first.
These questions will gather all the insight you need to get started:
- Does your brand have a unique story behind it?
- What core values or principles define your brand?
- How do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand?
- How would you describe your company to someone who hasn’t heard of it?
- If you were to be known for one thing and one thing only, what would it be?
- What are the unique selling points or benefits of your products/services?
- What do you like/dislike about your current brand? (If they’re rebranding)
- What three adjectives would you use to describe your company?
Example: Designity’s signature circle represents community, stemming from the origin of its name, design + community.
The Application — Usage, Target Audience, and Competitors
Although obvious, many designers and companies skip over the application of the logo they’re creating or re-designing. The whole point of crafting a logo is to use it, so it’s important to know where it’ll be used and how. Try not to get caught up in the company’s present audience or positioning in the market–you can always upgrade that.
Here are questions you can ask to create the best-fitting logo:
- Which of your direct competitors is your company most like?
- Who are you looking to target with your new branding?
- How do you plan to market/use your new logo? (Social media, email, etc.)
- Are there any platforms or formats you struggle with visually right now?
- What do you want your logo to do differently from your competitors'?
- How do most of your current consumers find your company?
- Are there new markets you’d like to break into in the future?
Tip: It’s important to consider what backgrounds, platforms, and materials the logo will be printed or created on. This could potentially change the colors or designs used.
The Vision — Inspiration, Style, and Design
Basics and applications aside, the company and client you’re designing for likely has a vision it’s trying to accomplish. Part of branding is also allowing yourself to be creative, so it’s important to make room within the creative process. No one is a mind reader, but getting familiar with your client’s vision can help get a sneak peek into their mind.
These questions can help develop a mutual understanding of inspiration:
- What feelings do you want to trigger in people when they look at your new logo?
- What other brands inspire you and why?
- Which of these attributes best describes your ideal brand? Feminine or Masculine? Traditional or Progressive? Approachable or Elite? Precise or Playful? Personable or Corporate? Loud or Subtle? Unconventional or Mainstream? Friendly or Authoritative?
- What logo style are you looking for? (Wordmark, pictorial, monogram, etc.)
- Where do you see your company 5 years from now
- Are there any visual elements that are important to your company’s identity?
- Are there any colors, symbols, or styles you want to avoid?
- If your brand were a person, how would you describe their personality?
The Arrangements — Budget, Timeline, and Revisions
Even the very best ideas need a bit of structure if you want to bring them to life.
And while creativity is at the heart of logo design, it's still important to set some expectations around logistics to make sure the process goes smoothly for both sides. That means that you and your client need to be aligned on budget, deadlines, and how feedback will be handled.
These questions can help clarify the practical side of your logo project:
- What is your estimated budget for this logo project?
- When do you ideally need the final logo delivered by?
- Are there any key dates or launches we need to work around?
- How many revision rounds are you comfortable with?
- Who will be giving final approval on the design?
- Do you have any internal deadlines that might affect the review process?
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-2"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra.png" loading="lazy" alt="" sizes="(max-width: 479px) 93vw, (max-width: 767px) 96vw, 363px" srcset="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra-p-500.png 500w, https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/6334d81a29c751ccd8c26638_brain-orchestra.png 500w" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right cc-dark"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold">Grow with a community that is exclusively inclusive!</div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Get inspiration from creative directors and level up from emerging creatives to the Chief of Design by collaborating on projects.</div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="#" class="c-button w-button"><strong>Discover Your Growth Path</strong></a></div></div></div>
What Are the Qualities of a Good Logo Design?
While every brand is different, there are some universal traits that all great logos share. Whether you're designing something sleek and modern or bold and unconventional, it helps to know what factors make a logo actually work.
These questions can help guide your client toward a design that doesn't just look good but also is strategically effective:
- Does the logo clearly reflect your brand’s identity and purpose?
- Will it remain recognizable at different sizes and across platforms?
- Is it memorable enough to stand out from your competitors?
- Can it be reproduced in black and white or without gradients?
- Does it align with your long-term brand vision and industry expectations?
- Will it still feel relevant and timeless five or ten years from now?
Although not a magical crystal ball, when asked correctly, questions hold a lot of power.
They give you the insight you need to mesh your creative vision with your client's brand identity, goals, and audience. With a Q&A session made up of the right questions, you won't be left guessing. You'll have a foundation built for a logo that looks great and performs!
