What Does A Logo Designer Need?
I thought I would put together a list of things that have really helped me to do my job as a Logo Designer so that other designers can have a look to see if some of the items might also be of use to them. If anybody has any other ideas please feel free to post your thoughts.
A List of things that help a Logo Designer do what they do.
1. An Education in Graphic Design – I have been to both college and university to study graphic design but whilst I think a university degree is helpful it is not really essential. It is certainly a good idea through to study a course in graphic design and there are many excellent colleges that offer this.
2. Industry Experience – This is even more important than the education. Get as much industry experience as you can and it is also essential to have a good knowledge of the printing industry as that is where all your hard work is sent to and if you know a little about printing this can save some unwanted disasters and even open up some new creative doors.
3. Books – Yep lots of books on logos, always handy when you have designers block and need a little inspiration but remember there is a big difference between being inspired and being a copy cat 
4. A computer – an Apple imac will do the job nicely. It is tempting to blow the whole budget on a super fast computer but the processing power that now comes as standard with the latest Apple imacs is certainly enough for creating logos and other design for print based projects. The super mega fast computers available now are really more for video and animation intensive requirements and also for individuals and agencies with too much cash!
5. A Sketch book – spend more time using your sketch book than your computer and you will create some amazing work. From experience the concept is usually always created using the good old fashioned pen / pencil and a sketch book. Spend a little longer on the ideas and the results will be many times better.
6. Software – In my opinion Adobe Illustrator has pretty much become the industry standard for logo artwork creation. It is also very handy to have Adobe Photoshop to provide clients with various image previews and additional image based files but this can all be done using Illustrator if you wish.
7. A portfolio – It is best to have both an online portfolio and a paper based portfolio. Your online portfolio can be in the form of a website or you can place your work on an existing design based website that allows the promotion of your own work.
Its essential to have a paper / non digital portfolio so that you have something to show clients when you go to meet them as the conversation may soon dry up if you are just looking at a blank sketch pad ready to take notes, Clients need inspiration too and reassurance that you are up to the job.
8. A network you can turn to – It is a good idea to join an online community that shares an interest in logo design and that you can turn to when you need a little help with something such as the name of a typeface or an opinion on a design. There are lots of logo design forums and blogs out there so it is just a case of finding one that suits you.
9. Impressive Knowledge – You cannot really sell a logo until you know what you are talking about so learn as much as you can about typography, design and printing. This will also help to build confidence when talking to clinets.
10. A love for logos – you will really need a genuine love for logo design as you will spend much of your time doing it and if your heart is not in it then it will show in your work and clients will pick up on this too.
Hope that is of some use and if you have any thoughts of your own please share them. Thanks for reading.
