As a graphic designer, you probably know that designing logos isn’t as easy as it seems. There is a lot of work behind it, which can often take a lot of time. At the same time, you want to work fast so you can take on more clients and make more money. For that, you would have to quickly design logos.
This brings us to an interesting question: How long does it take to design a logo?
Reading: How long does it take to create a logo
On average, a typical logo design process takes 4-6 weeks of work. However, logo design turnaround time also depends on several other factors and your logo design process.
In this article I will talk to you about how long it takes to design logos and why this time is longer than expected.
A Closer Look at a Typical Logo Design Process – How long does it take to design a logo?
Many new designers are under the impression that designing a logo would probably take 30-60 minutes. Well, technically they’re not wrong, but most of them don’t consider the logo design process.
Your logo design process defines how long it takes you to design a logo. The simpler your process, the faster the turnaround time for your logo design.
Let’s take a close look at the typical logo design process and how long each step in the process takes.
Client Meeting & Briefing (2-5 days)
The logo design process begins as soon as your meetings and calls with your client begin. This process mainly involves understanding the customer’s business, requirements and goals.
Customer meetings and short process usually takes 2-5 days or sometimes even longer depending on customer availability.
At this point you can also usually estimate how much time you would need to invest in the project since all the goals and expectations are set.
A helpful tip to ensure this process goes smoothly and quickly is to ask as many questions as possible and clear up any doubts up front to avoid pitfalls during a project.
You can send us a logo design questionnaire to get as many answers as possible in less time.
Logo Design Proposal and Contract (1-2 days)
Once the project goals are set, it is time to create a logo design proposal and contract forward to the customer. This proposal or contract usually contains all the details about the project like cost, time, deadline, deliverables etc.
It takes about 1 or 2 days to complete the proposal and sign the contract. You can create a contract in just 20-30 minutes, but sending it to the client and receiving a deposit can take longer, ie it can take 1-2 days.
Brand Research & Logo Brainstorming (7-10 days)
The trademark research and brainstorming process takes 7-10 days days as it requires a lot of research and understanding of your client’s business.
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You could do this in less time, but I usually prefer and even recommend that you take your time to do the research, as this is the main content of the process.
Speeding up this process can cost a lot since you don’t have clarity about your customers’ business and their requirements.
Sketching and Designing Concepts (2-3 days)
During the research and brainstorming process, I save many designs for inspiration so that I can , when I get to sketching and designing concepts, I could work fast.
This way, sketching and designing concepts for logos can take up to 2-3 days. But if you don’t come up with good ideas during this process, there’s nothing wrong, to give it a few more days.
I also pause between this process to clear my head and look at the concepts with fresh eyes.
Concept Presentation and Review (2-5 days)
After you have drafted concepts, select the ones you want to present. Concept presentation and review takes 2-5 days.
I need 1-2 days to prepare the concept presentation and about 3 days to give the client some time to review the concepts.
Pressuring them to make a decision is not a good idea and giving them some time to think is important.
Revisions and Approval (5-10 days)
If the customer requests revisions, normally it would take 5-10 days to process the revisions and approve the final logo.
5-10 days may sound like a lot to you as you near the end of the project, it’s important to give your client the time to appreciate this make the right decisions for their business.
Not only does this help them, but it also helps you understand what they like and don’t like. However, remember not to exceed this time much as this can result in the project being dragged out for days without approval or decisions.
Delivery and handover (1-2 days)
The delivery and handover process takes about 1-2 days while you finish and refine the logo. They also prepare all the services so 1-2 days is about the right time.
Since you want to make sure the handoff goes smoothly and makes a good impression on your client, don’t rush this final process.
What factors influence the time it takes for logo design?
Regardless of the process you follow when designing logos, other factors affect the time it takes to design a logo.
Here are some factors that will affect the turnaround time of your logo design:
Customer Communication
This is a big topic and could take your project in one direction or another. If the communication between you and your client is not proper or clear, it can cause delays in the project that will affect your work.
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Often you come across customers who reply to messages too late. In such cases, the project could turn into a disaster that you’re dying to avoid.
I’ve also encountered customers who took weeks to reply to my messages. Worse still, the client abandoned the project just before final handover because they changed their mind.
You will deal with clients like this on your journey as a freelance designer, and the only way to ensure you avoid such issues is to be open about what you expect of them.
In my contract, I mention that the customer:
- should respond to all messages and communications
- not cause delays in reviews and approvals
- Be open about your goals early on
If you set some expectations of the customer, they will realize that you are not a commodity offering a service, but someone who does it must be respected.
The time you devote to the work
Your logo design turnaround time also depends on how much time you devote to the project. If you also work on other projects, you may not be able to devote all your time to one project.
That’s not a problem until you take on too many projects that you can’t handle. So before you tackle a new project, make sure you have the bandwidth to do it and can prioritize your work without missing deadlines.
Decision makers and stakeholders
Your customer runs a company and sometimes not just one person makes all the decisions in the company.
There may be multiple decision makers and stakeholders involved in reviewing and approving your work.
This also affects the timeline of a logo design project. The more stakeholders involved, the longer it can take for your work to be approved.
You may think that this is something over which you have no control. But this is wrong.
During your client meetings at the beginning of the project, you should ask the client how many decision makers will be involved. This way you can get an idea of how long it will take for your logo to be reviewed and approved.
With this information you can decide early on how much time and effort you want to invest in the project and how much you want to charge for it.
Conclusion
I hope this article helped you understand that logo design is not a 30-60 minute project and that it is a lot there are things to do that are often overlooked.
When you work with a client on a logo design project, the time you put into that project should be counted, not just the time you actually spent designing the logo.
This will help you understand how much time and effort you put into each project and whether it’s worth charging for that time.
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