How Long Does it Take to Design a Logo? A Peek Behind the Process

adminMarch 20, 2023

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Many people are rightly unaware of the amount of time and effort that goes into creating a strong brand identity – aka a logo.

Understandably, many potential customers are stunned when I tell them my prices for logo design (let’s just say a logo should cost you more than a nice dinner). In fact, most professional designers would agree: a logo takes a lot of time, thought, skill, and effort. All of this boils down to the logo design process, which ends up taking many hours, not minutes.

Reading: How long to create a logo

Although some designers’ own processes differ, I can safely say that they all follow a similar structure consequences. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what usually happens when I design a logo.

First things first: pick the client’s brain. Before a draft can take place, this must first take place. I spend about an hour with a prospect and ask them a lot of in-depth questions about their business, their industry, their audience, their competition, and their goals. This is what the logo design brief I used looks like.

Time Invested: 1-1.5 hours

Once I have all this information, I will Go home and put together a project proposal that includes everything the client needs to know: how much the project will cost, what the schedule and deadlines are, what results they can expect, and what the contract terms are .

Invested time: 30-45 minutes

After the client signs the proposal and declares that he agrees with everything, and I receive his deposit ( a standard practice with most designers) I can get to work now.

Time required: 5 minutes

Here I am looking at my new something more precisely to the company and industry of the customer. I research their own company, how long they have been in business, what type of work they do and what sets them apart from their competitors. I also look at the desired audience, specifically what type of demographics they are targeting. This gives me clues as to what interests their target market and what might appeal to them the most.

Time Invested: 1-2 hours

As you can see, designing a logo takes a lot of research! I spend some time researching my client’s competitors, usually mostly local, and seeing what they are doing in terms of visual identity. Most of the time their own logos suck, which is good because then it becomes easier for me to blow them out of the water. But sometimes my client’s competitors have very professional branding, logos and marketing materials, which makes them a little harder to beat. Luckily I love a challenge.

Time Invested: 1-2 hours

Here I turn to professional design resources; I look through numerous logo design books and websites and put together a compilation of logo designs from similar industries. This helps me to get an idea of which direction the client’s own logo should go and gives me inspiration for different problem-solving avenues.

Time invested: 1 hour

This is where the fun begins! Before I turn to the computer, I first spend some time putting pencil to paper. I write down word associations, draw some mind maps and sketch out a whole bunch of logo concepts. Since this is brainstorming, I draw everything out, even the crappy ideas. I can edit and refine things later.

Time Invested: 2-3 hours

After a day or two of brainstorming, it’s important to take a step withdrawing from everything and letting my subconscious sleep on things – literally. This helps create some space so I can look at the ideas with new eyes, and sometimes I even come up with a new solution while dreaming.

I pick about 5 or 6 from the strongest ideas I’ve sketched and finally turn on my computer. My favorite program is Adobe Illustrator, where I render the logo concepts as vectors. These are black on white and usually quite crude, but it’s important to see how they look digitized.

Time required: 2-3 hours

From From the rough logo concepts I’ve created, I pick 3-4 of the strongest ones to refine and finally present to the client. I clean them up and combine logo icons with a suitable font for the presentation.

Time required: 1-2 hours

For the first logo presentation I almost always meet with the client face-to-face so I can explain the ideas and strategies behind each concept. I can listen to their feedback and give my own and take lots of notes.

Time taken: 1 hour

Typically the client has selected a single concept direction to pursue and we are focused on advancing it to completion. Sometimes a client has an idea and I adapt it to make it work, other times I have my own possible solution that I’ve never tried. The single concept direction has now turned into several possible designs with small variations.These are usually emailed to the client and it is common after the first or second round to select and move on to a final logo design.

Time Invested: 30-45 minutes

Sometimes the logo design is a simple word mark, other times it’s the traditional symbol with the company name below or next to it. For the latter, choosing an appropriate font is the next step. I’m still working in black and white when choosing options, as we want to focus on one variable at a time. I usually present six to about a dozen different options of the same logo icon with different fonts to choose from.

Time Invested: 1 hour

Once we choose a font Once you’ve selected and finalized your logo layout, it’s time to start working in color. I go through some of my favorite color books and look for suitable color schemes for the client’s logo. Here I strongly consider the audience and the industry we are dealing with. Again I select 6-12 bold color combinations, apply them to the logo and present them to the client. Together we will select the best solution for your company.

Time required: 1 hour

We are on the home stretch! When the client is happy with everything I hand over all the logo files in a logo pack that includes illustrator files, jpg, pdf, png files and anything else they may need or have requested. I accept the final payment and this completes the logo project.

Time Invested: 30 minutes

Another logo design project under my hat . It’s time to dance, eat and pass out because the next day I’ll probably have to do it all over again. Glad I love what I do!

I know all of these steps sound like a lot, especially for something as simple or small as a logo. But when you understand the importance of a company’s brand identity, then it might make a little more sense why so much time, energy, and effort is put into creating a logo.

So the simple and honest answer is : it depends. Do you think I or anyone can squeeze all these steps into an hour or two? No. Granted, some steps can be reduced or even eliminated, but in general, a solid logo can take anywhere from 10 to 30+ hours. Most logos I personally make fall within the 15-20 hour range.

What is your logo design process like? How did you come up with your current logo? Are there any steps that you think should be added or removed?