How I create a logo, step by step

The conversation that sets the direction

Most of the time, you already have something in mind. A colour, a shape, an impression. "I see blue, something round, I'm not sure exactly, but I see it." That is precious, even when it is blurry, and it is the first thing I ask you about.

If there is nothing yet, we start from your company: what you do, for whom, and what your clients should feel when they discover your brand.

What interests me most is not your trade. It is the reason your clients choose you, specifically. A particular care, a way of welcoming people, an attention the others do not have. That is often what brings you work, and it is what your logo can carry.

One thing worth knowing from this moment: a logo can illustrate what you do, or convey an impression. Both exist, both hold up. An abstract logo is not a lack of ideas, it is a choice, and our conversation is what tells us which one looks like you.

Looking at your competitors and at similar companies

Before drawing, I look at your sector and at the directions your competitors have chosen. Not only that: I also check projects carrying a name similar to yours. Having the whole picture matters.

By the end of this stage I make sure I have a moodboard full of interesting ideas, sometimes far-fetched ones, hunting for the small detail. The goal being to create something unique and memorable.

Of course, here we are in the case where you know exactly what your project is called. If you do not, I can help you, or show you creative brainstorming techniques that work very well.

Time to draw

In pencil, on paper, most of the time. Sometimes on a tablet when I want to work on a particular lettering. In every case, it starts with sketches that go in all directions.

How I search depends on what your logo needs to be. There are several big families.

• The typographic logo, where the name is the brand.
• The logo built around a symbol, a shape, an illustration.
• A mix of the two, like my own EYN logo, with its dots between the letters.
• The handwritten logo, like a signature.

For a typographic logo, I always start from an existing typeface and modify it slightly to change the way it can be read: a softened curve, a sharpened angle, a redrawn letter, the space between two signs adjusted. That is what turns a simple word into a brand.

Lettering is the most human type of all, the one I love most, and it necessarily happens by hand. Many playful projects, or ones that deal with light and joyful themes, are built on a handwritten style. That human side can make it slightly less legible, though, if the writing is too messy or too personal.

A first sort among the drawn directions

After drawing in all directions, I keep two or three. No more. The ones I truly believe in and that I can already picture in colour in my head.

Depending on the complexity, I push them in pencil as far as possible, to be sure the shape works before moving to the computer. Then I take them quickly into a digital version, so that you can judge them far more easily.

What you receive are directions already thought through, ones I truly believe in, and you tell me what you feel and which one you prefer. It is also the right moment to show the proposals to other people, if you need their opinion.

We refine it, together

The chosen direction then gets all the attention. This is where the logo truly becomes yours.

Plenty can still move. The same shape can become rounder or more angular, and we try both: angles say solidity, curves say welcome. We refine down to the smallest detail, from the end of a stroke, to the weight of a line, to the space between two letters.

The colours too, if you had none in mind. I propose several directions matching the values and feelings you want to show. And you are the one who decides. While making sure the chosen colours contrast well and can be seen by everyone, in every situation.

How many rounds? I do not count them. Some projects ask for two, others for ten, and that is perfectly fine: a logo is kept for years. What matters is that the exchange stays clear. And when a piece of feedback gets blurry, helping you find a sharp direction is part of my job.

Every version of your logo, for every use

A logo is not a file. It is a small, complete set.

Several colour versions: for a light background, for a dark one, on a transparent one, so it holds everywhere, on your company van as much as on your website. Several formats: vector files for print and for any future enlargement, in PDF and EPS, and versions ready for the screen.

With that, a small guide in PDF. It says which version to use where, names the typeface if I started from an existing one, and gives your colour codes: hexadecimal for the web, RGB, CMYK for the printer. Everything a printer or a future developer will need, without having to call me.

A method that works

To conclude, this is the method with which I create effective identities for all my clients and for my own ventures, without ever using generative AI (an algorithm is not made to create something unique). It is also what lets me keep an accessible price for companies and project owners in Belgium and the Benelux.

Some projects ask for more: a deeper analysis of the competition, work on the name, a check before a trademark filing. Those we discuss separately.

For all the others, this is the path. And it starts with a conversation.