设计一个标志并不是仅仅匆匆画出一个草图，希望客户喜欢。专业的标志设计师首先要了解公司、战略、抱负和目标。
为了帮助您，我们整理了一份问题清单来回答您的客户。它将为您提供所需的关键知识，以将他们的愿景以生动的设计变为现实，该设计将是可扩展的、适应性强的和前瞻性的。
第 1 部分：关于公司的问题
第一件事，您需要收集有关业务的基本信息，例如开始的时间和原因、拥有多少员工、竞争对手是谁等。虽然其中一些可以在线获得，但最好从客户的那里收集这些详细信息。
部分原因是互联网上的信息通常不可靠，即使是最简单的查询的解释也会引起争议，而这本身就很有启发性。
例如，即使一家公司的成立日期也可能成为争论的焦点，特别是如果该组织过去有多个名称（或许因为多次合并而出现）在这种情况下，最终被认为是“正确”的答案实际上并不重要。它让您的客户以一种听起来不像干巴巴的营销方式而是基于现实世界的诚实和情感依恋的方式敞开心扉谈论业务。
1. 您的公司/组织/产品/服务名称是什么？
2. 您能描述一下您的业务吗？
3. 你们提供什么服务或产品？
4. 你的公司有多大？（员工人数？收入？）
5. 贵公司成立多久了？
6. 贵公司当初为什么成立，动机是什么？
7. 你的主要竞争对手是谁？
8. 你的竞争对手如何推销自己？
9. 是什么让您的公司在竞争中脱颖而出？
10. 贵公司的优势是什么？
11. 你的弱点是什么？
12. 公司的长期目标是什么？5年后你的公司在哪里？10年？30年？
13. 如果你必须用一个词来描述你的业务，会是什么，为什么？
14. 贵公司的价值观和/或使命宣言是什么？
第2部分：关于品牌的问题
在大多数情况下，标志设计实际上是重新设计的标志或更简单的标志更新。您不会从头开始，而是在现有logo的基础上进行构建和发展，或者至少从中汲取一些元素。因此，重要的是要问很多客户对当前标志的感觉，以及更广泛的视觉识别和整体品牌目的的问题。事实上，即使你把所有东西都撕掉并重新开始，你也需要问这些问题，以免你最终重复他们不喜欢的旧品牌的事情！
15. 目前的标志是什么？
16. 您的徽标是否带有标语？
17. 为什么要更改徽标？
18. 哪些词描述了您在查看当前徽标和品牌时的感受？
19.您喜欢和不喜欢当前徽标的哪些方面？
20. 你希望新标志完成什么？
21. 您希望目标受众在看待您的新品牌时想到哪三个属性？
22. 以下哪个词更适合您的品牌？传统还是现代？
23. 以下哪个词更适合您的品牌？友好的还是公司的？
24. 以下哪个词更适合您的品牌？高端还是性价比？
25. 以下哪个词更适合您的品牌？消费者还是贸易？为什么您当前的品牌使用这些颜色、字体等？
第 3 部分：关于目标受众的问题
在设计一个标志时，你需要知道你是为谁设计的。如果公司想要远离现有的受众并针对不同的人群，那不一定是现有的受众。事实上，改变标志通常是更广泛战略的一部分，以将品牌的吸引力从中年人群转移到年轻人群。只有您的客户知道他们想与品牌一起去哪里，因此询问如下一系列全面的问题至关重要。
26. 谁是主要目标受众？
27. 目标受众的年龄组是什么？
28. 他们主要是男性还是女性？
29. 你的大多数受众住在哪里？
30. 您的目标受众的平均家庭收入是多少？
31. 您的大多数客户如何了解您的公司？
32. 您打算如何与目标受众进行交流？
33. 如果您的客户必须用一个词来描述您的公司，那会是什么，为什么？
34. 有没有你想打入的新市场？如果是这样，它们会是什么，为什么？
只有您的客户知道他们想与品牌一起去哪里，因此提出一系列全面的问题至关重要。
第 4 部分：设计偏好
您会注意到，到目前为止，我们还没有真正讨论过客户希望新徽标的外观。这不是偶然的。因为在你了解标志设计的更广泛目的之前，深入研究喜欢的颜色等细节只会让每个人都偏离轨道，弄得一团糟。
但是，让我们假设您现在对公司、它的含义以及它想要实现的目标有一个透彻的了解。是时候开始谈论设计本身了。但是，与此同时，您仍然需要根据徽标的整体业务目的进行讨论。它不应该是关于人们的个人喜好（“我真的很喜欢这种绿色”），而是如何，例如，一个特定的调色板可以帮助标志实现其商业目的。这些问题可以帮助您将讨论引导到该特定方向。
35. 公司通常使用什么颜色或调色板，为什么？
36、标志主要用在什么地方？打印、网络等？
37. 您想保留现有徽标中的哪些元素，为什么？
38. 设计新标志时有哪些限制需要考虑？
39. 有什么必须包含的东西，比如现有的品牌元素、文字或图标？
40. 看看你的竞争对手的品牌，你认为哪些标志有效，为什么？
41. 有没有你认为行不通的标志，为什么？
42. 在您看来，成功的标志是什么？预算、时间表和管理
在与客户的会面中，您可以集思广益，为创造一个伟大的新标志集思广益。但在实践中，让它们真正发生需要大量的组织、计划和准备。因此，除了所有“蓝天思维”之外，最好通过提出以下问题尽早为您的讨论奠定基础。
43. 您对新徽标有预算吗？
44. 您是否有需要考虑的最后期限？
45. 谁将是这个项目的内部决策者？提供反馈人和批准人？（向客户强调，决策者越少越好！）
46. 会有其他人参与这个项目吗？任何第三方分包商或其他机构/自由职业者？
47. 你想多久见面一次？每周？每月？
48. 您希望看到多少修订或概念？（考虑你能提供多少——这因设计师而异）
49. 你希望最终作品采用什么形式？由于这个新标志，您希望看到什么材料？您想要一个“品牌指南”包以供将来参考吗？
50. 还有什么您想补充的我们还没有介绍的吗？结论
获得所有这些问题的可靠和深思熟虑的答案将有助于推动您走向成功的标志设计项目，原因有两个：首先，您收集的信息对于帮助您完成简报将非常宝贵；其次，回答他们的行为将有助于让您的客户处于正确的心态，以便在项目上进行合作。
最重要的是，如果他们没有与设计师合作的经验，这将帮助他们了解他们所付出的不仅仅是在 Photoshop 中进行快速设计，而是对公司及其品牌进行全面评估和开发新设计的过程。经过深思熟虑并符合目的。
当然，这并不总是意味着一切都会顺利进行。客户可能会在此过程中改变主意，而商业策略可能会因外部因素而瞬间改变（只需看看大流行就可以看到一个明显的例子）。因此，您需要为项目规范的变化做好准备，并拥有一份强有力的合同，规定如果需要额外的工作会发生什么。你越早做到这一点，你就能越早放松并享受一个富有成效的标志设计项目，我们敢说，希望它充满乐趣。
50 questions to ask clients when designing a logo
Crucially, the best designers will take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to this task. Just asking for a brief isn't enough. You need to employ all your skills and experience to uncover what lies beneath the company or brand.
To help you out, we've put together a handy list of questions to answer your client. Run through all of these, and you'll soon have a much better idea of what they're all about… and ofTen, they will too! It will give you the crucial knowledge and understanding you need to bring their vision to life in a living, breathing design that will be scalable, adaptable, and future-proof.
Section 1: Questions about the company
First things first. You need to gather basic information about the business, such as when it started and why, how many employees it has, who its competitors are, etc. While some of this may be available online, it's always preferable to gather these details from the horse's mouth.
That's partly because information on the internet is often unreliable, so this way you can be sure of getting accurate answers. But also because the interpretation of even the simplest queries can be controversial, and this in itself be very revealing.
For example, even the founding date of a company can be a source of debate, especially if the organisation had multiple names and guises in the past or emerged due to multiple mergers. In such a case, what's ultimately deemed the "correct" answer isn't actually the important thing. It's getting your clients to open up and talk about the business in a way that doesn't sound like dry marketing speak but is grounded in real-world honesty and emotional attachment.
1. What is your company/organisation/product/service name?
2. Can you describe your business?
3. What services or products do you provide?
4. How big is your company? (number of employees? revenue?)
5. How long has your company been established?
6. Why was your company started in the first place, and what was the motivation?
7. Who are your main competitors?
8. How do your competitors market themselves?
9. What sets your company apart from the competition?
10. What are the strengths of your company?
11. What are your weaknesses?
12. What are the long-term goals of the company? Where do you see your company in five years? Ten years? 30 years?
13. If you had to describe your business in one word, what would it be and why?
14. What are your company's values and/or mission statement?Section 2: Questions about the branding
In most cases, a logo design will actually be a logo redesign or a more minimal logo refresh. You won't be starting from scratch but building on and evolving the existing logo design, or at least taking a couple of cues from it. So it's important to ask a lot of questions about how the client feels about the current logo, as well as the wider visual identity and brand purpose as a whole. In fact, even if you're ripping everything up and starting again, you need to ask these questions lest you end up repeating things about the old branding they didn't like!
15. What is the current logo?
16. Do you have a strapline or slogan that goes along with your logo?
17. Why are you looking to change the logo?
18. What words describe how you feel when looking at your current logo and branding?
19. What do you like and dislike about the current logo?
20. What do you want the new logo to accomplish?
21. What three attributes would you like your target audience to think of when looking at your new branding?
22. Which of these words is a better fit for your brand? Traditional or modern?
23. Which of these words is a better fit for your brand? Friendly or corporate?
24. Which of these words is a better fit for your brand? High end or cost-effective?
25. Which of these words is a better fit for your brand? Consumer or Trade? Why does your current branding use those colours, fonts, etc.?Section 3: Questions about the target audience
When designing a logo, you need to know who you're designing it for. And that's not necessarily the existing audience if the company wants to move away from that audience and target a different bunch of people. Indeed, a logo change is typically part of a wider strategy to move the appeal of a brand, for instance, from a middle-aged to a younger demographic. Only your client knows where they want to go with the brand, so it's vital to ask a comprehensive series of questions like the ones below.
26. Who is the primary target audience?
27. What is the target audience's age group?
28. Are they mainly male or female?
29. Where do most of your audience live?
30. What is the average household income of your target audience?
31. How do most of your customers find out about your company?
32. How do you plan to communicate with your target audience?
33. If your customers had to describe your company in one word, what would it be and why?
34. Are there any new markets you'd like to break into? If so, what would they be and why?Only your client knows where they want to go with the brand, so it's vital to ask a comprehensive series of questions.
Section 4: Design preferences
You'll notice that, so far, we haven't really talked about what the client wants the new logo to look like. And that's not accidental. Because until you understand the broader purpose of the logo design, diving into specifics like preferred colours will only get everybody off-track and muddy the waters.
However, let's assume that you now have a thorough understanding of the company, what it stands for, and what it's trying to achieve. It's time to start talking about the design itself. At the same time, though, you still need to keep discussions grounded in the overall business purpose of the logo. It shouldn't be about people's personal preferences ("I really like this shade of green"), but how, for example, a specific colour palette can help the logo achieve its business purpose. These questions can help you steer the discussion in that particular direction.
35. What colours or colour palettes does the company typically use, and why?
36. Where will the logo be mainly used? Print, web, etc.?
37. Are there any elements from the existing logo you'd like to keep, and why?
38. Are there any restrictions to consider when designing the new logo?
39. Is there anything that must be included, like existing brand elements, words or icons?
40. Looking at your rivals' branding, what logos do you think work, and why?
41. Are there any logos you don't think work, and why?
42. In your opinion, what defines a successful logo?Budget, timescales & management
In meetings with clients, you can brainstorm all the ideas in the world for creating a great new logo. But in practice, making them actually happen takes a lot of organisation, planning and preparation. So as well as all that "blue-sky thinking", it's good to ground your discussions early on by asking the following questions.
43. Do you have a budget in mind for the new logo?
44. Do you have a deadline that needs to be considered?
45. Who will be the internal decision-makers on this project? Giving feedback and approvals? (Stress to the client that the fewer decision-makers, the better!)
46. Will there be anyone else involved in this project? Any third party sub-contractors or other agencies/freelancers?
47. How frequently would you like to meet? Weekly? Monthly?
48. How many revisions or concepts would you like to see? (consider how many you can offer – this varies from designer to designer)
49. What form would you like the final work to take? What materials would you like to see due to this new logo? Would you like a 'brand guidelines' pack for future reference?
50. Is there anything else you'd like to add that we haven't already covered?Conclusion
Getting solid and thought-out answers to all these questions will help propel you on your way to a successful logo design project for two reasons. Firstly the information you gather will be invaluable in helping you nail the brief. And secondly, the very act of answering them will help get your clients in the right frame of mind for co-operating on the project.
Most importantly, if they're inexperienced in working with designers, it will help them understand that what they're paying for is not just a quick design in Photoshop but a thorough and comprehensive process of evaluating the company and its brand and developing new designs that are well-thought through and fit for purpose.
Of course, that doesn't always mean everything will go smoothly. Clients can change their minds along the way, and business strategies can change in an instant due to external factors (just look at the pandemic for an obvious example of that). So you need to be prepared for the project spec to change and have a robust contract that specifies what happens if extra work is needed. The sooner you get that in place, the sooner you'll be able to relax and enjoy a logo design project that's fruitful, productive and, dare we say, hopefully, a lot of fun.
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