The clearer your brief, the better your logo. A designer can't read your mind — but with the right information, they can get remarkably close to what you're picturing. Here's what to pull together before you start.
The basics
Business name — the exact name as you want it to appear in the logo, including any punctuation, capitalisation, or abbreviations.
Business type and industry — what you do and who you serve. A building company logo has different requirements to a beauty therapist logo.
Your target audience — who you're trying to attract. Age range, profession, the kind of customer you want more of. This affects tone and style significantly.
Style and direction
Colours you like (or hate) — you don't need to specify exact shades, but if you know you want something in the blue family, or that you specifically don't want orange, that's useful. If your business already has brand colours, those should be noted.
Logos you like — not so you can copy them, but so the designer understands your aesthetic. If you can point to 3–4 logos in any industry that you find appealing, that communicates style preferences far more precisely than words.
Logos you don't like — sometimes knowing what to avoid is just as useful.
Tone — professional and corporate? Friendly and approachable? Bold and energetic? Minimal and clean? All of these produce different directions.
Practical considerations
Where will the logo be used? — website, social media, vehicle livery, print, uniforms, signage. Different applications have different requirements and it helps to know these upfront.
Are there any existing brand elements to work with? — if you already have brand colours from a previous logo, or a specific font you use, these should be flagged.
What you don't need
You don't need to know exactly what you want the logo to look like. That's the designer's job. You need to give them enough context to make good decisions on your behalf.
See our guide on how to brief a logo designer for more on structuring this information, or get in touch and we'll walk you through our briefing process.