In 2024 the Austin chapter of the NFL Alumni Association was planning on hosting a charity gala and they needed a logo. A friend of mine was working there at the time and reached out to me for some help. I was 100% on board and offered to do it pro bono. Sadly, I’m almost certain the gala didn’t happen because I can’t find any proof whatsoever of anyone actually attending. There is concrete evidence thought that they did plan on using my logo because it’s at the top of the event homepage. Anyways, the logo went through 4 rounds of revisions before finding it’s final form featured above.
My Process
My first step is always doodles and inspiration. I sit down and throw everything at a piece of paper, anything and everything that comes to my head, just to get it out. I also do a deep dive in to what will be the life of the logo. What are the end goals of the client, what are their values, what kinds of designs are already in use on their website or social media, and even trying my absolute best to get into the head of the client and see through their eyes instead of my own.
Round 1
After I feel like I’ve got a few decent options from my sketches I head over to Adobe Illustrator. I take my favorite 3-5 and start making some vector paths. In this stage I try not to sweat the minor details to much, I want some clean presentable options for the client to review and provide feedback. I’ve found that 3-5 is the sweet spot as far as options. Too many can confuse or overwhelm and too few can disappoint or miss the mark entirely.
Round 2
You never know what the feedback will be, they hate them all, love them all, want to see them in 10 different color ways, honestly it’s my favorite part. In this instance they liked one but wanted to see some options with the words you see here. This kind of thing happens a lot when the logo isn’t supposed to be a company defining mark for who knows how long. This is a once a year charity event and they want their name on it…understandable. Also in round 2 I will sometimes try to introduce a very simple mockup so they have a frame of reference for how the logo will look being so wordy.
Round 3
The gloves are off in round 3 and I give the logo my full 110% attention and effort. I sweat all the details no matter how small, the spacing, the sizing, the proportions, color, stroke, angles, shadows, negative space, how it would look upside down or far away. I also up the versions and make sure at this point they see their preferred logo in any way they can imagine, for better or worse. My goal is to make this the last or 2nd to last round.
success
Yay! They chose one. From here on out what I do depends a lot on the client or the scope of the project. In this case the deliverables are just the essentials. No brand book or incorrect use cases, no grids or pantones. Just the logo in all the important color ways and formats, the hex codes, some details about the fonts I used, and a few Mockups to put a bow on it. In my opinion logo work is the most stressful discipline in graphic design. Assigning a visual identity to a company or organization will test any designers merit.