The logo is the last ten percent of a brand

Most branding enquiries begin the same way: we need a logo. It is a reasonable request, because the logo is the part you can see. But a mark drawn before the thinking is done has nothing to express, and it gets replaced within a couple of years.

The ninety percent that comes first

• Position. Who it is for, what it replaces, and why someone would choose it. One sentence, in plain words.
• Name. Sometimes the most valuable thing we deliver. When we worked with sculptor Boris Borisov, the studio name came before any drawing.
• Voice. How the brand sounds in an email, a caption and an apology.
• A system. Colour, type, spacing and imagery that still look like you when the logo is not on the page.
• Rules. Guidelines short enough that people follow them.

A quick test

Cover the logo on your website, a social post and a presentation. If the three still look like they came from the same company, you have a brand and may only need to refine the mark. If they look like three companies, a new logo will make it four.

What to ask a designer for

Ask to see the reasoning before the drawings. A good identity presentation starts with who the brand is for and ends with the logo, and by the time the mark appears it should feel like the only possible answer. Then ask how it works small, in one colour, and next to someone else's logo, because that is where it will spend most of its life.

For Rebel Noir, a menswear label, the mark came with typography, a palette of blacks and sharp contrast, and a marketing roadmap; the case study shows how they fit together. Our branding packages are built in the same order.