Logo a Day Project in Review: What I Learned in 30 Days
This April, I started a 30 day logo project on Instagram. Inspired partially by my need to actually complete a monthlong challenge, and also to give me a break from the stress I often find in content planning, I learned a lot. Thinking about doing a 30 day design project, or even a 100 day one (which is far too much commitment for me)? Here are a few of my pros, cons and general thoughts. Keep scrolling to check out the full collection of logos:
- It was both exciting and stressful to design without a client in mind.
So. Many. Options. Clients usually reign me in, giving some creative direction while keeping my style at the forefront. Having so much freedom was great, but it was tough to find a place to start.
- It took up a lot of time.
Although it was a mental break from blogging so much and planning out Instagram captions, it took up a good chunk of my time - 2 or 3 hours a week. I still think it was a worthy idea to devote my time to, but I couldn't do it every month.
- It made me realize I'd much rather work on brand strategy than logos.
About halfway through the logo design process, I almost quit. All I could think was "why am I doing this?! I always say that branding isn't just a logo - and that's exactly what I'm doing!" I ended up sticking with it, bringing in other elements like sublogos and patterns. But it made me realize that it's actually creating "just a logo" that's the hardest thing for me - when there's little to no strategy behind the logo and possibilities are endless, it's hard to find a place to begin.
- I found out a lot about my style.
I was excited to do this project to figure out what types of branding and design I naturally flow toward. My designs have shifted a lot recently, and I felt like I couldn't properly define my style. This project served as a way for me to redefine what I really love to do. Although all of my designs are considerably unique, I always focus on all designs having purpose, and communicating the mission of the organization.
- I realized how few fonts and typefaces I really use.
Toward the end of this project, it was a challenge to think of new typefaces to use. I always knew I had a few favorite fonts, but now I've truly realized that I rarely steer outside of the same 3-5 Serifs and Sans Serifs. And you know what? That's fine by me. They work well for a reason, and are wonderfully versatile.
- It made me think a lot about color.
The three main parts of a logo are typeface, color, and illustration. All logos should be able to be viewed in black and white and still be recognizable, but color makes a huge impact on the personality of a brand. I pre-chose all of the colors I used in this challenge, purposefully picking colors that I don't often use (as you can tell by the excess of pink). As I brainstormed possible business names and ideas for the identities I was creating, I realized just how much color is associated with an identity.
- I realized what I'm capable of.
Looking at all of these logos, I have a "woah" moment when I realize I created all of them in a month, on top of my existing client work. These types of projects are a big undertaking, put you outside of your comfort zone, are are something you should be proud of.