Design your way

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Designing a coffee logo seems easy. At least that’s what you want to tell yourself. In reality, there are quite a few things to know when designing coffee logos.

Have you ever wondered how exactly does that coffee shop logo or coffee house logo stand out?

The answer lies in the coffee shop itself, as well as the kind of people it’s attracting.

Some coffee houses stick to the traditional motifs and logo colors, but others tend to break every rule.

Regardless of which one it is, there is a logo which is unique and perfect for them.

If you want your coffee logo to be amazing, make sure you read the tips below. And, this applies for everything from a coffee house logo, to a coffee brand logo, and even other kinds of coffee logos.

Resist brown. Using some kind of brown is pretty tempting when you have a coffee logo design to do, and your client might be asking for that as well. However, everyone else, from coffee shop logos to coffee brand logos are doing it.

If you want your coffee logo design to be unique, you should go with something that isn’t that coffee related, like a smooth blue color. Shake things up and end up with a completely unique experience.

Avoid beans. Images that can be directly translated to drinking coffee, such as mugs, beans or anything similar, should be avoided.

There are a lot of combinations of them out there, and you won’t be unique and original if you opt for those as well.

What you need instead is some kind of image or mascot that is associated with the specific retailer or shop.

For example, Starbucks doesn’t have coffee items anywhere. This is incredible, as instead of “coffee”, people see “Starbucks” in the logo. In this way, you can increase sales, as well as brand recognition.

Be quirky. The people who consume coffee on a regular basis are often quirky people.

Therefore, producing a design that is beyond the average box size shouldn’t be out of the question. Go where you thought you would never go, and just to see what happens, push things even further. Reap the benefits of testing your limits.

Coffee logo types

There are a few coffee logo types that are popular, and if you’re a designer, you’ll end up with a client from a coffee company eventually. And, if you’re a client, you should know what kind of things to expect from your designer.

Using the commonly found features isn’t all that bad, but only if done wisely, and if your end goal is uniqueness. Let’s take a look at some of the coffee logo types.

Circle logos. Rounded logos that tend to remind seals. They only look good when you use the appropriate font and make them unique. Designing one is pretty hard, because you not only have to avoid similarities with Starbucks, but with a lot of other look-alike logos as well. However, if you succeed, the results are amazing.
Coffee bean logos. They are the most common ones, as it seems like a logical thing to do, but instead it has become a cliché. However, you can still make a good logo design with coffee beans, but you should use a tree with coffee beans, instead of going for leaves.
Coffee cup logos. This is another one of the most common ones, as a lot of people love cups of coffee. However, making a good logo with a cup on it isn’t that easy, and you should be trying really hard to get it right. You should give the cup a unique look, and do something original with the steam curls.
Ethno logos. Ethnic motives, details that relate to where the coffee comes from, you’ve seen them. This is a pretty widespread concept, but it remains diverse as well. You could opt for a pattern, or a certain element, as there are plenty of options and paths you can take as a designer. Even though this is one of the most interesting types of coffee logos, you must have used references that are easy for the target audience to understand. If you don’t, they aren’t really making sense.

How to work with ideas and clients

Even before you start the sketching process, you ought to discuss things with your client and gather some information. The more information you have, the better you’re prepared when you need to design a logo that conveys their product to the world.

You will find plenty of articles online which talk about which questions to ask, and how to charge for your talent, so that won’t be covered here. However, you should know that you’re designing for your client, and their brand.

Therefore, their wishes are to be respected, but you should also know when you should stand your ground in order to sell your design. If they chose you to design for them, your opinion as an artist is pretty respected, and you need to show them why they should trust you.

When you’re working with the sketches, providing options is important. Depending on how your workflow is organized, this can go from a handful of sketches, to a vast variety of them. A good rule of thumb would be to offer about 10 different options for an initial design.

You should have your client choose two or three, and tell you why they chose them. You should get feedback as to where you should continue with the design of the chosen logos.

It is usually pretty easy to guess which version they like the most, and that is exactly where you should start. Choose the options they selected, and give them a few variations, but not more than two or three of each logo.

This is the point where you should start selling yourself. As a designer, you may think you know what’s best, and having that rejected makes not taking it personally a bit hard. However, there is no cure for this, and you need to be prepared for that. Just shake it off and keep on moving.

Consider the client’s suggestions, but if you think they’re out of line, try to explain that in a way that is as humane as possible. Don’t be snarky or condescending, design is a word of mouth, as well as a repeat customer business. This may hurt your reputation and cost you in the long run.