The Logo Geek Podcast

You know how to design logos and brand identities, but to turn that skill into a sustainable freelance design business, you need find people who will pay for those services... you need clients. On this weeks podcast, Ian interviews BizBuds, Tom Ross and Michael Janda to discover how you can get your first client , establishing a niche as a designer and building a reputation to attract logo design...

If you run a design business, the offering that you present to clients should be clear and easy to understand. Someone who has done this well is Evelyn Powers , the founder of Design Powers , where she focuses on branding, web design and print for small service based businesses. Evelyn's primary offering is website design. A service that can often be shrouded in complex terminology. But she's made...

When designing a logo, choosing the perfect colour palette can be a fun creative challenge. But once the logo is in use as part of a companies brand identity, ideally the colours you've selected look as consistent as possible in all instances, from digital devices through to printed collateral. But how can you be sure the colours you see on your monitor are accurate? How can you ensure they will p...

Ibby Tarafdar is a young designer from Cardiff, UK. Two days a week he’s working at Starbucks as a Barista, but the rest of the time he’s travelling the world, hanging out with and designing logos for famous celebrities, including world champion boxers such as Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davies, famous golfers such as Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and even Jay-Z. After seeing him featured in a BBC documentary , Ian...

Steff Geissbühler was Partner and Principal at Chermayeff & Geismar for 30 years where he designed some of the worlds most memorable logos and identities. In this interview we go back through significant times in the designers life, including how he became a professor early in his career, how he was hired by Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar, and how he eventually went on to develop C&G Partners bef...

In this weeks podcast Ian interviews Miriam Isaac , a user experience designer to uncover the process behind the design of digital products. We learn her approach to research, discover her process for wire-framing, prototyping, the UX tools used and more! Show notes: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/ux-design-process   Thank you to the sponsor, FreshBooks I’m incredibly thankful to  FreshBooks for spon...

Michael Shumate taught Graphic Design for twenty five years. In his second week of teaching, he told a student that the logo concept he was working on would not make a professional identity design. The student asked, “Why?” But Micheal couldn't provide an adequate answer, but was certain some principle was being violated. He set out on a quest to discover the underlying principles of logo design....

How can you properly understand the audience you plan to target? How can you make sure the logo designs you create will attract the right person? How can you know if the identity you create will actually perform? The only way to know for sure is to use customer and UX research . To learn more, Ian interviews Michele Ronsen, the founder of Curiosity Tank , an agency who specialises in design and us...

Fear can hold you back. It can keep you in a position of safety, limiting your career potential. That's what happened to show host, Ian Paget. Despite building a successful business, he stayed in comfortable 'safe' 9-5 job for years. It wasn't until recently that he took the leap of faith to make Logo Geek his full time venture. Big change is scary, but necessary for progress and a fulfilling care...

The world around us, and the culture we live in has a massive impact on all of us unconsciously. The study of Semiotics can allow us to understand this by looking at how meaning is created and communicated, which is knowledge we can use to design more effective logos and brand identities. The origins of Semiotics lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create mea...

If you want to be successful, you can’t just sit around and hope that opportunities will come your way. You need to work to attract them. As an example, if you want to work on a specific style of work, or in a different speciality such as pattern design, you’re much more likely to attract that type of work if people can see your capabilities. It’s those who take action, and create the work they wa...

If you like to peek inside a designers sketchbook you need to be aware of Made By James . That’s the instagram account from graphic designer James Martin who’s feed is full of stunning logo design development work. In this weeks episode Ian interviews James to find out how these sketches are created. We also dive into his logo design process, his approach with grids and the tools used. We also lea...

If you’re designing logos, you meed to be aware that we live in a world where business names and logos are registered, owned and legally protected by individuals and businesses. Ignoring trademark law could mean you end up unintentionally designing a logo that breaches an already established trademark, and your client could get in some serious legal trouble. So the more you about the topic, the be...

Designers know that creating the perfect logo can be a time consuming process. But even when you know what's involved, for most it's hard to comprehend how some logos can be priced in the millions. How can you justify charging so much money, just for a logo? To discover the answer, on this weeks episode Ian interviews Philip VanDusen who's worked with a host of the Fortune 100 companies, with logo...

We all know what a bad logo looks like, but could you design the worst logo? The team from the design Agency Fuzzco have  created a contest  encouraging you to undertake that challenge, with the chance for your worst work to be judged by some big name designers including Michael Bierut, Jessica Hische and Armin Vit. To learn more about the project Ian interviews Helen Rice and Colin Pinegar from F...

Have you ever designed a logo for a client and totally missed the mark? Or been stuck in the situation where you’re endlessly making revisions? The cause is most likely that you and your clients visions do not align. But how to you work this out? One fantastic solution, devised by the team at Blind, has been to create a Stylescape™, an enhanced mood board that expresses and steers the visual langu...

With a love of football, Mark Hirons dreamed to one day work as a graphic designer for an international football club. This year, at the age of only 22, his dream has come true, becoming an in-house designer for a Premier League football club. But how did Mark make this happen? On this weeks podcast Ian interviews Mark to discuss the events that lead up to this moment, with actionable advice for a...

When you start out as a graphic designer it’s easy to become an order taker, to do exactly as the client asks. This can make you feel, and be treated like a puppet on a string. But how do you move away from that? On this weeks podcast Ian interviews Colleen Gratzer to discover how you become the expert, allowing you to become the puppeteer. A designer who understands the why behind every project,...

When designing a logo, how can you be sure that the identity that you're working on will be a long term success in the real world? It's impossible to know for sure, but to give you the best opportunity to create a logo that will succeed in the real world, in this weeks podcast Ian breaks down the 8 characteristics that timeless logos share. https://logogeek.uk/logo-design/8-traits-successful-logos...

Brand Strategy has become a buzz word in design communities. Some designers, with very little experience are calling themselves brand strategists, but it’s a deep topic that can take years to master. So what does it really take to become a brand strategist? How can you learn everything you need to develop brands from the ground up? How do you conduct a strategy session, and what do you provide as...

Most designers work 1-on-1 with clients on custom projects based on their requirements. This means every new project is like starting from scratch… new proposals, contracts, emails and design work – most of which can never be used again since it’s tailored to that one client. For most that approach is fine, but if you want to build a business that’s both profitable and scalable, there’s a better w...

As designers we learn a wide range of skills and tools to effectively carry out our roles. Many of us pursue a career in branding, but the landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, so how can you stand out from the competition? On this weeks podcast Ian interviews Laura Evans, who has transitioned from working as a generalist brand identity designer, to carving out a niche for herself to bec...

Brands are all around us, but as the times change they need to adapt to keep relevant – if they don’t they’ll soon vanish from the high street. Kodak and Blackberry for example were once leaders in their field, but they failed to shift, becoming irrelevant in a fast changing world. But how can brands prevent this from happening to them, and how can designers and agencies help their clients shift t...

What does starting a design business, building a personal brand, and increasing your prices all have in common? Confidence. In this weeks episode Ian interviews Col Gray, the founder of Dundee based graphic design studio  Pixels Ink  to discuss how confidence has played a pivotal role in developing his personal brand, and taking his design business to the next level. Show notes and interview trans...

Ian Barnard , started his career as a generalist graphic designer. But after learning calligraphy for fun, and documenting his progress on Instagram, he attracted big name clients allowing him to specialise as a hand lettering artist. The growth and success of his Instagram feed has also allowed him to develop digital products, courses and more to generate a passive income too, meaning he no longe...