: How do you present a logo to a client? I am newbie and would like guidance on How do you present the logo to a client visually in a professional way? What are the different ways of presenting

@Gonzalez368

I once attended a logo unveiling for a huge client, presented by a somewhat famous 'human interface designer' or some self-styled title. He had designed a number of things in various forms (though not logos), and considered himself a rockstar (don't most Creative Directors though?) I always considered him a bit of a tool, and as we were kind of competitors, we were interested in seeing where it all went. A number of execs were lying in wait, looking to ambush him and grill him to see how so much money could buy something so small. He agreed to do the work mostly because the Director of Marketing thought he could walk on water. He charged at least a quarter million dollars, maybe double that.

On every chair was a clear plastic envelope, with 6x8 cards, each with an image or two on the front and back, printed in only one or two colors, so as not to distract too much from the primary image and its contrast. We were instructed not to look through them, but to turn them over one at a time as we went through the presentation that matched what he had on screen.

Some were from ancient mystical symbols, others were smiley faces or popular symbols, or extreme close-ups of the serif of a letter in a particular font. He was basically giving us quite theatrical college-level lectures in art history, history, anthropology, psychology, typography, and user interface design, among other topics. Slowly he began taking elements of one or the other and combining them, so each card took it a little further, but then backed off some aspect, and introduced a new one. At the end of, voila, he showed the final logo. He didn't just nail it, he nailed it with a thousand ton hammer.

You have to understand that anyone that runs a business presumes they are capable of most anything, especially design, the "softest" discipline in their minds. You can have a team of experts put a thousand hours into something and show it to a room full of C-level executives, and they will immediately start in: "Well that's a good start, how about for the next round, you try..." Indeed, one of the VPs in the room had an MBA, PhD in Physics, MS of course, and two undergrad degrees in physics and EE...she was convinced she could do most anyone's job, and she was usually right. The way he managed the presentation took away any shred of an idea that he was looking for their feedback, or that this was a 'beta' idea, or that he would be coming back to do it again. They respected it and that was that.

In my firm, we had this suspicion that he had designed it in an afternoon, and spent the rest of the time building a backstory and supporting printed materials, and then used his verbal skills to tell the story. No matter, he pulled it off, and everyone in the room was blown away. That was 15 years ago, I still have those cards, and I never liked the guy.

That's how you do it.

Except for one small thing.

His firm had donea number of high-flying projects, but they had never done a logo before, and as such, had failed to do a simple trademark search. They never passed it through legal. The client sent it through their one in-house counsel, who immediately figured out that it resembled another logo - which might have been ok - except the existing logo was in the same industry and product type. They basically said NFW.

I don't think he copied it in any conscious fashion, it was from a company that was down and out, that no one had heard of, maybe even extinct. But that's exactly the kind of company that could successfully sue a much bigger one for trademark infringement.

Since the client had 'begged' him to do it, his contract said he would get paid no matter if they chose to use it or not. It was the 90s after all.

So, long story short: make it a show, make it airtight, and make them pay up front so they don't steal your idea and stiff you.

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@RJPawlick971

In context

By that, a logo is rarely sitting all by itself. It's usually part of a bigger presentation--be it on a web page, business card, side of a truck, etc.

So, I try and show the logo as it would be used.

As to what that specifically is, it all depends on the client. Some clients will get an emailed PDF of a mocked up business card. Some clients may get 20 presentation boards with 20 examples. It all depends.

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@Heady304

The process could involve 3 or 4 mini presentations working up to the final. In illustrative design you would roughly follow these steps.


Present your sketches (can be rough pencil on paper) with the client you'd pick out the ones to push forward. Ideally both of you would have good reasons for picking them "it suits the business because of X an Y".
Develop the design. Could start to incorporate colour. Can be any medium. Colour pencils, water colour, photoshop, illustrator. Although I'd recommend staying with pencil and paper as long as you can. This step may be repeated as needed, where you may merge ideas, or keep pushing designs further.
Finally you would do the reveal. This is the one that counts. In effect this is what they're paying for, an end product. It'll be different for each situation. If the stakeholders are just you and the client. Prints in a brown paper envelope is enough (as long as the prints look outstanding, good quality paper etc). But if its an agency board room environment, you may want to print multiple copies in a bound document to hand out to each stakeholder.


These photoshop branding mockups are really useful here. You can use them to showcase your logo on business cards virtually. Gives clients an idea of how effective your logo is. (helps impress them too which is what you want).

Finally search behance.net for ideas (search logo or branding). The presentation style can vary for logos and companies.

I'm not a designer, I'm a web project manager/developer, so take my advise with a grain of salt.

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@Barnes313

You're asking a very broad question but I will try to help you in the best way possible.

Creating a logo for a business card?


Design business card with client information
Buy card stock typically 100lb.
Run said card stock through printer
Set reg. marks and print the business card (print more than one in case there is a print issue or you mess up cutting)
Take business card and a ruler and cut out the business card.
Display to client.


Creating a letterhead?


Design said letterhead
Print out letterhead


Logo going to be used in an app?


Develop dummy app with logo
Deliver app to client.


Logo used in a site?


Create a site
Deliver the site


If the logo is to be used for print, print examples. At this moment it will help test your color calibration and in print there is nothing better than having a printed example. Same rule applies for web.

If all else fails deliver a PDF with four mockups or variations of the logo to a client by email. In all reality though, if you're asking how to present a logo in a creative way do you think you would be creative in designing the logo? Just food for thought.

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@Lee3735518

I like presenting logos in an environment. It's easier for the client to visualize how the logo would work with various mediums. It also doesn't hurt to provide a brief guide along with it breaking down your thought-process at least with minimal explanation. I do like it when the clients discover things about their logo they like or hadn't realized without too much direction on my part.

I also like to present in a digital "mount". So the logo with b/w and color and greyscale are white containers with a black background surrounding (as if it were printed and mounted on black presentation board). Then I provide an option for if the logo was to be used on a dark background.

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@Becky351

for me I would present the logo as a story. from the concept to my old tries and the final version. and I would present the final one in many version. ex. when it presented as B&W and full color with (color pantone), when i converted to a 3D model and revolve over the screen, and I would choose some media like stationary, t-shirt, over a building ...etc to represent the logo. and I would write a spec. for the logo wher and when to use all its various versions like McDonald's logo specs

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