How to Write a Logo Design Brief (Before You Hire a Designer)

Most disappointing logos are not the result of a bad designer. They come from a bad start: a short message saying "I need a logo for my business, something modern", followed by rounds of changes as the owner slowly works out what they actually wanted. That process is slow, frustrating and often ends with a logo nobody is fully happy with.

A design brief fixes this. It is a short document, usually one or two pages, that tells the designer who you are, who you serve and what the logo needs to do. You do not need any design knowledge to write one. You just need to answer the right questions honestly before work begins.

1. Describe your business in plain words

Start with the basics, as if you were explaining your business to a new customer:

• The exact business name, spelled correctly, and whether a slogan or tagline should appear with it.
• What you sell or do, in one or two sentences.
• How long you have been operating, and where.
• What makes you different from others who do the same thing: quality, speed, price, experience, location, a particular speciality.
• Where you want the business to be in five years. A logo for a single shop may need to work later for several branches or a wider range of services.

Be careful with the name. Check spelling, capital letters and whether you use an abbreviation. Changing the name after the logo is designed often means starting again.

2. Describe your customers

A logo is not mainly for you; it is for the people you want to attract. Describe them as specifically as you can:

• Are they businesses, individuals or both?
• Roughly what age, and what kind of lifestyle or income?
• Where do they meet your brand: on the street, on Instagram, on WhatsApp, at events, on your website?
• Do they speak mainly French, English or both?
• What do they care about most when choosing a business like yours?

A law firm serving corporate clients, a beauty salon for young professionals and a children's school need very different logos, even if all three owners say they want something "clean and modern".

3. Choose three words for the feeling

Ask yourself how customers should feel when they see your brand. Pick three words, for example:

• Trustworthy, established, calm for a clinic, a consultancy or a finance business.
• Friendly, warm, local for a restaurant or a family shop.
• Bold, energetic, young for a fashion brand or an events business.
• Premium, simple, elegant for a high-end product or service.

These words help the designer make choices about shapes, fonts and colours, and they give you both a way to judge each concept: does this design feel trustworthy, established and calm, or not?

4. Look at competitors and examples

Collect the logos of three to five competitors or similar businesses and say what you think of each. The aim is not to copy them, but to make sure you stand out from them. If every competitor uses blue, a blue logo will be easy to confuse with theirs.

Then collect a few logos you like from any industry, and a few you dislike, with a sentence on why. "I like this because it is simple and readable from far away" is much more useful to a designer than a list of images with no explanation.

5. Colours and preferences

Tell the designer about any colours you want, colours you want to avoid, and why. Some colours carry strong associations in particular industries or communities, and some are already strongly linked to well-known brands in your area.

If you have no strong preference, say so and let the designer propose a palette based on your three words and your customers. It is also worth asking for a version that works in a single colour, because that version will be needed for stamps, embroidery, engraving and photocopies.

6. List where the logo will be used

This is the part most briefs forget, and it has a big effect on the design. Think about every place your logo will appear:

• Social media profile pictures, where it will be shown as a small circle.
• Your website and the small icon in the browser tab.
• Shop signs and banners, seen from a distance.
• Business cards, invoices, letterheads and receipts.
• Uniforms, bags, packaging, stickers and stamps.
• Vehicles or printed flyers.

A detailed logo that looks beautiful on a large screen may become unreadable as a small profile picture. Knowing where it will be used, the designer can create a main logo plus simpler versions, such as an icon on its own, for small spaces.

7. Practical details

• Budget: give a realistic range. It helps the designer suggest what is possible, such as a logo only or a logo with a basic brand guide.
• Deadline: say when you need it and why, for example a shop opening or a printing date.
• Decision makers: name who will approve the design. If three partners must agree, involve all three from the beginning, not at the final stage.
• Number of concepts and revisions: agree in advance how many initial ideas and rounds of changes are included.

8. Ask for the right files

When the logo is finished, you should receive files you can use anywhere, not just a single image sent on WhatsApp. Ask for:

• Vector files (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF), which can be enlarged to any size for signs and printing without becoming blurry.
• PNG files with a transparent background, for websites, documents and social media.
• Versions for light backgrounds, dark backgrounds and single colour.
• The colour codes (HEX for screens, CMYK for print) and the font names used.
• Confirmation that you own the rights to the final logo and can use it freely.

Store these files in a safe shared place, such as your company cloud storage, so you are not dependent on finding the designer again years later.

Giving useful feedback

When the first concepts arrive, judge them against your brief, not only your personal taste. Ask: does this fit my customers, does it match my three words, will it work as a small profile picture and on a sign? Show it to a few people from your target audience, not only friends and family.

Be specific in your feedback. "I don't like it" gives the designer nothing to work with. "The icon is strong, but the font feels too playful for a law firm" leads directly to a better second version.

A simple brief template

You can copy this structure for your own brief:

1. Business name, tagline and what we do.
2. What makes us different.
3. Our customers.
4. Three words for how the brand should feel.
5. Competitors and what we think of their logos.
6. Logos we like and dislike, and why.
7. Colour preferences.
8. Where the logo will be used.
9. Budget, deadline and who approves.
10. Files we need at the end.

A logo is also only one part of a brand. Our article on common branding mistakes small businesses make covers how to use it consistently once it is ready.

Getting help

If you would like help turning your ideas into a clear brief, or a logo and visual identity designed around your customers, our creative and branding service covers logo design, brand guidelines and printed materials. You can see examples of our work in our portfolio, or contact us to talk about your brand.