Making your Mark

Graphic designer Inger Deede has Soldotna roots.

So there was a nice bit of symmetry in having her on the design team tasked with creating a logo for the City of Soldotna this year. Deede splits her time between Soldotna, where she grew up and remains involved with family and church, and Anchorage, where she works for Agnew::Beck Consulting.

The work she did for the City of Soldotna just earned an honorable mention from the American Institute of Graphic Arts – Alaska Chapter.

Step 1: Talk to Everyone

A well-designed logo is deceptively simple. It's a memorable mark that can convey a promise, a philosophy, a place.

So, how do you achieve that? For graphic designers like Deede, it means bringing everyone to the drafting table early.

"I start every design process by connecting directly with the client," she said. "We start with a little background education about what a logo can do for the organization, and we ask the client a bunch of questions to learn about what they do, what they want to do in the future and what kind of look and feel they want."

Early conversations with the City of Soldotna included lots of folks with a vested interest in their city's image, including City employees and City Council members. One City employee even helped Deede and Agnew::Beck develop a new way of talking about logos with clients: The Ballcap Test.

The employee printed off several of the designs under consideration and tried each of them on a ballcap. He'd been pushing for one of the more detailed designs, but the ballcap test changed his mind; he could see the importance of scalability and simplicity once he put the final designs to the test.

Step 2: Listen to your designer

"Designers are really good at distilling complex concepts into streamlined visuals," Deede said.

Soldotna, said Deede, is known for outdoor recreation on the Kenai River, for tourism and for year-round opportunities for the residents who call the city home.

"With the new logo, we really wanted to emphasize the history of the City and represent a forward-looking approach," she said. "The end result captures the river in an S-shaped logo. The colors reflected in the logo are from the local landscape. The simplicity of the form and the fonts allow the logo to be easily translatable in a variety of contexts."

During the process, designers like Deede encourage feedback, but it's important for clients to stay focused on the big picture. "For example, if you are working with a designer to create a logo for a healthcare organization, try to say things like, 'this logo successfully conveys our goal of making all of our patients feel included' or 'this concept isn't capturing enough of a feeling of inclusion,'" Deede advised. Big picture critiques can help a designer dial in the fine details.

Step 3: Use logo best practices

"When you go through a logo design process with a graphic designer, you will walk away with more than just a logo. You will also be given some guidelines for how to consistently use the logo in various forms of media, from branding a baseball cap to using the logo on social media," said Deede.

The City of Soldotna has been consistent in following the guidelines Deede provided. She sees the brand everywhere now.

"They even put the logo on a cake for a retirement party. Awesome!"

This article was first published in 61°North – The Design Issue. Contact the editor, Jamie Gonzales, at jgonzales@alaskadispatch.com.