Designing Logotypes From Scratch: My Process

Custom logotype design sits at the boundary between typeface design and brand design. It requires enough knowledge of letterform construction to build credible, optically correct letterforms, and enough brand design thinking to know what visual qualities those letterforms need to carry.

I don't design custom logotypes for every client. For most brand identities, a well-chosen commercial typeface with thorough customization — adjusted proportions, modified key letterforms, refined spacing — produces excellent results more efficiently. But for brands that need a truly owned typographic identity and have the budget to support it, custom logotype design is the right answer.

Starting With Reference and Research

I start by understanding what the logotype needs to communicate at a formal level. Bold and geometric? Humanist and warm? Sharp and editorial? High-contrast and elegant? These qualities map to formal decisions: stroke contrast, terminal treatment, proportion, weight.

I collect reference from multiple sources: existing typefaces that approach the target feeling without fully landing it, historical type specimens that have qualities I want to capture, lettering and calligraphy that informs the stroke logic, and logotypes from non-competing brands with comparable personalities.

The reference phase isn't about copying — it's about understanding the formal vocabulary of the feeling I'm trying to achieve.

Skeleton First

Every letterform has a skeleton — the path the pen or brush would follow to create the stroke. For geometric letterforms, the skeleton is built from mathematical shapes. For humanist forms, the skeleton follows the movement of a broad-nib pen.

I draw the skeleton before I add stroke weight. Working from the skeleton up rather than from the outline in ensures that the forms have consistent logic and that the design decisions are intentional rather than accidental.

Consistency of Formal Decisions

The decisions I make about one letterform need to be consistent throughout the logotype. The angle of stressed strokes (the angle at which thick and thin transitions occur) must be consistent across all letters. Terminal treatments — how strokes end — must follow a system. Junction treatments — how strokes meet — must be handled consistently.

Inconsistency in these formal decisions is what makes a custom logotype feel cheap or amateurish. The eye picks up on it immediately even when the viewer can't articulate why something feels wrong.

Optical Corrections

Mathematical precision and optical precision are different things. Shapes that are geometrically identical don't read as identical. A circle and a square of the same mathematical height don't look the same height — the circle appears smaller. The horizontal midpoint of a letter reads as low if placed at the geometric midpoint.

These optical illusions require corrections. Round letterforms need to overshoot the cap height and baseline slightly. Horizontal strokes need to be slightly thinner than vertical strokes at the same specified weight. The center crossbar of an H, E, or B needs to sit slightly above geometric center to read as centered.

Building in optical corrections is one of the clearest markers of genuine expertise in letterform design.

Testing at Scale and in Context

I test custom logotypes at a wide range of sizes and in the actual contexts where they'll appear. Problems that don't show at presentation size — slightly inconsistent stroke weights, optical illusions in negative space, spacing irregularities — appear clearly in small-scale applications. And formal decisions that read as intended in isolation might feel wrong in context alongside other brand elements.

The logotype isn't done until it's been tested against the full range of its intended applications.