Logo and Symbol Process Truisms

Almost without fail, the first idea you fall in love with will be one of your worst ideas. When you find you've fallen in love with a concept, let other people see it, and then take a break. Come back to the work a few days later and see what new directions you can head in.

Don't fall in love with your ideas. I say it but it's inevitable. You actually will always fall in love with an idea. But hey, TRY not to.

Simple symbols designed in 1 color work best. If you're designing in color when you start, you're making end-of-the-project decisions at the beginning of the project.

Whenever you begin a logo project, write down keywords that are related to the product/company. Using those words, go and see what other people are making that relate to them. It's important to understand how society interprets your keywords to know how they'll comprehend the work you do.

Don't be afraid of making ugly, stupid things. Sketching is all about getting the stupid ideas out of your head onto paper, so you can push them to the side.

Sketch. If you're not sketching, you're not getting your stupid ideas out.

Admire others and embrace your suckiness. Then, try to work past it.

Understand that you will accidentally be copying people no matter what you do. The trick is to have a mindset unique to yourself and to operate from there. So while somebody may have drawn a square inside a circle before (for example) , they didn't do it the way you did it, and that's what matters.

Reflect on your past work and think about what you did wrong, then try to avoid those mistakes in future projects.