Know-How Exchange : Branding

Easy. Pay a marketing professional to help you come up with a Creative Brief that spells out exactly what you're looking for and gives the designer all the information he or she will need.

Then give the Creative Brief to 2 or 3 designers and pay them a token amount to provide sketches of the direction(s) they would recommend. Let them know that (a) their work will be judged based on how well it delivers the objective in the Creative Brief; and (b) the winner of the "bake-off" will get the project.

I've done this several times, and it works. I've also been the person who comes up with the Creative Brief a number of times, so I know how important it is to establish a clear and objective standard for evaluating creative work.

Try it. You'll learn a lot and get a great logo, if you are very demanding of yourself. Most of the time when a designer doesn't deliver to your expectations, it's because they didn't understand the expectations at the outset. It's not because they were ignoring your direction.

Net: It's YOUR job to establish the rules of the game and give clear direction to your creative designer. It's not the designer's job to read your mind or guess what you will like.

In addition to knowing your marketing objective when you hire an artist or commission for sketches, communicate your style. Do you want to communicate that you're "bow tie and all business" or are you more laid back and accessible?

Knowing you and the what your business is will help artists with direction.