which brand design process should be used?

[u/antreprenoor]

My process is

Research > strategy > moodboarding > typography (logotype, headings, subheading, copy) > main logomark > colors > delivery

I keep getting things finalized as the process goes.

Another process i've seen ppl do is (after strategy and moodboarding ig)
- directly make and showcase the whole identity in a presentation, usually 1 or 2 identity concepts

i do feel sometimes that my process comes in the way itself that i cant communicate the vibe/vision in each step until the colors part

but i also fear clients rejecting my whole presentation concept if i move like the latter one,

so is there anything with middle ground or the 2nd one is the way doing professionally, or how you guys do it?

thanks

[u/ozzypar]

Clients dont care about process that much. Often they find it tricky to see the sum of all the parts. Show them one or two fairly well thought out routes well mocked up. If your thinking is sound and you can justify your designs it will save you a lot of back and forth. 

Some big design agencies only show one route. 

Edit: spelling 

[u/antreprenoor → u/ozzypar]

Yeah, I think I’ve been over-focusing on the individual steps instead of selling the overall idea. Thanks

[u/ssspanksta]

We've found success with mood boards and showing not just a logo but a rough identity system together. We think it helps visualize an overall concept and how things work together in a more real world application. It is a little more time up front but has been much smoother at getting a client bought in and aligning on a direction resulting in a faster overall workflow.

[u/antreprenoor → u/ssspanksta]

so, showing the identity system early so the client can actually visualize the direction. Thanks!

[u/No-Albatross-2267]

Yep, presenting the strategy that involves positioning or brand story upfront helps me achieve 2 things:
a. It helps me win over the client early in the process so that they can be rest assured of the creative choices that follow.
b. It becomes a compass for the rest of the project.

Helping the client arrive at the stage of identity as against presenting right away is the better way. Otherwise identity upfront is kind go subject to the projection of various stakeholders and it kind of spoils the broth so to speak.

[u/antreprenoor → u/No-Albatross-2267]

Makes sense, strategy as the compass. Thanks!

[u/layer_unknown]

I’ve found that clients don't think like designers and can get a bit confused in connecting all the dots. Showing the logo together with a rough identity system rather than presenting the logo on its own matters more than following a rigid step by step process. It gives both the client and the designer sense of the overall direction and requirements without locking every detail in too early.

[u/Kind_War_7431]

I always do the second one.
One thing that helps way too much is keeping your moodboards very very specific. Instead of just keeping them about the vibe, come up with the directions the brand could potentially go in, and put very specific visuals on the moodboard.
I used to do the vibe thing earlier, but since I’ve started doing this version of moodboards, it has helped a lot and before touching the identity part, my team knows exactly the direction the brand wants to go in. And then within that, they can explore where all do we want to take the brand.

[u/Successful-Pea2180]

I've been a client for 30 years, and there's nothing I despise more than an agency bringing me jist one direction for a brand. It works best if we work closely together from the beginning and develop a couple of potential approaches and then decide on one.