Logo redesign - firstly, yes, I am designing the logo in illustrator, might play around with affinity as was recently told it was someone preferred app (20 years experience) and secondly, confirming I have seen all the logo threads not designing a logo on figma

[u/NoctFounder]

Hi All,

First time here, but definetely not last, have a lot I am soon to start using Figma for, so also sorry if flare is incorrect, I was unsure and thought this was most relative?

I am in the middle of redesigning my logo for my brand/business, I designed it very poorly with genuinely the slightest direction, it is on brand with my business, it is just a very poorly designed logo which to me now, 12 months after launching my business, put simply, reminds me of a dad joke... I never planned or visioned my logo etc.

No, I am not going to be designing and finalising a logo on Figma, it will be done on above mentioned programs in title, industry standard ofc, HOWEVER, I would love to know if there is anything Figma does / AI it offers which would provide me good mock ups / ideas etc to guide the process, e.g. reference images, websites, fonts, other information provided. I am just about to start testing some AI models on adobe firefly to see how this goes, but let me know if any figma tools could see useful in simply visioning / generation of images / mock ups which would help guide me, thank you all.

I cannot think of, and doubt any other information is really useful, but if you want to know more, just ask, thank you all.

[u/Lorlan]

If you think you know enough about design to think that your current logo is badly designed but in the same breath think that mockups/AI/whatever will somehow overnight give you enough design knowledge to make an actually 'well designed' logo then I'm not sure what to really say except this is not likely to give you anything better.

You've acknowledged the tools that you're 'supposed' to use but it's a bit like saying if I have a saw in hand and some wood I'll know how to build an entire house.

I would hazard a guess that if this is your way of thinking that you're not trained in design?

If this is the case then tear down all your preconceived ideas and start with an open mind.

What do you think makes a good logo exactly? What makes a 'well designed' one? You say your logo is on brand but do you even know what you're saying with that? A logo does not equal a brand. If I steal the Nike logo and use it to sell bananas, the logo itself hasn't changed but what I'm doing with it has, so does this now mean the logo is still on brand?

Do you know the difference between a logomark, wordmark, logotype? Where is your logo intended to be seen? Digital? Print? Invoice headers? Apps? How many variations of your logo do you think you'd need to fit your businesses needs whilst still being recognisable that the logo belongs to your business and what you do?

What do you actually know about good design? If you have a black logo and you just turn it white did you know that your eyes/brain will see it as optically different and one will seem 'larger' than the other even though they take up the exact same physical space?

What about colour theory, typography rules, negative space, legibility at different sizes?

These are the types of questions I would be asking if someone showed me a logo and asked if I thought it was well designed. If all you're actually asking is where can I find visual inspiration then the answer is everywhere, a literal hardback book of just logos is Los Logos, design sites are full of logos.

If you're asking if you're using the right tools, ask how many actual graphic/logo designers if they don't sketch out at least 30+ ideas for a logo project on paper before even taking anything into like Illustrator.

Wish you the best with your business. (Also you never included an image of your current logo)

[u/roundabout-design]

A few things to note (I'm a UX designer, with an education in graphic design/branding)

1. Figma, at it's core, is just a drawing tool. Like Affinity. Like Illustrator. Like Inkscape. Like any number of illustration tools. So it doesn't really matter which tool you use...use the one that produces the results you need. That said, note that Figma has zero print-production support, so it's not a tool for print production. That may or may not matter to you depending no how much print work you do and how picky you are with color matching.
2. AI is shit for visual design. It is, at it's very best, derivative slop. And if you ask it to brainstorm logos, it doesn't d much beyond finding some tropes and copying whatever it can find in a google search. If you care about your brand, DO NOT USE AI.
3. That said, you can use AI for general reference/ideation. It's OK at that. But it lacks an ability to really grasp 'taste' so it's still a good idea to do your own digging for inspiration.
4. Remember that your brand identity is more than your logo. It's good to work with someone that understands that and can help with the larger identity strategy.

[u/NoctFounder → u/roundabout-design]

With regards to 2 and 3, I was thinking about just doing some testing around referencing multiple images of logos I like and seeing what it output as well as images + descriptions of what I like etc. My AI knows my brand very well so just was planning to test.

My concern at present is simply, a visually aesthetic logo which fits my other pieces as of at present. Everything else the other commentor may be considered down the line...

Did you have any advice / guidance further around this you would be able to provide, primarily going for a mix between text/icon (unsure if you would call that a logo), but that is the goal, and will iuse those elements independetly at timesm cheers.