Sketching is arguably the most important part of my process when it comes to logo design. In the beginning of my design career, I would actually skip this step completely and go right to the computer. I’d find myself getting stuck and then going to Pinterest for ideas. This would send me down a rabbit hole that was ultimately more harmful than helpful.

当涉及徽标设计时，草图可以说是我过程中最重要的部分。 在我设计生涯的初期，我实际上会完全跳过这一步，直接进入计算机。 我会发现自己陷入困境，然后去Pinterest寻求想法。 这会使我陷入困境，这最终有害无益。

That’s when I realized that I needed to have an actual process for starting my logo projects, and kick out Pinterest for good.

从那时起，我意识到我需要一个启动徽标项目的实际流程 ，并永久淘汰Pinterest。

If you’re anything like how I used to be, you have one of two mental blocks about sketching:

如果您像我以前一样，那么您就有两个关于素描的思维障碍之一：

1. You think you’re not a good artist and so your sketches would look “bad,” or2. You feel stuck staring at a white paper and never know how to start sketching ideas.

1.您认为自己不是一个好的艺术家，因此您的草图看起来“不好”，或者2。 您会凝视白皮书，却不知道如何开始构思草图。

I’m going to walk through a process that will not only break down those two mental blocks, but also help you rely much less on inspiration from Pinterest/Behance/etc.

我将逐步完成一个过程，该过程不仅将打破这两个思维障碍，而且还将帮助您减少对Pinterest / Behance / etc等人的启发。

Let’s get into it!

让我们开始吧！

1.话语 (1. Words)

In this first step I like to go back to the brand strategy. I get out my word bank and copy and paste it into an Illustrator document.

在第一步中，我想回到品牌策略。 我离开了单词库，然后将其复制并粘贴到Illustrator文档中。

If you didn’t do brand strategy work with a particular client, don’t fret! Quickly brainstorm a list of “brand personality” words or phrases that describe what the company does and use those! I like to do this with the help of my clients so that we’re in alignment.

如果您没有与特定客户进行品牌策略合作，请不要担心！ 快速集思广益，描述公司的行为并使用这些行为的“品牌个性”字词或短语！ 我喜欢在客户的帮助下做到这一点，以便我们保持一致。

2.视觉研究 (2. Visual Research)

Once you have your list, then it’s time to gather visual research. Notice how I didn’t say gather “inspiration” or “ideas” or “mood board images.” For this step, it’s important not to get caught up in style, colors, or anything like that. If your visual research board looks pretty, you’re doing it wrong.

一旦有了清单，就该收集视觉研究了。 请注意，我不是说收集“灵感”或“想法”或“情绪板图像”。 对于此步骤，重要的是不要陷入风格，颜色或类似问题。 如果您的视觉研究委员会看上去很漂亮，那说明您做错了。

I think it would help if I showed you an example:

我认为如果您举个例子，将会有所帮助：

This particular client was starting a marketing agency. Her last name is ‘Story,’ and she also feels like she helps her clients share their stories to generate business. She does a lot of event marketing for wellness brands and focuses on creating experiences that bring her clients’ audience together to create “stories” they will always remember and associate with the brand. One thing that stood out when I was talking to my client was that she wants her clients to feel like “the sky is the limit” when they’re working with her.

这个特定的客户正在建立一个市场代理。 她的姓氏是“ Story”，她也觉得自己可以帮助客户分享他们的故事以发展业务。 她为健身品牌进行了大量的事件营销，并专注于创造体验，将客户的受众聚集在一起，创造出他们将永远记住并与该品牌相关联的“故事”。 当我与客户交谈时脱颖而出的一件事是，她希望客户与她一起工作时感觉自己像“天空是极限” 。

With all that in mind, I looked for images that represent community (cut-out people holding hands), limitless (ladder, clouds, skies, arms reaching up), entertainment (festivals, confetti, crowds), wellness (yoga poses, stacked rocks) and so on.

考虑到所有这些因素，我寻找的图像代表社区 (切出的人握着手)， 无穷 (梯子，云层，天空，伸出的手臂)， 娱乐 (节日，五彩纸屑，人群)， 健康 (瑜伽姿势，堆叠)岩石)等等。

Are most of these painfully literal and obvious interpretations? Yes. That’s the point!

这些大多数都是痛苦的字面意义和显而易见的解释吗？ 是。 这才是重点！

You have to start with these types of references so that your creative brain can take them and run with them. If you start super conceptual and stylistic, you’ll come out with something that has no ground to stand on.

您必须从这些类型的引用开始，以便您的创造力大脑可以接受它们并与其一起运行。 如果您开始超级概念化和风格化，那么您将获得无可替代的基础。

Once you have your visual reference board, you’re ready to get sketching!

有了视觉参考板后，就可以开始草绘了！

3.会话中的草图 (3. Sketch in Sessions)

Then it’s time to actually put pen to paper. There are two important things about the way I do this to make it the most beneficial it can be.

然后是时候把笔放在纸上了。 我要使其变得最有益的方式有两点重要。

First, I never put pressure on myself to make the sketches look “good” or “pretty.” They’re just ideas, they’ll be taken to the computer later where I can stylize them however I want. So if you’re like me and you wouldn’t consider yourself an artist or an illustrator, that’s totally okay. That’s not what this is about. AND it’s okay if 99% of your ideas suck! Sometimes sucky ideas lead to good ones, so just get them down on the paper and don’t worry about if they’re good or not during this step.

首先，我从不向自己施加压力以使草图看起来“好”或“漂亮”。 它们只是想法，以后将被带到计算机上，在那里我可以根据需要对其进行样式化。 因此，如果您像我一样，并且不会认为自己是艺术家或插画家，那完全可以。 那不是这个。 而且如果您的想法中的99％没问题，那就没关系！ 有时候笨拙的想法会带来好的想法，因此只需将它们记在纸上，而不必担心在此步骤中它们是否好。

The other important thing is that I do my sketching in two or three 30-minute sessions. This way, I don’t focus on getting a good idea, I just focus on sketching for 30 minutes. It takes the pressure off and turns it into an exercise instead of “I need to come up with a good idea right now so I can start this project! Ahhhh!”

另一个重要的事情是我分两个或三个30分钟的课程进行素描。 这样，我不专注于获得一个好主意，我只专注于素描30分钟。 它减轻了压力并将其变成一种练习，而不是“我现在需要想出一个好主意，这样我才能开始这个项目！ 啊！”

This also gives your brain time to rest and be inspired. Maybe you’ll do a 30 minute session, then go make lunch and take the dog for a walk and come back for your second session. During that time, even if you don’t consciously realize it, the back of your brain is working on the design problem and so when you get back to work, you’ll have some fresh ideas.

这也使您的大脑有时间休息并受到启发。 也许您需要进行30分钟的训练，然后去做午餐，带狗散步，然后回来进行第二次训练。 在这段时间里，即使您没有有意识地意识到这一点，大脑的背面也在解决设计问题，因此当您重新开始工作时，就会有一些新的想法。

I want to reiterate, during these 30-minute sessions, DO NOT judge your sketches! Just do as many as you can.

我要重申，在这30分钟的课程中，请勿对您的草图进行评判！ 尽可能多地做。

4.查看草图 (4. Review your Sketches)

This step won’t take long, but you should take a break between your last sketching session and your review. Again, it gives your brain a fresh perspective and you’re less likely to judge yourself too harshly.

此步骤不会花费很长时间，但是您应该在上一次草绘会话和审阅之间稍作休息。 同样，它为您的大脑提供了崭新的视角，并且您不太可能过于苛刻地判断自己。

Simply go through your notebook and star or circle things you think are interesting or have potential.

只需翻阅笔记本，然后对您认为有趣或具有潜力的事物加注或圈出即可。

5.数字渲染 (5. Digital Rendering)

Now, when you open up your blank document in Illustrator, you likely won’t feel like you’re just starting. You’ve already done some of the heavy lifting, and now it’s time for the fun part. Get those ideas down digitally and do tons of variations of each one. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to your sketches. If an idea comes to you that you didn’t already sketch out — go with it, that’s great!

现在，当您在Illustrator中打开空白文档时，您可能不会觉得自己才刚刚开始。 您已经完成了一些繁重的工作，现在是时候进行有趣的部分了。 将这些想法数字化，并做大量的变化。 当然，您不必局限于草图。 如果您想到了一个尚未勾勒出的想法，那就去做吧！

Here are the 3 concepts I ended up presenting to my client:

这是我最终向客户介绍的3个概念：

Over the last few years, I’ve seen immense growth in my own design abilities, but also in my ability to think conceptually and creatively. Using this process has also given me more confidence — because I know my ideas are completely my own. Instead of using the internet as a crutch, I’ve learned to use it as a tool!

在过去的几年中，我已经看到自己的设计能力以及概念和创造性思维的能力都得到了极大的发展。 使用此过程还给了我更多的信心-因为我知道我的想法完全是我自己的。 我已经学会了将互联网用作工具，而不是将互联网用作拐杖！