Most people look at a great logo and think, “C’mon, I could draw that in 10 minutes.” They only see the tip of the iceberg, the 10% above the surface. They don’t see the 90% of the work hidden below: the research, strategy, sketches, revisions, tweaks, and the 137 ways we learned how not to design it.
More specifically, small companies. The four logos below represent gigantic businesses, but they each represent a type of logo that simply won’t work for small companies because they depend on money, time, and scale that new and small businesses simply don’t have.
and demand short, unique names—and $millions.
and decades—and $millions.
that hide generic words we'll never know.
and loaded with symbol we'll never know.
A minimalist combination logo. It’s the sweet spot for new brands because it does double duty: the symbol doesn’t just sit looking pretty next to the name; it expands and amplifies the story the name is trying to tell. And the company gets instant clarity right out of the gate while building long-term equity without needing to burn through cash on awareness ads.
There’s two main approaches:
Literal, recognizable, storytelling.
Symbolic, metaphoric, interpretive.
And when you add the company letters they get even more unique:
S + Honeycomb + circuit
G + arrow + grin
> The four name types
> Initialisms are lazy hacks
> Building names around URLs
> The four kinds of logos
> Why complex logos fail
> Trends and fads
> Informal vs formal meetings
> Selling process, not product
> Emotional vs rational feedback
Templates like presentation and naming decks, docs like standard contract and copyright laws, and 100+ PNGs of key slides used in the course for future reference.
> Upgrade your toolkit
> Get industry-ready
> Do it yerself
> Understand your brand
I’ve always worked smart, not hard. As such, you become a master of shortcuts and streamlining. I've brought that simplification to all aspects of design, and I built this course the exact same way. Instead of drowning you in stuffy design school theory or hours of boring footage, I’ve stripped away the fluff to give you the exact mechanics, real-world workflows, and practical shortcuts you need to master the right logos faster and more confidently.
YouTube gives you unconnected fragments that rarely show any connection from one video to the next. This course gives you a cohesive start-to-finish field-tested workflow. I don't just give you the WHATS and the HOWS. I give you the WHYS so that you can approach each client and project with a greater, more complete understanding.
No problem! Unless you’ve completed the entire course you’ll get a full refund; but keep the downloads if you wish. All I ask is that you tell me why so I can consider future additions or tweaks to the course and other material.
No, but I do go over specific tools to use and to avoid in vector apps and why. While there are too many apps to cover, they all share basic mechanics you can easily learn for free on YouTube. Instead, this course focuses on what software can’t teach you: taking raw ideas and sketches, refining them to your client’s needs, and understanding how logos help build brand equity in the real world.
In my late teens I was able to draw and paint photorealistically, but it was the compression of ideas into simple form that grabbed me and I don’t think I’ve touched a canvas since. Instead, I became a brand designer, a typography and font snob, and a biz consultant.
In advertising and design I’ve done it all, but it’s always revolved around branding. When I was 16 my father registered the name Initial Impressions for me cuz I’d done a few logos for his associates using the initials of their side hustles. I was hooked.
Over 30 years in identity design buys you plenty of mileage and industry accolades—and a massive logo graveyard. Startups fail, markets change, and businesses fold. That’s just par for the course.