23 Feb Do you suffer from decision anxiety?

Do you suffer from decision anxiety?

Not me, I’m pretty good at making decisions, although I do have doubts at times. But once I’ve made the choice, I stick with it. On the other hand, my sister is the total opposite of me. She researches thoroughly, makes a decision, and then goes back on it a few times (usually after purchase), to eventually settle on her first choice. But how do my clients react when I send over the presentation of their logo design? To find out how my clients react I decided to just ask.

So, what is decision anxiety?

Decision anxiety is a form of stress that causes a fear of making the wrong choice and later suffering the consequences. This may cause you to hesitate, ruminate, or fail to make any decision at all.

To research the reaction of my clients when they received my logo presentation, I asked three of them to tell me about their experiences. In the presentation, they receive an overview of all my creations. A true brain dump! I designed the logos in line with their wishes, all slightly different from each other. Sometimes it’s a truly different design, other times it’s a different colour, shape or font just to illustrate how else it could look like. It’s my creative process on paper with around 20 to 30 designs which can overwhelm the client when seeing them. Oops!

Why do you send your client so many variations of the design?

When designing a logo my mind goes into overdrive and I get loads of ideas. From one design another emerges, then another idea pops up and then another version is created. That’s how I end up with so many different variations which might slightly differ from each other but enough to add them to the presentation.

A lot of companies only show their clients three options or less. My experience is that showing only 3 options always brings questions. Yes, 30 is a little overkill, but when they get 3 and don’t like them, you have to start again. In the past I used to get the question ‘Can you take this and do that?’, and I’d think ‘Ahhhh I had that, just decided not to show it’. This means I spend extra time on sending over that version when I could’ve just added it to the initial presentation. So, to ensure that doesn’t happen I send over all my designs giving them an insight into my thinking process as well. My experience in doing this is that the client usually picks one design and asks for a little tweak but not a redesign of the logo, saving me a lot of time in the long run. When creating a logo, you’re already going through the whole sketching process, so when I decide to only show three, they end up being my personal favourites which a client might hate, missing the boat altogether and resulting in a disappointed client whom you then need to convince you can do the job.

So what’s your advice to the client when making a choice?

What I tell the client when sending over the presentation, is to not get overwhelmed. I advise them to print the pages and then take a pen and start crossing out the ones they DON’T like. You’ll find that what remains usually has a logo that you like.

I then tell them to let it sink in. Print out the one you like and look at it a few times. Leave it lying around so that your eye falls on it unexpectedly which usually sends an emotion through your body of liking it or not. I also tell them not to show it to too many people as everyone has an opinion and that can cloud yours. Stick to your initial gut feeling, that is usually correct. Ultimately, the logo must radiate what you stand for, for you to support it 100%.

A series of proposals of the logo.

And then what?

After the first set of proposals, the client comes back with feedback. It happens that the desired design is right there, but most times I’m asked to mix x with y to produce z. That’s what makes it so much fun giving them all the sketches, it inspires the client as well.

So, do I mind causing decision anxiety? No not really because in the end it produces the best results. A design that fulfils all the client’s wishes and one that makes them extremely proud and that’s what I’m going for.

The final design!

The client had the following requests regarding her logo, heels, diamond, ring, and the colour mint green… In the end, the colour was changed to a soft lilac/purple.

Reading tip!

Are you planning to have a logo designed? Read this article The importance of the right colour in your logo.
Examples of logos designed by me.

In need of a new logo?

Book the Style Scan and I’ll be happy to discuss your wishes with you with all possible options.