Re: Big questions before little ones

Today Seth Godin wrote about making big project decisions (mission, goals, what will sell) before little ones (logo, wording, fonts).

I mostly agree and minimally disagree.

I think settling on a logo early in the process is important. It has been for all the projects I’ve successfully launched.

Here are three reasons why:

1. Logo is an central element of identity. When you show your logo to the world you’re declaring what you stand for. Who you are and more fundamentally, why you exist.

Any project without a well defined identity lacks a compelling part of the “why.”

The process of finding the “why” is a part of the process of finding a project’s reason for being.

2. Logos matter in an distraction filled world. Text, written or verbal, doesn’t cut it anymore. Images convey more with less. Logos act in much the same way. They communicate to your (potential) customers who you are while reassuring them that you’re a safe bet.

Not all of those bets end up being safe, for sure. But, a great logo propels and enhances an inspiring project upward, for sure.

3. Logos make it feel it real for the creator. I’ve always gone in this order.

What am I selling — — — why is it important/why should people care — — — logo — — — actually create the product.

Creating the logo makes it feel real even if it doesn’t have a single customer. It gives me the courage to forge on farther into the unknown. That courage is invaluable, however it’s acquired, early in the process of creation.

Seth is clearly the master so don’t take this as gospel — just an apprentice voicing a dove-tailing opinion :)