This is a good question, and one our clients would often like to know. We always emphasise the importance of investing as much as you can in a logo for your institute or organisation. A good logo should serve you well over time. Often a lot of time. As the backbone of your brand, updating it can be more work than you think, as anything with your old logo would need to be changed as well.

I’d like to note that this process is not exactly the same for all designers, and what is outlined below is not comprehensive. Of course I am happy to chat about this further (and I often do!)

Research + Strategy
The design of the logo is always part of a wider brand strategy. The depth required varies tremendously. It can require days, months, or sometimes even years. The appropriate scope of work depends on the individual project. 

Starting with a set of questions, we discuss (and sometimes debate!) an organisation's essence: who it is, what it does and what it will deliver. We also examine such things as the target market and competitors. Once complete, our clients often comment on how valuable this clarity and insight is—despite how much they thought they understood their brand previously.

Concepting + Design
As a designer trying to put words to this phase, I realise how fascinating it is! And challenging. Clients can be surprised at how long this phase can take.

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Often visuals are sketched or found online. They are pieced together, taken apart, elaborated on, grouped, left for a few days, brainstormed, and worked on again and again to form logo concepts. The best concepts are grouped into design directions and developed further. Some clients think that the first design round is simply a presentation of all the work done to date, but this is not the case! We only present the most successful design directions.

Crucially, this phase is also very much guided by the Brief + Strategy phase listed above.

There are usually at least four design rounds, more depending on the project scope. So that they can be prepared, we always tell our clients that one of the biggest delays is the amount of time it takes to get feedback after each round.

Files + Guidelines
The final logo is delivered in various file formats and sizes. If you require any additional file format in the future, we are happy to provide this free of charge. 

A brand guidelines document is provided that sums up the brand work. This helps anyone using the logo, or any other brand elements, to prepare high impact materials that are consistent, whether it is a PowerPoint document or an email newsletter. The brand guidelines can be anywhere from one page to dozens, depending once again on the project scope.

Above are examples of a few of the logos we have designed recently for various scientific organisations.

1470: the very first book was printed in Paris, France and a boom in typeface creation followed shortly after. It was here that Claude Garamond’s career as an engraver flourished, and his Garamond typefaces were created. Like many engravers, they were often commissioned for a single printer's exclusive use. Over time, they were sold or traded between printers.

Having designed many typefaces in his lifetime, it can be said that the origin of Garamond is not one typeface in particular, but rather his particular style, which was considered very contemporary and modern. Of course, Garamond has been modified and refined over the years, but this family of typefaces can still be said to be based upon Claude Garamond’s original designs from over 500 years ago. 

Garamond is one of the oldest printing press fonts. It has survived the centuries because of its remarkable readability and timeless elegance. An exceptionally popular typeface in print today, it is found in some of the best-selling titles available from bookstores, including every book in the Harry Potter series. From 1983 to 2001 Apple used Garamond as their corporate font, but later moved to a modern font that had been drawn with the limitations of early computer screens in mind. Since it is so popular, at MOTHandRUST we prefer to use alternatives, such as Sabon or Caslon.

Of course an academic journal wouldn’t reject a manuscript on the basis of typeface alone, but this Nature article suggests that for manuscript submission, Garamond or Times New Roman are favoured. And it is interesting to note that Calibri is not!

1.
Medical illustration is a rather niche field, with an estimated 2,000 trained practitioners worldwide.

2.
The majority of medical illustrators in the profession have a master's degree from an accredited two-year graduate program in medical illustration, of which there are only four in North America.

3.
The first school of medical illustration was formed in 1911 at Johns Hopkins University.

4.
Some medical illustrators are authors and co-authors of textbooks or articles in which they've made major contributions to the content.

5.
In the past, the majority of medical illustrations were produced for professional use, whereas now there is a growing need for illustrations aimed at the lay public, in order for them to understand the state of their health and medical options.

6.
Attorneys use medical illustration to clarify complex medical information for judges and juries in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.

7.
Medical illustration created for instruction (surgery, anatomy, obstetrics and medicinal plants) first appeared in Hellenic Alexandria during the 4th century BC or early 3rd century BC on individual sheets of papyrus.

8.
Leonardo da Vinci pursued his own anatomy book, and pioneered the use of cross sections and exploded views.

9.
De humani corporis fabrica (The Fabric of the Human Body) of 1543 is probably the most well known book of anatomy. It profoundly changed medical training, anatomical knowledge, and artistic representations of the body, an influence that has persisted over the centuries.

10.
Here at MOTHandRUST, we do create scientific illustrations (seen above) and we can work with specific medical illustrators when required.