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Adant Technology Solutions Logo Design
Recently, one of my good friends Grant came to me for a logo design for a start-up company he was working on with a friend of his, Adam. The company was going to be called Adant Technology Solutions, with a goal of helping people with their technology issues. After talking to Grant and finding out more about what they were looking for, what Adant meant (Adam + Grant = Adant), and exactly what technology solutions they were going to provide, I sat down with pencil and paper and started sketching ideas.
I tried to come up with different concepts based on symbols I felt represented solutions and/or technology. The first things that came to mind were a solved Rubik’s cube, project web, finished maze, completed puzzle, check mark, checked box, light bulb, and also a power cord. After coming up with a page full of concepts, I decided it was time to open Illustrator and put some of these concepts into motion.
After working on five of the concepts (light bulb, cord, Rubik’s cube, check mark, and project web), I sent them off to Grant to see if we were really on the same page. 
Grant and Adam both loved the light bulb and power cord concepts and wanted to see them developed further. This is probably my favorite part of designing a logo because I really start to expand on concepts that I came up with earlier. Usually I do a lot more of this when brainstorming and sketching, and provide the client these ideas in more of a rough for, but for this particular job, it just happened this way and I have no complaints as it worked out great in the end! Below are the expanded light bulb and power cord concepts. I also started to add color as it was noted at the beginning of the project that the clients had no colors in mind and were open to anything. I love designing logos in black and white as it really keeps the elements of the logo simple, but when a client wants a color but doesn’t know what, I try to add it in around this stage to start getting a feel for what they really are looking for.
After sending this new set of logos to Grant, he met with others and decided a light bulb really wasn’t what they were looking for and they loved the power cord. He also really wanted to use orange, which I think is partially based on his obsession with BGSU (nothing wrong with that as I have the same problem). I really liked how Helvetica was looking with the roughs, and decided to keep it for the final logo. I used Helvetica Black for the word Adant and Helvetica Condensed Medium for the Technology Solutions as they compliment each other very well. The next step was to incorporate something else he wanted…a gradient in the power cord. This was fun for me as I haven’t had the chance to use a gradient mesh in a logo design yet. While being very new to using them, it was also quite a learning experience to get it exactly how I wanted as I had only used meshes to make pretty basic contour shapes in the past.
In the end though, I was very happy with how the entire process went. Grant was great to work with and gave great feedback on everything I sent his way. Here is the final logo design and also a link to their website if you’re in the NW Ohio area and curious about what they can do for you!
What I also like to do after logos designs is analyze what I could do better for my next job. With this current logo design, I really was excited about the Rubik’s cube and puzzle ideas to the point where I wanted one of those concepts to be the final one I was working with. Then Grant sent back an email saying him and Adam loved the light bulb and power cord concepts and wanted those developed further. One thing I’ve learned with past projects, a designer must always be open to change. In the end, a designer is providing a service and while they can give guidance based on what the client wants, they should never tell the client what to want. I live by this ideal when working with clients, and actually think it works out for the best. While many times my first idea is usually something I’m passionate about, I like having to be more creative with things I’m less passionate about as it teaches me how to face design projects in the future.
However, the other side of this is that a designer shouldn’t show the client ideas they aren’t passionate about. Is it better to show a client many good ideas, or a few great ideas? I believe that’s up to the designer and the feel they get from the client.
