Solve the symbol before asking for a wordmark
Generated lettering is often misspelled, inconsistent, or fused into the artwork, so the first useful objective is usually a symbol without text. Define the brand audience, one core idea, one visual metaphor, the desired attitude, and a limited palette. A crescent fox mask for a late-night anime review channel is a more workable brief than “epic Japanese gaming logo with lots of detail.” Ask for a centered mark on a plain background and compare several structural directions. Once a symbol is selected, add the exact brand name later with real type. This separates visual identity exploration from a task image models do not reliably control.