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Archive for the ‘Logo Design Ideas’ Category
5 Useful Logo Design Tips
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
by Jacob Cass
1. Learn what a logo is and what it represents
Before you design one, you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do. A logo is not just a mark – it reflects a business’s commercial brand through the use of shape, fonts, colour, and / or images.
A logo is for inspiring trust, recognition and admiration for a company or product and it is our job as designers to create an identity that will do its job.
One must first know what a logo is before continuing.
For further Reading on what a logo is, check out Wikipedia’s definition or CreativeBits’s discussion on what is a logo?
2. Know the rules and principles of logo design
Now that you know what a logo is supposed to do, and what it should represent, you now must learn what makes a great logo aka; the basic rules and principles.
As David says:
- A logo must be describable
- A logo must be memorable
- A logo must be effective without colour
- A logo must be scalable i.e. effective when just an inch in size
For Further reading on the rules and principles of great logo design I highly recommend reading these logo design tips from Logo Factory before continuing.
3. Learn off other’s successes and mistakes
Successful Logos
Now you know what the rules are, you can distinguish the difference between a good and a bad logo. Knowing which logos have succeeded, and why, gives an insight into what makes a good logo.
For example, let’s look at the classic Nike Swoosh (shown above). This logo was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for only $35, yet it’s still a strong, memorable logo, effective without colour and easily scalable. It is simple, fluid and fast, and represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike (something perfect for a sporting apparel business). The Nike logo is just one of many great designs, think about other famous brands that you know about and check out their logos. What makes them successful?
For more quality, lesser known logos I recommend browsing LogoPond or visiting your local book store or library and reading some books on logo design.
The Not So Successful Logos
We can also learn from logos that have not been too successful, such as the ones on the right of the above picture. As seen in that post, some logos can depict things that may not always be noticeable to the designer (as in the middle logo above) or they could just be plain bad design, as in the logo to the right (above).
4. Establish your own logo design process
Now that we know what a logo is, what the principles and rules of logo design are and what makes a successful logo, we’re now prepared to begin the design process. This is the hardest part of these 5 tips, and is a whole topic in itself. Each person’s process is different and experience is usually the key factor when creating your own logo design process. For an example of a well established method, take a look at David Airey’s design process.
In short, a logo design process usually consists of:
- The Design Brief
- Research and Brainstorming
- Sketching
- Prototyping and Conceptualising (See Step 5)
- Send to Client for Review
- Revise and Add Finishing Touches
- Supply Files to Client and Provide Customer Service
If you ever get stuck before or during your design process, I’ve provided some tips on How To Boost Your Creativity.
5. Learn the software and complete the logo
After you have got your design process sorted out, it is usually a good time to begin mastering your software (here’s a selection of Adobe Illustrator tutorials for reference). But before I get to that, I want to point out that Step 4 and Step 5 overlap, as it’s a catch 22 situation – you can’t design a logo by just hopping straight onto the computer, nor can you complete a logo design without knowing your software (the Adobe Creative Suite is a popular choice with professional designers).
Putting this aside, once you have arrived at your initial ideas and sketches from brainstorming, you can then move onto the computer to start digitizing your logo. After you have digitized the great concept(s), your client is ready to review your work, ask for possible revisions, and complete the design project. Thus, you have successfully created a professional logo.
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7 Logo Design Trends
Monday, June 14, 2010
Source: Design Crowd
Authorities on design publish articles on logo design trends every year but a closer look shows a common vein of 7 logo design styles that have been with us for at least 5 years. , These ‘trends’ appear to be withstanding the test of time, the question is: should we use them or should we avoid them?
If you compare Graphic Design USA’s logo trends from 2003 ,with trends from 2008 (see LogoLounge’s 2008 Design Trends and LogoOrange.com’s Trends from 2008) you’ll find that some of the popular styles have persisted over the last half a decade. Occassionally the trends change names but often they simply pop up again. So, are they still trends or just commonplace techniques?
These 7 logo design styles have been popular since 2003:
| 1. Transparency
2003: Ranked #9 by Graphic Design USA 2006: ‘Overlays’ #6 by LogoBlog.org 2007: Ranked #9 by LogoOrange.com 2008: Ranked #4 by LogoOrange.com |
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| 2. People or Animal Silhouettes 2003: ‘Animorphic’ #5 by Graphic Design USA 2007: ‘People’ #8 by LogoOrange.com |
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| 3. Punctuation 2003: Ranked #11 by Graphic Design USA 2007: Ranked #11 by LogoOrange.com |
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| 4. Virtual Globe 2003: ‘Canted’ #11 by Graphic Design USA 2008: ‘Global Expansion’ #4 by LogoLounge.com |
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| 5. Loops 2003: ‘Slinky’ #11 by Graphic Design USA 2008: ‘Loops’ #4 by LogoLounge.com |
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| 6. Blobs 2003: ‘Droplets’ #1 by Graphic Design USA 2008: ‘Amoeba’ #11 by LogoLounge.com |
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| 7. Fine Lines
2003: ‘Wire’ #15 by Graphic Design USA 2008: ‘Fine Lines’ #2 by LogoLounge.com |
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What Makes a Good Logo?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
by David Airey
Milton Glaser’s I Love New York logo
When it comes to seeing a logo that makes you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” what is it about the design that gives that impression?
My good friend Lee Newham taught me about five important design elements when it comes to brand identities. Iconic logos are:
- Describable
- Memorable
- Effective without colour
- Scalable i.e. work when just an inch in size
- Relevant to the industry in question
Points one and two go hand-in-hand, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it?
Point number three is important because colour is secondary to the shape and form. I always leave colour to the end of the design process, because if the mark doesn’t work in black only, no amount of colour will rescue it.
Point number four is vital for collateral, such as office stationery (pens, pin badges etc.)—all those little things that can easily be overlooked.
Lastly, the design must be relevant for the business it identifies. This is accomplished through indepth research into the industry involved, and helps to differentiate from closely associated competitors.
I’ve chosen a logo to illustrate the five points:
The above logo is for Open University (OU), the UK’s leading distance-learning organisation. You can view the OU website here, where you’ll see the design used in context (and much smaller in size).
There are a number of text layout variations, which gives greater freedom for those reproducing the logo in different formats. For example, the top right mark (above) wouldn’t fit on the side of a pen as well as the centre right version (above).
What I enjoy most about this design is the simplicity (the ‘O’ inside the ‘U’). The OU logo has evolved over the years, and didn’t always have the ‘glass’ effect—a common trend amongst today’s logos. You can read more about logo trends here. It’s important to remember, however, that trends don’t last, and by designing using the latest fad, your logo will become dated, fast.
Take a look at how the OU logo appeared in the past (below).
The typography leaves a little to be desired, but the same dinstinctive, memorable, scalable, describable, reproducable mark was used to set the Open University apart from its competitors.
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