Welcome to my Thursday info. for Graphic Designers. Since I don't do regular features you can just expect sporadic PIF's, Tutorials, and general info. from both of my blogs. I do run an artist feature daily on my jewelry blog.
Jewelry by Tara Blog
So today's scoop is actually from a class I am taking called Logo Design. I have been asked to create logos a lot in the past year and I haven't had any formal training in it. I wanted to offer my online/offline clients a profession logo, presentation, and collaborative experience. So here's my first of many to come info. session on Logo Design.
What makes a good logo?
The following are 10 things that can make a logo more memorable and visually appealing.
1. Uniqueness of logo. Your logo should stand out as an individual in a sea of other logos.
2. Sophistication. The logo should not only have a professional appearance, but avoid inappropriate images, fonts, etc. It should also clearly communicate it's message without overstimulating with too much design/imagery.
3. Conceptual Design. Using parts of the actual logo to express ideas, words, numbers, as a concept. I.E. Jewelry by Tara = Jewelry♦Tara Not the best example and not my actual logo, but the concept is replacing the by w/the diamond for jewelry. Another example would be to take the name Purple velvet and I have obviously replaced the black in purple w/purple.
4. Logo Relevancy. What makes a logo most relevant is to incorporate company imagery that is easily recognizable into the design. When adding a design to a logo you must really think ahead. Will this company only be making X 10 years from now? Or should I go with a broader design to incorporate possible product changes.
5. Versatility. So important! The logo you design should be able to be incorporated into any type of advertising the company desires. Banners, stationary, etc. A flexible size and distinguishable font are very necessary to design. Some letters and images will become illegible when applied to different sizes and components.
6. Cohesiveness. Good logos should not require a frame around them, but should stand alone in their design. No to say there aren't some fantastic logos that do have this type of imagery, but they have been well incorporated into the overall effect and do not detract from the logo itself. The shapes should not appear too detached from each other either and not appear disjointed. Reducing the spaces between fonts is a good way of bringing your logo into a more cohesive position.
7. Attractiveness. This is totally subjective of course but there are some points that hold true to all design. See 1-7 and 8-10.
8. Memorability. What makes a logo memorable? Logos that are simple in their design but not in their concept. They read easily what the brand is and reinforce your product image.
9. How to make your logo endure the test of time. Don't fall for trends that make your logo appear dated, assume that your client will be using this design for the rest of the company's life.
10. Secondary characteristics of a good logo. The ability to animate your logo and using multicultural imagery. Multicultural meaning images that can be seen on the worldwide web and are easily understood by sight if not by language. I.E. Symbols such as arrows, hands, etc. and/or images like faces, or trees.
Okay, so that's my 10 for today and I'm sure there will be a lot more info. to come. I'm actually finding this reading part of my class more interesting than I thought I would. Who knew so much went into good logo design? Please do not undervalue your fellow graphic designer's work by calling banners, and premade logos LOGO DESIGN. A true logo design is unique only to that particular company. Otherwise it's just a general advertisement for your company and why have a company ad when you can have a stand out company brand? What I'm trying to point out with all this is that logo design is intense and therefore costs more. Which essentially gives you more over time.
T♥
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