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Ten logo design tips from the field

Ten logo design tips from the field
I’ve learned from quite a few mistakes during my time as a designer, and to save you from doing likewise, here are 10 logo tips I picked up. 1. A logo doesn’t need to say what a company does Restaurant logos don’t need to show food, dentist logos don’t need to show teeth, furniture store logos don’t need to show furniture. The Mercedes logo isn’t a car. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Don’t follow the pack. Stand out. 7. 8. 9. 10. Not two, three, or four. One. This was a snippet of what’s in the Logo Design Love book. Do you have any other tips to share? I love New York image courtesy of Oded Ezer

Sweet White Space « stoneboard.ca White space design used for communication materials is a good thing. A beautiful thing. Just so we are on the same page here, “white space” is the “blank space” that surrounds pictures and text. It is not just the literal white space in a design. It entails good composition of the design elements. Attention graphic designers: please, please, please, use alignment…use a rule line! White space design is everywhere. It allows the brain to digest messages. It generates a second glance – like a rest station on the side of the road. Many corporations, design firms, artists, and agencies are finally getting out of the messy convoluted design methodology and endorsing the less is more approach. Wow. About time. Use the example of Starbucks. The new logo strips down. It is said we are ‘in the age of the icons’. Print media also needs to take advantage of good planning of space. What information are you trying to provide? Package design. Make it look good. Less copy. Honeyrose Bakery.

How to create a professional logo A professional logo can enhance a company, an organization, or a product. On the other hand, an unprofessional logo can ruin a brand and mar an otherwise good designer’s portfolio. Many logos in use are unprofessional and carry all the tell-tale marks of an amateur or a beginner. Everyone thinks they can design a great logo, but simply knowing your way around Photoshop is not enough. Here are some insights into the process and workflow of effective and modern logo design. 1. A lot of beginners jump right onto the computer to create a logo. A better way to start is to get a fresh sheet of paper and a pencil. As you sketch different options, start eliminating the designs that seem weak or inappropriate. If you are designing a logo for a customer, keep in mind that they might not like all your ideas. 2. Ah, the world of vector graphics. Common image formats like GIF, JPEG, BMP, and TIFF are all bitmap formats. In contrast, vector graphic files are not made of dots or pixels. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The Science of White Space in Design White space, also referred to as “negative space”, is an important aesthetic tactic utilised in a majority of graphical/design illustrations/publications. In its most generalised definition, white spaces are the strategic visual sections of a page/illustration that are left unmarked and thus uncluttered by any specific aesthetic detail. Characteristically, these ‘blank spaces’ are strategically located, between margins, leading text and sub-sections of a page layout. The true functional beauty of white spaces lies in its rather paradoxical function; it defines and enhances the visual prominence of various accompanying graphical/typographic elements, without containing meaning, context or content in itself. The Game of Brand Identity In the traditional era of the broadsheet printing press, the real-estate of a page layout was defined by two main elements – Content and Advertising. The Game of Hierarchical Significance The Game of Minimalism credits credits credits credits Author

2013 Best Logo Designs + Trends & Inspiration Showcase Posted on 22 '13 May Posted on May 22, 2013 along with 2 JUST™ Creative Comments Logo Lounge , for the past ten years, has posted annual logo design trend reports and they have just released the 2013 logo design trends report. I would love to hear your thoughts on the showcased trends. Do these identity / branding trends effect you or your process? Do you agree with these suggestions? Have you noticed any other trends? Logo Lounge: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 Discussion on Just Creative: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 2 Logos of Mine Featured in Logo Lounge Book 8 On a similar note, I just found out that two of my logos designed for Ruff Club and PharmSouth are going to be featured in the book Logo Lounge 8, which will be my 5th time featured in one of their inspirational books. Without further ado, here are the logo design trends compiled by LogoLounge.com. The Here Logo Design Trend The Crosses Logo Design Trend The Wave Logo Design Trend The Molecule Logo Design Trend

White Space Example 1. Good use of white space: this advertisement show how their product cancels noise by using the lawnmower metaphor to cut the noise "grass", leaving behind only white space, a common metaphor for silence. 2. Poor use of white space: this advertisement, on the other hand, leaves the whole thing feeling unbalanced because all the white space is used up except the bottom left corner, which is simply languishing and unused. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Choosing a Computer Whether you work in the office or at home on a personal computer, you must provide your own protection. How Easy Is It to Use? 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

How To Get the Perfect Logo Designed – The Best Method You've Ever Seen The StartupBros logo is dead, and I killed it. While our old logo wasn’t in dire need of replacement, we weren’t in love with it, so we decided to change it up. I’ve had a lot of logos designed, so I’ve developed a pretty good method to finding the one your customers love the most. As you may know, this is one of the most controversial things I’ve ever written (a surprise to me). There is definitely no shortage of people who don’t like this method, even HATE it. First you need to get some high-quality logo designs to test. The Right Way to Launch a Contest Head over to 99Designs and Sign Up for an accountAfter you’ve signed up for an account, start a new “Logo Design” contest and fill out the Design Brief. On the next page you’ll set up payment options and a few other settings. Maximizing the Value of Your Contest There are a couple of things I do after a contest is live that make sure I get an awesome logo. Watch Logos Start Pouring In Setting Up the Test We’re almost done – I promise!

Whitespace My first design job was with a small print design agency in Manchester that produced work in varying media: packaging, publications, and marketing support materials, and…direct mail. Article Continues Below I soon discovered that the graphic design principles I’d learned in college were of little use when I designed for direct mail, where big, bold, and crowded is the order of the day. In the words of one client—words I will never forget—“whitespace is empty space.” Direct-mail clients need their packages to look down-market, because it works for them. But for just about everything else, my client couldn’t have been further from the truth. Meet whitespace#section1 “Whitespace,” or “negative space” is the space between elements in a composition. So what does whitespace do? Micro whitespace and legibility#section2 A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to see Erik Spiekermann give a lecture. In newspaper design, information is dense. Brand positioning#section3 Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5.

The definitive guide to logo design: 50 pro tips | Logo design Great logo design requires a complex mixture of design skills, creative theory and skilful application. Any designer worth their salt can create a fit-for-purpose logo, but truly mastering all aspects of the craft takes time. Exclusive offer: Save 15% on Adobe Creative Cloud now Of course, logo design is just one small sub-set of branding, but the logo or brand mark remains the centrepiece of most branding schemes. We've spoken to branding professionals about the intricacies of good logo creation, and what qualifies as a great logo. Logo design research and strategy Before pen hits paper on any new logo design project, thorough research is essential. 01. Before you even start working up a logo design concept, ensure you research your target market thoroughly. Compare all the logos in their competitive set. But bear in mind that many of the world’s most recognisable logo designs stand out specifically because they eschew trends and think differently. 02. Why are we here? 03. 04. 05.

A Negative View of White Space After reading through the article on The Web Design Ledger, “Whitespace: The Underutilized Design Element” I felt compelled to respond and clear up what I feel is spreading misconceptions about design in relation to white space. Note that for the purpose of this article I will refer to white space as negative space. Negative space being the area that is void of elements like type or imagery. Both are accepted terms, but I believe that negative space better represents the design concept. Positives and Negatives Let me start by saying I agree with the premise of the article that negative space is an important concept for a designer to understand, so kudos for bringing it up. The article begins by saying white space is: “…probably one of the most overlooked and underutilized is whitespace. Pointing out more negative space in the Pottery Barn screen in comparison to Rooms to Go. Why? There are basic principles of design like balance and contrast that every designer should understand.

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