Logo design tips | Design advice & pointers | The Logo Factory The Logo Factory designers have been in the ‘trenches’ for years, with thousands of successful logo and brand identity projects under their collective belts and who better to ask for a series of tips and pointers when it comes to developing great logos? Accordingly, here’s some design advice from some of the best designers in the field. It should be noted that most of these tips are not absolutes (you’ll probably be able to find instances in our logo design gallery that will contradict each and every one.) They are, however, a decent set of guidelines that will help you hone in on the best logo for your particular requirements. Start out right. When you’re in the market to have a new logo developed, there’s always the temptation to take some short cuts. Simple is sometimes better. A complex logo can be difficult to reproduce and more importantly, difficult to remember. A logo doesn’t have to convey what your company does. Size matters. Aspect ratios. Disconnecting icons and text. Repetition.
If Logos Were Honest | Yin & Yang Haha you’ve got to love Viktor Hertz‘s work, it’s honest, a teeny bit cheeky but brilliant. It’s guaranteed to make you laugh – he’s turned some of the most popular corporate brand logos into satirical designs. They’re all honest, you’ll find yourself agreeing with most of them unless you work at the company and are in blind denial. The honest logos are all about revealing the actual content of the company behind all the advertising and marketing campaigns. Hop on after the cut to see them all. follow me on twitter 45 SEO and Social Media Tools #SESLondon I really lucked out after moderating the morning session at SES London on Social Media Tools by joining the SEO Tools of the Trade session that followed. Both sessions had great speakers and I’ve decided to combine my notes for both into one post about social media automation tools and SEO tools. The sources for the SEO tool recommendations include: Richard Baxter of SEOGadget, Dave Naylor from Bronco, and Neil Walker from Just Search. The social media tool recommendations came from Andrew Girdwood from bigmouthmedia, Paul Madden from Automica and Marcus Tober from SearchMetrics. Before I get into the list of tools, I feel compelled to share a quote that I’ve often used to give people context for tool use, since it’s so important to use them for scale, efficiency and to gain a competitive advantage: “Tools are only as effective as the expertise of the person using them.” Ok, let’s start off with SEO Tools: Social Media Automation Tools (Some are a bit Grayhat SEO) There you go.
Usability Post » A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand One of the key elements of building a strong brand is color selection. Every color has a different feel and various associations. By choosing a color or a combination of colors for your brand identity, you will take on those associations. Colors will evoke certain emotions and feelings towards your brand so it is vital to choose a color that will represent your identity effectively. Research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. If you own a color in your industry, this color will symbolize your product. Where to start? There is a great new tool which can help out with color selection called Cymbolism. To help you select the right color for your brand I’ve aggregated the results from Cymbolism, and also provided examples of logos that use each color: I’ve also included some multi-colored examples at the end. How to select your color
Get started with logo design: 10-step guide | Logo design Before you embark on logo design, you must understand what a logo is and what it is supposed to do. A logo identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo does not sell the company directly nor rarely does it describe a business. Logos derive their meaning from the quality of the thing they symbolise, not the other way around - logos are there to identity, not to explain. To illustrate this concept, think of logos like people. It is also important to note that only after a logo becomes familiar does it function the way it is intended to do, much like how we must learn people's names to identify them. 01. An effective logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message. A logo must be simple. 02. Every designer has his or her own process, and it is rarely linear, but in general this is how the branding process is completed, which can be used as a guide to establish your own. Design brief. 03. 04.
Antrepo4.com / A2591 Academic Earth 10 Galleries of Creative Logos | Build Internet! A logo is often a great starting point when finding direction for full page designs. This post is a roundup of sites highlighted some of the best and brightest identities and logos in the world. Logospire A recent project launched by Dimitry of Usability Post. Logo of the Day Showcase site by Jacob Cass of Just Creative Design. LogoPond No logo gallery showcase would be complete without the top dog. LogoMoose Logo Gala Logo From Dreams Logo Faves IncSpring Even though the focus is sales, there is plenty of inspiration to be had from the branding on sale. Logo Galleria Any Favorites? I’ve spent hours scouring many of these sites with absolute amazement at the creativity involved. Google+
Interview: Coca-Cola Design Manager Alex Center | HOW Design Ever wonder what it’s like to design for brands like Coca-Cola, Hershey and Kraft Foods? Or the White House? Come to HOW Design Live 2015 and find out. Register today and use discount code INHOUSEOBS. Over the last six months I’ve had the great pleasure to plan the 2015 HOW Design Live Conference In-house Managers track. Along this journey I’ve met some truly exciting people. Alex will be sharing his insights on the future in-house with those managers attending the conference. I’m curious, what is your earliest creative memory and how has it manifested into your professional career? My mom was really my first real art teacher. For me, the feeling I get from solving problems and being creative in my professional work is the same feeling I had growing up drawing with my mother. What one design project do you consider your professional game changer? In 2011, after a few years of working at an office as a designer I realized that I was nearly 300 pounds.
Minimalist effect in the maximalist market ~ ANTREPO // A2591 Our last project is about simplicity and we try to find alternate simple versions for some package samples of the international brands. We think almost every product needs some review for minimal feeling. What is your choice in these 3 different variations? 1. Original variation 2. Simple variation 3. External Source:Microsoft Ipod Package LOST labels for your DHARMA Initiative needsDerek Stroup, Unbranded ProjectJosef Schulz, Sign OutAndreas Gursky, 99 cent Starbucks' Move to Brand Minimalism Target, Starbucks logos: Out with the wordsWhy Simple Is Good: Jonathan Ive P.S. High Resolution Images Logo Design Trends 2008 Take a look at the logo designs above. What's your first reaction? They bowl you over and leave you speechless - and somewhat confused don't they? These logos don't have beautiful shapes, shadows, mirrored reflections, warm colors, or icons that signify something; they look like the result of some kid playing around mindlessly. The explanation is simple: this type of logo design is very different and will definitely stand out by sheer reason of being totally different. The emergence of this trend can also be attributed to a mighty comeback of the 80's in fashion ,interior and industrial design. There are numerous articles that picked apart the London 2012 logo. We'll add that this trend has revolutionized logo design and fueled the process of creativity by imposing new rules and redefining what's beautiful.
9 Multimedia Resources for Information Design Whether you’re a web designer or specialize in graphics, information design is one of the fundamental principles of usability and visual storytelling. A good grasp of information architecture enables you to create web designs, infographics and other data with a user-friendly presentation. If you want to learn how to design user-friendly websites, create interactive infographics, redesign your navigation, visualize a dataset or simply brush up on visual communications and information architecture, the resources below can help you become a more effective designer. OnDemand Webcast: How to Make an Infographic: Data, Design, Distribute We’re thrilled to announce that John T. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s an infographic worth? In this 1-hour webinar, John walks you through the three essential phases of creating a top-notch infographic: data, design and distribute. Data Flow 2 edited by R. Data Flow 2 expands the definition of contemporary information graphics. with Brian Miller