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1 — present s — — or — ROCK-SOLID LOGO DESIGN PRINCIPLES WHAT KINDS OF THINGS SHOULD I ASK FOR WHEN GETTING A LOGO MADE?
| Date post: | 27-Jan-2015 |
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Design |
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— presents —
— or —
ROCK-SOLIDLOGO DESIGNPRINCIPLES
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS SHOULD I ASK FOR WHEN GETTING A LOGO MADE?
Introduction
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Have you been tasked with creating a logo or overseeing the creation of a logo?
If you answered, “Yes,” then this presentation is for YOU!
The Intended Audience
Introduction
3
A logo is a symbol representing a brand, business, product or service.
A logo is a reflection of who you are ...
What Is a Logo?
Introduction
4
... or at least it should be!
Who you are is:
• What you do• How you do it• Why you do it• And other stuff too
What Is a Logo?
Introduction
5
Lego is fun, playful, creative and loose.
KFC is The Colonel, both his imprimatur of quality and his recipe
Examples of Logos which Reflect Their Brand Well
Introduction
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The most well known Delphic maxim holds true in logo design. Your logo represents you, so get to know your company/product first. Dig deep. Don’t end your research with your mission statement.
Many times your logo is the first impression that you’ll make with the world. Make it a good one!
Know Thyself (Plato)
Introduction
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The best logos are ___________!
Remember the End Game
Introduction
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The best logos are memorable!
The goal of a logo is to reflect who you are in a catchy, unforgettable way.
Remember the End Game
The Brand Investment
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How much should you pay for a logo?
Good Question!
Let’s Talk about the Bottom Line
The Brand Investment
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$0
$221 million
$100 million
$1 million
$35
$625,000
The Brand Investment
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The answer isn’t between $0 and $221,000,000, right?
Right!
As it happens, the cost of a logo is whatever you’re willing to pay—just know that more often than not...
...you get what you pay for.
What’s the Realistic Cost?
The Brand Investment
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A good rule of thumb is to divide your yearly unique brand audience by two.
50,000 people / 2 = $25,000
Pepsi may have paid a million bucks for their logo, but they paid Beyoncé $50 million to endorse their product. And BP paid $221 million for the design and installation of their logo at gas stations across the globe.
C’mon, Give Me a Ballpark Figure!
The Brand Investment
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What do you pay then?Well, there are many paths to success...
• You can develop your logo in-house. Many start-ups have the design collateral to do so.
• Pay a consultant to manage logo creation• Pay a freelancer to make it• Use a creative agency for professional work
What if the Brand is Brand New?
Getting a Logo Made
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Pros• Cost effective. Just
the labor cost of the staff involved
• Likely to be a better reflection of your brand
Cons• Staff could have been
working on revenue-generating work
• A logo designer is probably better suited to the task at hand
Developing a Logo In-house
Getting a Logo Made
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Pros• They already know
everything in this presentation
• Know more about current design trends
• Have relationships with the agencies who do the work
Cons• Come with their
own added cost*
*Costs can be offset by savings they bring from their relationships and knowlege of an agency’s current affairs
Paying a Consultant
Getting a Logo Made
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Pros• Usually inexpensive• Will burn the midnight
oil to get the job done on a tight deadline
• Are far less institutionalized creative thinkers
Cons• Here today, gone
tomorrow. Hard to track down when you need to ask questions.
• Two heads are better than one. No team effort.
Paying a Freelancer
Getting a Logo Made
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Pros• Professionally
developed logo• Team of artists working
together on your brand• Focus group testing,
research and brand identity style guides
Cons• Higher cost• Have the tendency
to tell you what your brand should be*
*Beware: You may have a blindspot about who you really are.
Using an Agency
Getting a Logo Made
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Contest-based Logo Design is a new phenomenon. It is a poor route to choose though, because:
• Voting on the prettiest/coolest picture does not a good brand make
• Design by committee is a step towards trite work• Artists recycle unused logos until someone buys them
A Note on 99 Designs(And Its Clones)
Getting a Logo Made
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...but not everyone is an artist! Decision makers on the logo should be on board for the entirety of its creation. Don’t bring your boss in at the last second!
• Work with an agency or person you can trust• Listen to their professional opinion• Remove ego from the equation• If you can’t defer to their judgment,
you shouldn’t be working with them
Everyone’s a Critic...
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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A cursory overview of the types of logos and their anatomy will aid you in logo design discussions.
• Figurative Logo - A logo referencing a real world figure, such as an apple, animal or human
• Abstract Logo - A logo which uses abstract shapes instead of easily recognizable figures
• Typographic Logo - A logo made up of mostly text• Combination Logo - A combining of the first 3 types
Logo Lingo
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Figurative Logo
Abstract Logo Combination Logo
Typographic Logo
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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That depends on what your brand is trying to be. But, not all logo types are created equal. Marinate on this:
• Human beings gravitate towards order. We naturally try to categorize things. The easier something is to categorize, the faster we process it.
• Abstract marks can’t easily fit into a category. They get their own box to go in our memory.
• Only 15 of the top 100 brands use figurative marks.
Which Logo Type Is Best?
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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The Parts of a Logo
Chase Bank was the first major American corporation to use an abstract logo mark. It set them apart and was a huge success.
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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With all the options available to you, it’s easy to forget to limit yourself. Subtlety and cleverness is key!
• Use 2 or fewer fonts or font styles in your logo• Use 2 or fewer colors, excluding the background• Don’t use gradients or color ramps (color transitions)• Find a mark that can stand on its own without
the name of your company, or a logotype with enough character to stand on its own as well
Limit Yourself...Seriously
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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“We need a bottle which a person can recognize as a Coca-Cola bottle when he feels it in the dark.”— Ben Thomas
Squint at your logoCould you recognize it by its silhouette?Would you know it if it were off in the distance?
Be Instantly Recognizable
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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You may not know about the Golden Ratio or the Fibonacci Sequence, but you’ve undoubtedly seen them!
...seriously, do some research on the topic
Stay Gold, Ponyboy
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Some of the most beautiful and well-known logos employ the use of grids (combined with the Golden Ratio) to strengthen their brand.
• Apple• iCloud• Twitter
Design with Grids
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Will your logo be used in print? On the Internet? In high-def video? Embroidered on a t-shirt? As a favicon?
• Can you use the logo as a recognizable profile picture on social media websites?
• If you launched an iPhone app, would the logo work as the app’s icon?
Think about the Medium
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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A logo that has meaning cleverly affixed to it will make the viewer go, “Aha.” We like to be in-the-know, and we love to brag when we know something first. Get people talking about your logo!
FedEx hid an arrow moving forward
The Big Ten hid an eleven after adding a new team
Create an “Aha” Moment
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Both FedEx and The Big Ten use negative space to achieve their clever goals. Negative space is implied shape and form derived from connections your brain makes. Do some research on Gestalt Principles of Perception.
Try Using Negative Space
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Logos today can come alive. They aren’t static; they change color, shape and animate to life.
• FedEx has both purple & orange and purple & green versions.
• Our logo changes colors randomly when you visit the Huebris website.
• Nickelodeon and Noggin change the shape of their logo to reflect creative expression.
Logos in the Interactive Age
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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We could do a separate presentation entirely on fonts. Fonts have many forms such as:
Choose a font for your logo that pairs well with fonts that are Internet-friendly. Check out Google fonts.
Font-tastic Font Choices
Tt Aa AaGaramonda serif font
Futuraa sans serif
Adellea slab font
Lobstera script font
Vetting Submitted Logo Designs
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Color has meaning and affects mood! There are hundreds of infographics on color theory online.
• Complementary Colors are opposites on a color wheel. They complete each other.
• Analogous Colors are near each other on a color wheel. (Ex: blue and green)
• Steer clear of pure white and pure black colors (this slide does!), and don’t use too many colors at once.
Colorful Thinking
Final Thoughts
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Everything mentioned in this presentation is a good idea, but it is not logo design doctrine!
• Learn the rules before you break them• Only break the rules when you know
why you are breaking them.• “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
Just because you shouldn’t, doesn’t mean you can’t.
Rules are Meant to Be Broken
Final Thoughts
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You are not unoriginal for keeping with the times. Your logo will not be labeled as “hipster” for paying attention to trends in the design world.
• Flat designs are in vogue, no skeuomorphisms• Jump ship when trends become old hat/passé• Your logo will change over time. Start with
a versatile design. Be forward thinking.• Very few logos stand the test of time
#beTrendy
Final Thoughts
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We work with clients constantly who do not have a master copy of their logo in a vector (lossless, scalable) format. Why?
• Style Guides show the proper use of your logo• They explain what arrangements, layouts,
fonts, process colors or Pantones are used.• Visit logodesignlove.com/brand-identity-style-
guides to see 100 page examples from top brands
For the Love, Get Brand Identity Style Guides and Media Kits
Final Thoughts
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Your style guides will help accomplish this task.
• Some corporations put their media kits and usage instructions online in their own branding microsite
• Take infringement seriously. When others use your logo how they see fit, it reduces your brand’s power.
• Modern style guides even outline detailed examples of how your logo should be animated
• Email signature to store-front signage, take this seriously
Use Your Logo Consistently
If you found this presentation at all helpful, please let me know!
Good luck,
Joshua GilmerFounder of Huebris
twitter.com/joshuagilmerfb.com/[email protected]
Thanks for Reading
