Logo design

  A logo (an abbreviation of logotype, from Greek: romanized: logos, lit. ‘word’ and Greek: romanized: typos, lit. ‘imprint’) is a graphic mark, motto, or symbol utilized to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an epitomised or figurative design or contain the text of the name it represents as in a wordmark. In the days of hot metal typesetting, a logotype was one-word cast as a single piece of type (eg “The” in ATF Garamond), as reluctant to a ligature, which is two or more letters connected, but not forming a word. The term was also expanded for a uniquely set and arranged typeface or colophon. At the level of mass communication and in joint usage, a company logo is today often synonymous with its trademark or brand. A logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. Logo design, identity design and branding all have various roles, that together, form a perceived image for a business or product. There has been some neoteric debate on the web about this topic, about your logo not being your brand. Although this may be true, there is still no explanation of the variations between ‘brand’, ‘identity’ and ‘logo’. What is a brand?  The Perceptive emotional corporate image as a whole. What is identity?   The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand. What is a logo?   A logo identifies a business in its simplest form via the utilisation of a mark or icon.

What is branding?

Branding is surely not a light topic – whole leaflets & hundreds of books have been written on the topic, however, to put it in a nutshell, you could describe a ‘brand’ as an organization, service or product with a ‘personality’ that is shaped by the perceptions of the audience. On that note, it should also be announced that a designer cannot “make” a brand – only the audience can do this. A designer forms the foundation of the brand. Some people think that a brand consists of a few elements – some colours, some fonts, a logo, a slogan and maybe some music added in too. It is much more complex than that. You might say that a brand is a ‘corporate image’. The basic idea behind the corporate image is that everything a company does, everything it owns and everything it produces should reflect the importance and aims of the business as a whole. It is the matchmaking of this core idea that makes up the company, driving it, showing what it positions for, what it believes in and why it finds. It is not simply some colours, some typefaces, or a logo. let’s look at the well-known IT company, Apple. Apple as a company, projects a humanistic corporate culture and a strong corporate ethic, one which is depicted by volunteerism, the backing of good causes & participation in the community. These values of the business are obvious throughout everything they do, from their innovative products and advertising, right through to their client service. Apple is an emotionally humanist brand that links with people – when people purchase or utilize their products or services; they feel part of the brand, like a tribe even. It is this emotional connection that makes their brand – not artlessly their products and a bite-sized logo.  

What is identity design?

One major function in the ‘brand’ or ‘corporate image’ of a company is its identity. In most cases, identity design is based on the visible devices utilized within a company, usually assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines that make up an identity generally administer how the identity is used throughout an assortment of mediums, utilizing approved colour palettes, fonts, layouts, gauges and so forth. These guidelines ensure that the identity of the company is kept coherent, which in turn, permits the brand as a whole, to be recognizable.  

The identity or ‘image’ of a company is made up of many visible devices:

• A Logo (The token of the whole identity & brand)
• Stationery (Letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.)
• Marketing Collateral (Flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.)
• Products & Packaging (Products sold and the packaging in which they come in)
• Apparel Design (Tangible clothing items that are worn by employees)
• Signage (indoor & exterior design)
• Messages & Actions (Messages transmitted via indirect or direct modes of communication)
• Other Communication (Audio, smell, touch, etc.)
• Anything visible that represents the business.

All of these things make up an identity and should be backing the brand as a whole. The logo, however, is the corporate identity and brand all covered up into one identifiable mark. This mark is the avatar and token of the business as a whole.  

What is a logo?

To understand what a logo is, we must first understand what it is for. A logo is for… identification. A logo identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, token or signature. A logo does not sell the company immediately nor scarcely does it describe a business. Logos conclude their meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around – logos are there to identify, not to explain. In a nutshell, what a logo means is more paramount than what it looks like. To illustrate this connotation, think of logos like people. We surpass to be called by our names – James, Dorothy, John – rather than by the embarrassing and forgettable description of ourselves such as “the guy who always wears pink and has blonde hair”. In this same way, a logo should not depict what the business does but rather, identify the business in a way that is recognizable and memorable. It is also important to note that only after a logo turns into familiar, does it function the way it is intentional to do much like how we must learn people’s names to identify them. The logo identifies a business or product in its simplest form.  

10 Tips for Designing Logos That Don’t Suck

So you’re designing a logo. It sounds like an easy enough task, right? Draw a circle, type in the company name and you’re done (I’ve heard a designer suggest that very operation). unfortunately, if you’re worth the money the customer is paying you, there’s a lot more to it than that. There are a million people in the logo design manufacture today dishing out crappy logos in size for crowdsourcing sites. How do you as an earnest professional stand out from the crowd and produce quality logos that don’t suck?  

• Use a Visual Double Entendre

It’s a technique that is an overly fancy way to say that it has two pictures covered into one through the clever translation of a concept or idea.  

• Colour is Vitally Important

One of the most important foresight for logo design is the colour palette. This is not a cursory decision, colour carries meanings and communicates ideas. Sometimes you’re tied to the colours of a brand, but other times you’ll have the freedom to explore.  

• Avoid the Cliché

Some new heresies come along in logo design every few years or so. It’s cliché when a bunch of designers utilize the same idea over and over.  

• Make it Ownable

I don’t believe that “ownable” is a real word, but you nevertheless hear it very a bit in marketing (marketers love to make up words). The concept is absolutely an important one that ties closely to the former tip.  

• Everybody Loves Custom Type

While we’re on the subject of being unique, there’s almost nothing that can give your logo a unique feel completely like some awesome custom lettering. Too often we see logo design as purely a trip to the font menu to see which typeface makes the company name look best. If someone is paying you to “design” their logo, they probably anticipate you to put a little more effort into it.  

• Keep it Simple Stupid

Let’s face it, not everyone can bankruptcy out a beautiful, hand-drawn script on a whim. Just because you’re a designer doesn’t mean you’re an awesome illustrator or typographer (though it helps). If you fit this description, fear not, there’s nothing prohibiting you from making awesome logos.  

• Consider Proportion & Symmetry

Some people can get loaded away with discussions of ratio and symmetry (see the new Pepsi logo pitch), but if we sector out the crazy, there are still some important lessons here.  

• Think About Negative Space

Along the same vein as a double entendre is the age-old trick of using the negative space in a logo in some clever way.  

• Passive vs. Active

One interesting facet of logo design that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently is the concept of instilling motion or a sense of activity into a logo. This isn’t always convenient (such as with the Apple logo), but sometimes it can give a logo the boost it needs, both from a visible and conceptual standpoint.  

• Know What It Means

Every good logo has a story. Far beyond artlessly a pretty sketch, strong logos are loaded with meaning, both evident and hidden. We debated this in several cases above. The FedEx logo’s arrow mentions moving forward and making deliveries, the Apple logo has a “byte” lost, and the Twitter bird is flying in an upward trajectory.