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THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LOGO DESIGN: 40 PRO TIPS UPDATED: Create a brilliant logo

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LOGO DESIGN: 40 PRO TIPS UPDATED: Create a brilliant logo design with this expert advice. We reveal everything you need to know to craft successful logos. (article from Creative Bloq website) Logo design is all around us. To the general public, logos serve as an instant reminder of a company or a product; to the client they‟re the point of recognition on which their branding hangs; and to us designers they represent the challenge of incorporating our clients' ideologies into one single graphic. No wonder, then, that logo design features so prominently in our lives. In an age where everyone must have a website to support their product, service or the company behind it, the demand for a top-class logo has never been higher. More examples of logo design are out there than ever before, and with that comes the challenge of being different. How do you create something original that stands out in a sea of identities? And how do we create something quickly while retaining quality? In this article, we'll first look at the basic principles of creating a logo design and share some pro tips for finessing your process... PREPARATION 01. Research your audience Good logo design doesn't just create something that looks nice - it has to communicate a brand message Creating a logo design isn't just about creating a pretty visual. What you're doing, or taking part in, is developing a brand and communicating a position. It makes sense, then, that the first step in creating a logo design should be to research these concepts. Involving the client at this early stage is advised, as your interpretation of their brand may be different from theirs, and it's essential that the message is clear before any actual designing takes place. 02. Immerse yourself in the brand Before even beginning to sketch out ideas for a logo design, spend some time compiling the equivalent of an M15 dossier on your client's brand: who they are, what they do and what their demographic is. Look at previous iterations of their logo design and ask yourself what doesn't represent the brand on these. Then compile a 'dos and don'ts' checklist before your creative work starts. 03. Do your online research Logo Moose is a great research resource for logo design Two great starting points for online logo design research are Logo Moose and Logo Gala. One thing to be mindful of is knowing when to stop your logo design research. It's best to look at what did and didn't work out of 10 relevant logo designs than swamp yourself with 50 extraneous ones. 04. Seek inspiration If you‟re struggling for ideas, try looking up key words in a dictionary or thesaurus or searching Google images for inspiration. If you keep a sketch book then look at previous drawings – you‟re bound to have unused ideas from previous projects, so you may already be sitting on the perfect solution. 05. Fight the temptation to imitate Remember your logo design will need to be used in a variety of different sizes and formats We all have our design heroes and sometimes we love them so much we want to imitate their styles. Well, they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, in the real world it's just a lazy way to solve a creative problem. Ask yourself whether the style you're using is appropriate for the client's needs. Do they really want a logo design that has the same typeface Saul Bass used for Quaker Oats in the 70s? 06. Don't let clients dictate Point 2 does not equate to doing what the client tells you. Look through the brief from your client and begin to ask questions about any vagueness or lazy brief writing you might find there. 'The logo should be iconic' and 'The logo should be memorable' are two extremely clichéd phrases you need to pull your client up about. A man kicking a chicken dressed as Father Christmas is memorable but for the wrong reasons. So, as with all commissioned design work, you need to manage your client's expectations, set realistic goals and find out what exactly your work needs to convey. Logo designs become iconic and memorable: they're not created that way. 07. Create a board and rip it up You could research logo designs all day as there are books and websites by the score containing examples of them. Only make mood boards out of ones that share similar values. Look at your mood board and analyse what isn't successful about these logo designs. Then rip those boards up and use these rules as a guide for your own unique creation. INITIAL DESIGN WORK 08. Sketch it out Get the pencil and pad out before switching on your computer. Picture credit: Ben Powell at www.gogetcreative.co.uk With a solid understanding of what needs to be communicated, it‟s on to the first sketches: more often than not, these should be the pen and paper kind. This enables you to be experimental and not get caught up in the finer details. It's tempting to move straight onto the computer first, but Ben Powell advises you resist the urge. "What did you learn to do first, use a computer or a pencil and paper?" he asks rhetorically. "Sketching is a much faster way to produce initial ideas before you even touch Photoshop. It doesn't matter if it's complete chicken-scratch sketching as long as it conveys your ideas correctly and you understand it." 09. Create vectors Vectors are a good 'in-between' stage of logo design. Picture credit: Ben Powell at www.gogetcreative.co.uk After starting with a sketch, some designers then progress to more technical sketches on graph paper. But the best way to save any pain and frustration with later iterations of your logo design is to produce it using vectors. Here Illustrator CS6 is your friend as you'll be able to rescale your creation without losing any quality. You can copy and paste your logo design into Photoshop as a 'smart object' (again with no loss of scalable quality), if you need to combine it with other elements. If you're creating a logo design for screenbased media, be particularly careful of thin lines or very light typefaces. Also consider that different monitors can make text and graphics appear pixelated or rough. NAILING THE TYPOGRAPHY 10. Choose your typeface carefully Microsoft's new logo design represents a trend towards clear and functional typography Typography is obviously central to good logo design. You have two main routes to choose from: creating your own custom typeface or adapting an existing one. If you create a custom typeface, try not to make it too fashionable because it could date quickly. Keep it simple and legible. Consider the words that you‟re depicting – if they‟re unusual then a simple typeface might work best; if they‟re common words then you can usually be more creative as they‟re easier to recognise. 11. Adapt an existing typeface There's no rule to say you have to create your own typeface, though: consider adapting an existing one. Removing, extending or joining parts of letters may be enough to make your design unique. It‟s amazing how little you need to see of some letters for you to still be able to recognise them. 12. Avoid gimmicky fonts Don't be tempted to make your logo design stand out by using gimmicky fonts. They're the equivalent of typographic chintz and there's a reason why most of them are free. For sheer professionalism's sake you should avoid them at all costs. Most gimmicky fonts are too fancy, too weak, and are most likely being used (badly) on a hundred different cheap business cards right now. When it comes to logo design, keep your font choices classic and simple and avoid over-garnishing. 13. Consider a type-only approach Stylised typeface forms Victoria Inn's logo design. Picture credit: Ben Powell at www.gogetcreative.co.uk You may want to produce a simple execution of a logo design for your client that uses the strength of the typography alone. Fonts come in all shapes and sizes that resonate differently with strength (slab type fonts, big and powerful); class and style (fonts with elegant scripts or serifs); movement and forward thinking (type that is slanted). Provided the qualities of the font - be it bespoke or off-the- shelf - match the qualities of the brand, you're onto a winner. A strong bespoke type treatment for the Unatittel Art Collective by Luke Prowse Bone up on your typography knowledge by reading this primer and check out the inspired logos designers around the globe have created using type alone here. USE OF SPACE 14. Think about the space around your logo design The British Council has an exclusion zone based on the discs that make up part of its design Most brand books will specify an exclusion zone. This is an area around the logo design that can‟t be occupied by other content, to protect the integrity of uploads/s3/ the-ultimate-guide-to-logo-design.pdf