LOGO DESIGN

Communications Technology – Mr. Pisani

What is a Brand? kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a sta

mp, trademark, or the like: the best brand of coffee.

Types Of LogoGlyphs (Symbol) A glyph, or symbol, icon, pictograph, etc.,

is a graphic representation of your company, such as logos for Shell, Apple, and American Greetings (the rose).

Glyphs are not generally used for logos, but as communication devices, such as the recycle logo, all Olympic event icons, and instructional devices, like a broken wine glass on a box to signify the contents in the box are fragile.

Types Of LogoGlyphs (Symbol) Glyphs, by themselves, are the least used

types of logos, but, if done correctly, can provide the most impact and establish a sophisticated, intellectual corporate identity.

Creating a glyph for a logo requires experience and talent and, if done by a non-professional, might look amateurish, unattractive and may even take away from your company's credibility. BEWARE!!!!

Types Of LogoAlpha-Glyphs An alpha-glyph is similar to a glyph, but uses a

letter or letters from the name of a company in a graphical way to convey what the company does. Sometimes a letter designed in a particular style may be sufficient.

Many auto makers use these types of logos, such as Honda, Accura, Mazda, and Hyundai. One of the most popular and recognized logos in the history of the 20th century is this type of logo: IBM. Other examples of this type include GM, Adobe Systems, Moen, and America On-Line.

Types Of LogoAlpha-Glyphs This type of logo is the second least-used

logo, and, as with a glyph, if done correctly, can greatly raise the image of your company.

However, it also shares a glyph's downfall: if done haphazardly, alpha-glyphs can appear unprofessional and might provoke laughter rather than sales.

Types Of LogoAlphanumeric (Word mark) This type of mark is the most widely-used logo

and we are bombarded with them wherever we go on practically whatever we see. An alphanumeric logo is the name of your company or brand spelled out, literally, but the treatment of the typography is usually unique unto the name itself and can therefore be trademarked and be treated as a logo.

To name a mere fraction of all the examples that exist in the world: Kellogg's, FedEx, Microsoft, Sony, Ford, and the list goes on and on.

Types Of LogoAlphanumeric (Word mark) This is the "safe" logo and the easiest to

create (by an amateur's standards). A designer, though, will spend as much time tweaking an alphanumeric logo as he or she will with a glyph or alphaglyph.

Letter-spacing, color, font choice, word relationships and other factors play into the creation of an alphanumeric logo.

Types Of LogoCombination

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 1. Simplicity

Simply put, simplicity is one element all effective logo designs have in common. People are drawn to clean, uncluttered logo designs because they can easily absorb and recognize the symbol at a glance. Busy, crowded logos such as designs featuring many intricate details, elaborate images or pictures are distracting to the viewer and tend not to be as well recognized as cleaner designs.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 2. Proportionality

Ideally, a logo should function as a discrete unit with a width not much greater than its height. Remember that a logo design should work well on anything from a business card to a billboard, and logos that are too long or too tall become difficult to read when they are reduced or enlarged.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 3. Small Color Palette

It is no coincidence that 80% of the world’s most widely recognized logos use either one or two colors. Truth be told, few good logo designs use more than three colors; this is because using more than three colors usually turns a logo to mud. A basic color palette of one to three colors (which may or may not include black) keeps things simple and allows the selected colors to clearly convey a mood or emotion.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 4. Easily Legible Fonts

Creating a logo design in elaborate script fonts may look classy, but what good is a logo if nobody can read it? Your best bet is to choose a font that is distinctive but still easy to read. (FYI, Two thirds of most logos are designed with sans serif fonts, such as Arial and Veranda, with the other one third designed in serif fonts such as Times New Roman and Garamond.)

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 5. Practical, Usable and Adaptable

What this means is that a logo design should be practically designed so it can be affordably and easily used in a variety of mediums. For example, a logo:

Shouldn’t be designed with so many colors that it costs you a mint every time you want to print business cards or letterhead.

Shouldn’t be designed with a gradient (such as a picture), which is difficult to reproduce.

Should be created so it can be easily converted to black-&-white.

Should be created using Web-safe colors so your online logo looks the same as your printed logo.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 5. Practical, Usable and Adaptable

What this means is that a logo design should be practically designed so it can be affordably and easily used in a variety of mediums. For example, a logo:

Shouldn’t be designed with so many colors that it costs you a mint every time you want to print business cards or letterhead.

Shouldn’t be designed with a gradient (such as a picture), which is difficult to reproduce.

Should be created so it can be easily converted to black-&-white.

Should be created using Web-safe colors so your online logo looks the same as your printed logo.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 5. Practical, Usable and Adaptable

What this means is that a logo design should be practically designed so it can be affordably and easily used in a variety of mediums. For example, a logo:

Shouldn’t be designed with so many colors that it costs you a mint every time you want to print business cards or letterhead.

Shouldn’t be designed with a gradient (such as a picture), which is difficult to reproduce.

Should be created so it can be easily converted to black-&-white.

Should be created using Web-safe colors so your online logo looks the same as your printed logo.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 6. Originality

A primary task of a logo design is to clearly distinguish a company from its competitors, which means a logo design should be unique, one-of-a-kind and ownable (meaning the company should be able to trademark the logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and officially own the design as their intellectual property).

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 7. Works Within Industry Conventions

Often there are consistencies among logos in certain industries, and following these conventions can help customers more easily identify what you do or what you sell. This doesn’t mean you should sacrifice originality, but it does mean you should be aware of patterns among logos in your industry and somehow incorporate these consistencies into your design.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 7. Works Within Industry Conventions

For example, did you realize that the main color for the logos for Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Hewlett Packard and Intel is blue? The color blue is associated with stability and progress and has long been a standard color among high-tech companies. So if you were a technology company, you would probably want to incorporate blue into your logo design to take advantage of these positive built-in associations.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 8. Captures the Personality of the Company

Finally, a logo design should clearly express a company’s identity ? who they are, what they do, how they work, how they want to be seen by the world.

The best place to start here is to think about your company as if it were a living being with a personality. What would that personality be? Conservative or daring? Traditional or modern? Sophisticated or fun? Serious or whimsical? Once you have narrowed down the traits that define your company, you are then ready to start exploring the images, colors and fonts that best express these traits.

Types Of Logo8 Principles of Logo Design 8. Captures the Personality of the

Company

All told, an effective logo design takes into account all these factors and puts them to work to create an image that customers won’t soon forget.