Learning The Art of Logo Design
I must admit, although I’ve been keen on various aspects of design for a long time, and always possessed an eye for detail, these senses have become more acute over the last number of months. As I’ve begun to read a little on various aspects of design, I’ve been noticing things I would never have taken the time to before.
One of the things I’ve been enjoying learning more about, and taking more time to appreciate, is logo design. I’m not going to get into a big what makes a good logo article, or anything like that, because frankly, I hardly know anything about it. In fact, my ignorance of it, and my appreciation that it takes considerable skill and ability to execute a logo well, in accordance with the design brief, has caused me to shun the possibility of getting into it in any way.
Not for me?
Now I know I created a simple logo for this site. Something which I have yet to document, even though it has been desired by a number of readers. But, to create something for someone else, is completely different. However, I have a project ahead of me, which requires major rebranding. An image logo isn’t necessarily required for it, you could get away with text based. Nevertheless, yesterday I spent an hour or so brainstorming, and sketching, and another 30 minutes today, and although I’m far from finished, I’m really pleased with some of the concepts I’ve come up with.
The next step…
I’m going to give the logo some more thought, and let ideas develop. One of the problems with many so-called logo designers, is that they come up with one or two concepts, jump straight into Photoshop, and have the logo emailed off (as a JPEG!) to the client in, all in a few hours. You’ll never get the best result by doing that…never!
Once I’m satisfied with a possible concept, I will begin to develop it. However, I’m very weak with the pen tool, so that’s something I really need to work on if I’m going to think about creating this logo.
Thoughts
Creating a logo is unlike any other design work as far as I can tell. I mean, you create a car, or even a house, and you know its life-time is limited. When you create a logo, you’re thinking of something which will last the life of the business, organisation, etc. It’s different, and it isn’t easy, but I find it extremely interesting. Am I weird?
I COMPLETELY agree.
When I look at some logos, I am completely baffled at how well thought out and unique they are.
It’s an art.
That’s why (good) logo designers get paid a lot.
I wouldn’t say you are any more weird than any of us….
It is true what you say…logos are seen everywhere, and we take them for granted. People generally have not a clue about the work that has went into them.
Maybe you can keep us informed just how much work goes into your latest project?
When is it going to be unveiled?
Logos are beyond my experience. I’ve tried many times to create a logo that works for my site, but I’ve failed. I’ve got a few ideas rolling around in my head, but I won’t put anything up until I’m completely satisfied that the logo represents the “whole” of my site.
Brian - Yeah. Good logo designers do get paid a lot, not only for the fact they possess great creative ability, but also because they spend a lot of time on each project. A lot of large projects take months.
Glenn - That’s comforting.
The biggest player in time (for me), is actually going through logo portfolios. Not merely for inspiration, but learning how to execute. You have to think of things like, what if they decide to put this on a business card; will it look as good then?
This new project will be unveiled, probably at the beginning of February, because of our holiday. However, I hope to have it all but complete before that.
Justin - “Beyond your experience”, eh? To a certain extent, every new project is beyond your experience, because your treading ground you’ve never walked on before. It’s beyond my experience too.
I’d suggest brain-storming words which you feel describe your site. Words which build a picture. Eventually, images will come together, and you can start sketching, and take it from there.
Interesting….as far as I am aware, Matthew has just researched and written a final year piece on this….interesting subject.
Taleen - Yeah, I forgot Matthew did Marketing (or something like that), so it would be an aspect he’d have to at least know about. It’s probably learning the power of brands and branding.
I suppose I didn’t think about it that way, Armen. Now that I do think about it, everything I’ve done in the last few months has been “beyond my experience.” You might have just encouraged me to get back to the drawing board.
Justin - Precisely!
It’s not as refined as the expensive Illustrator, but you might like to give Inkscape a try. I’ve downloaded it, and I’ll be going through a few tutorials to grasp the pen tool. The pen tool in Inkscape seems to work better than Photoshops to be honest.
I love logo design. I’ve done quite a few actually. I used to enter into a lot of logo contests at SitePoint to gain experience. I actually won my fair share, but put a stop to it simply because more and more people were not paying or even deciding upon a winner, so a lot of hard work went down the drain.
I still have a lot of work to do though if I am to get better at logo design. I know a lot, but I know no where near what someone like David Airey knows. People like him are on a whole different level with logos. At any rate, they are still fun.
Deron - It’s not easy to make a profession out of it. I mean, I can’t speak for others, but when I sit down to brainstorm, I’m not guaranteed to come up with anything worthwhile. The ideas come in waves.
Practice, like doing Sitepoint contests would help. However, I do agree with many designers; such contests really cheapen the service and work designers do.
Same where Armen. I can sit down some days and ideas just seem to flow, but other days I just stare at the screen hoping something magically appears.
Hey there Armen, I do some logo designs and have written a little about the elements of Logo Design. I also have this competition on my site where the best Logo Design Question could win a free Logo Designed by me, got some interesting questions which gave me some insight into what people think about when approaching the topic.
I’ll be happy to assist you, maybe with ideas, advice, whatever. You could send you ideas to me and maybe I can give u some feedback??
It’s best to take ur time with a logo. Try not to have any particular logo in your mind when making decisions on the design you want or when evaluating the designs which are done.
Many times people see something they like and say, design me a Logo like Apple or Nike and maybe their business is something in a completely different industry or target audience.
Anyway, hope it goes well for you,let me know if u need any help.
Nomad-one - Welcome!
I checked out the questions people asked you. You’re right, some very interesting and intelligent questions. I enjoyed reading through your answers too.
I might just take you up on your offer some day