User:Logomatrix

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My life revolves around logo design, it is my well being, I formed Logomatrix in 1997 and have been plugging along ever since, some ups, some downs.

Article written by John Pesonen - Logomatrix.com

What is the first thing you notice when you look at someone’s logo? Distinction: It should be distinct, it should differentiate from other designs, there should be some type of visual “hook” such as an icon, a letter that presents itself apart from the rest of the text contained within your logo design. The viewer should be able to instantly recognize your brand. Your logo should not blend in to the vast array of visual types of communication in the modern world, it should attract attention and connect with your brand of service or product.

Objectives: Before you submit a quote request, you should provide your designer with some sort of brief, something that sums up what your company or organizations image should portray, take your mission statement whether it be in your mind or in print and try to roll it into a visual, an icon based logo or merely a text based logo design with a distinct color or the shape of a letter. Provide information about your marketplace, your competitors and your key positioning points.

Personal Preferences: You should not judge your new logo design or corporate identity with your own personal preferences. If you have personal color preferences, they may or may not suit your industry, for example, red is proven to make people hungry. It is not easy to ignore your personal preferences when deciding on a new image that will be with your company for many years to come, and admittedly sometimes your own perception will fit perfectly into your artists design decisions. Certain shapes may also come into play as well. Remember, remain objective.

Is your logo “sticky”?: Creating a visual memory when creating a logo design is not a difficult task, think of something you have seen that has stuck with you in memory for years and years, what was it that made that impression? An unusual shape such as a perfectly round rock or pebble? A color that stands out more than the colors surrounding it? Or perhaps it was repetitive exposure of something to the mind’s eye. A logo and it’s message eventually become easily associated to one another by using repetitive exposure, use your logo on everything you possibly can, even if the design doesn’t contain the text (think Nike, Apple logos)

Recognition: Whether your logo represents an organization, a service or a product, if your logo image is not unique it could possibly be confused with a competitors brand or even a non competitor brand completely unrelated to your product, service or organization. It is imperative that your logo is easy to recognize and it’s visual impact be recalled instantly. You need your own visual real estate in the industry your are striving to excel in. What does your graphic remind you of?: The features of your logo should remind you and its viewers of the product, service or organization. It should not remind the viewer or you of undesirables or competitors. The logo should distinguish the organization it represents and become visually unique in color, shape, balance and association.

Discuss: If your company consists of a team of decision makers, discuss your logo design with them, call a meeting, sit down, make point-form notes under logos that appeal to you, what you like about each one and what you dislike about them as well. Diagonal lines may portray movement, vertical lines: stillness or calmness, circles may suggest infinity within logo designs, broken borders may make you think “outside the box” or strength and power, breaking out of the ordinary. Combining letters and symbols reduce the negative space, using initials keep things simple and recognizable at a glance. These are helpful ideas to use. Encourage divergent thinking by reversing letters, upper case vs. lower case, script and block, do you want your logo text to be italicized or bold and straight? Should your icon be realistic or would it suit you better to have an abstract design?

Now, if you are serious about coming up with your own concept, you need not be an artist at all, a crappy sketch presented to an artist can spark a universe of inspiration compared to just words trying to describe what you want your new company logo to look like. Here are a few things you can use to create your own idea: MATERIALS

Examples of printed logos you can find anywhere.

Pencil/Crayons

Paper (cut an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper in half, use about 3 sheets of paper for your new logo drawings)

This is really all you need and don’t worry how bad they look when you are done, an artist will not care how bad it is, it is ALWAYS better than nothing!

Evaluate: Pick out two design elements from either sketches or things you discussed and focus on how you used them, analyze these elements, evaluate your theory of what you think is “sticky” about your logo ideas and brainstorm about other elements you could and/or should use. Learn your objectives thoroughly and keep an open mind.

Stand back: I like to put my graphics on paper, print them out and back up, literally about 20 feet, if you know how to blur your eyes, try that too, you will be surprised how much better your crummy drawing of your new logo can look when it is blurry

Hopefully this information will help you make a decision that will stick with your company for 100 years, if you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.