This is my Weekly Design Inspiration, this is a space where I share some design work that has either inspired me or caught my attention for its execution or concept. The things I feature on here can include (but not limited to) branding, web design, app design, illustration, typography, video games or anything that shows creativity in a unique way.
This week I wanted to do something a bit different to my normal weekly Design Inspiration posts and talk about 5 important factors in logo design for the age we are currently in, where there is a mix of digital and traditional uses for logos and the ever shifting trends in design can affect our outcomes.
1. Understanding the client's scale
Before you even put pencil to paper it's important to understand your client's position in the market and the scale of their enterprise. This vital information could create a huge difference in style, theme, colour or type of logo that is produced. For example, you wouldn't necessarily design the same type of logo for a local green grocer as you would for an international fruit and veg provider as their requirements are vastly different. An example of how you may tackle these examples is that the local green grocer is almost definitely going to need the name of the company apparent in the logo. This can be achieved by a wordmark or typography treatments. This is because the local grocer isn't going to have the same large scale recognition through exposure as an international company. The large scale company, on the other hand, many be able to get away with the use of an icon or symbol without the need of supporting text, think Apple or Starbucks.
Now this isn't a one size fits all kind of thing, and things will change from client to client but the important thing to remember is the scale of the company and make decisions that reflect that scale.
2. Platforms are important
This sort of relates to the last point but in a more practical kind of way. Knowing what applications the logo is going to appear on can reflect the design choices you make early on. For example, if the logo is going to be used primarily for small scale print products then it will need to be legible at all sizes and have a clear silhouette. Or alternatively, if the logo is only going to be used for web platforms then you can get away with slightly more complex treatments that may not translate well onto print.
Thinking about the future applications of a logo can help inform some of the decisions you make early on in the design process. However, this shouldn't drive or dictate how a logo's style should appear, it should instead be something to bare in mind to help prevent headaches later down the line when you come to applying the logo.
3. Logos aren't actually that important
As strange as it sounds, it is true. Clients, in my experience, often want their logo to do and say everything about their business, and why wouldn't they? They are paying for something that is going to be the first thing potential customers see and interact with, so why wouldn't you want it to convey everything they do. Well the reality is people don't buy into logos, they buy into brands. A good logo is great but a good brand is so much better. A logo should be one small part of a much larger ecosystem of visual elements that work harmoniously with each other to convey a brand's key message. Simply put, a logo isn't the be-all and end-all. The logo should be a starting point that feeds into the brand and works with supporting brand elements, it's not as simple as slapping a logo on a product and saying that's the branding.
So if you are tasked with a logo design project, before starting, really think about what the client needs. Do they need a logo or do they really need a brand. A brand will serve clients a lot better and for a lot longer than simply just a logo. And remember that the logo is only a fraction of what makes a brand, not the brand itself.
4. Fidelity = Recognition
Related to the last point, clients may want a logo to have many features that represent aspect of the business or to introduce multiple elements that can potentially over-complicate the aesthetic of a logo. Typically, logos should be simple enough to understand at a glance but not so simple that they do not convey the correct message. There’s a balance between making a logo too obvious or too ambiguous. The more clear and understandable a logo is the more it resonates with people and the more recognisable it becomes as a result.
I remember being told a while ago that a successful logo is one that can be quickly re-drawn from memory fairly accurately. Now I don’t think this is the case for every situation, but I do think it has some value and can help inform a design to take an approach that creates an easily distinguishable outcome.
As with most of the points I’m making in this post there are exceptions, like Starbucks for example, their logo is fairly complex but at the same time recognisable and memorable (something worth noting is that this logo has been through iterations that have simplified it over the years, see below). Obviously this has been the result of extreme exposure but the point still stands that if a logo is designed correctly with its intentions in mind it can be successful while going against convention.
5. First you must understand the rules before you can break them
That statement may sound a bit strange but it does come into play when designing anything. Think of it like this, Picasso’s art is extremely abstract and at first glance from an untrained eye can look like a mess of stuff laid out in terrible perspective and proportions. However, Picasso had to understand the conventions and rules of traditional art in order to produce something that defies them. Picasso’s work isn’t random and thoughtless, although it can seem that way at first, every shape and object will have been put in its place for a reason and that’s because the core understanding of the rules were there.
How does this translate into logo design? Well in order to produce something that can be considered original or disruptive in design you need to know what rules can be broken and why. You need to have an understanding not only of trends in design but also an understanding of what the general public's perception of design is, if you are designing something that is so out there that only 1% of people are going to understand it then perhaps you haven’t quite understood the market. This all comes down to having the core skills in layout, typography, colour theory and composition and with these skills knowing when it’s okay to break convention in a way that is commercially viable.
This blog post was a little different to my normal format because I read an interesting article on peoples perception and memory of famous logos and it inspired me to write a few things I've learnt about logo design. The article is called Branded In Memory and it explores how well people can remember and reproduce iconic logos and then breaks down the results on what people got right and wrong. It’s really fascinating to see the results and see that we don’t necessarily remember logos as well as we think we do.
Honorable Mentions
As part of my Weekly Design Inspiration I also like to share some bits and pieces that I have seen which have inspired me in the last week. I have captioned each image with some info and relevant links so you can find out more.
This is an amazing reimagining of the classic GAMEBOY as if it was produced today. It's an impressive execution in both its visual presentation and attention to ergonomics and product design. Go check out the full post that has more of the design process, sketches, ideas and animations.
I've featured the work of Mohamed Chahin on here before and that's because his 3D work is just so beautiful. I love the charisma and charm of this piece based on the character design of Blake Stevenson (below) whose work is also spectacular.
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