Design Logo

[Stush]

As a school assignment I have to design a logo I will use throughout the year that I will be putting on all my work. I have to research and design a logo. However I don't know how one researchs a logo... I really need some help on steps of logo design and research.

Thanks!

[PrintDriver]

High school or college school?

[Ned]

Do they really teach this stuff in high school now, PD? Gee, I must be getting old... :(

[Stush]

Yeah we using photoshop and everything! The works I must admit :P.

[DesignStudio]

geez, photoshop in high school? and my high school wasted it's money on metal detectors and drug sniffing dogs.

[Stush]

Heh, well high school in New Zealand goes till your 18.. so yeah its the 16-18 year olds who will be doing it.. I'm only 15 but I'm spesh :D.

Ummm yeah, I suppose we waste money on weird secruity gaurds who barely speak English... >.>.
The class is called Digital Design, there is like two other classes where you use photoshop... it's pretty cool.

[Stush]

Umm whats the definition for: Complimentary colour? Is the supplementry colours?

[DesignStudio]

boy, multiple digital design classes with the latest available software and they didn't require you to take an art class where they tought you the good old fashioned color wheel? tsk tsk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_color

[Stush]

Hehe ^^.. Well I did, it was compulsory for me for like, 3 years, but it was a social class, and it was quite some time ago =P... colour wheel, bleh :D

[PrintDriver]

Mmmm Photoslop and logos. Now there's an ejimication for you...:rolleyes:

You sure you don't mean a 'sig'?

We are not here to do your homework for you...

[Stush]

Well I wouldn't exactly say your doing it for me, just more of a point in the right direction on how to appoarch this task.

[cornfed]

I'm sure Morea will be by in a while and posts some links for you. I know the links are here, just not sure where. She's got links to a wealth of information to get you started. Check back in a while, I bet she'll stop in tonite.

[PrintDriver]

Perhaps you should know that Photoshop is not used to make logos in real life.

[DesignStudio]

right, only in pretend life.

[Stush]

Okay thats good to know I suppose. I don't think we actually making the logo on Photoshop, I'm not sure. I've sketched out tons of ideas. All I know is that the logo we design will be used to put on all the pictures we make on Photoshop.

[morea]

Hehe ^^.. Well I did, it was compulsory for me for like, 3 years, but it was a social class, and it was quite some time ago =P... colour wheel, bleh :D

If you're not interested in things like color theory and typography, I'm not sure why you would want to pursue graphic design. A solid understanding of these is the basis for pretty much everything that you're going to do as a designer.

All logos should be designed in vector software (Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw) for scalability. Graphics made in Photoshop are not scalable. While most people think that Photoshop is good for everything under the sun, its primary use in print design is for photo editing. This article helps to explain why: http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41

A logo should be effective at very small sizes (if it were to be engraved on a pen, etc) or at very large sizes (vehicle graphics, billboards, etc). It should also be effective and recognizable in straight black and white with no shades of gray, because some day somebody is bound to fax the thing, or engrave it on an award, or stamp it on a stock form... and if the concept behind it is not sound in black and white, it becomes a blobby looking unusable mess.

Logo design is a very complicated process. It is something that some designers devote their entire career to. An effective logo is not generic (a piece of clip art depicting what the company sells placed beside their name, typed in a random font with no attention given to the type treatment) ... it is the "essence" of the company/brand as you want to be perceived by the world.

"Researching" a logo includes brainstorming about what it should represent, who your target audience is, what feelings the mark should evoke, what makes you different from your competition... it should be simple and memorable - it should make an impression at a glance.

Brainstorm in words... synonyms, antonyms, adjectives, etc. After you really know what to needs to be incorporated into the mark, that's when you start sketching. Sketch about 5 or 6 pages worth of ideas. They don't have to be magnificent... and you don't have to show them to anybody. Think about the words you brainstormed while you sketch. How can you represent all those ideas in a simple, effect mark?

Narrow it down to the 5 best concepts and really flesh those out. Remember, at this point you should still be working in black and white to make sure your concept is strong before you actually start adding colors. Seriously. If the concept doesn't work in black and white (no shades of gray, JUST black and white) then there is likely something technically wrong with your concept.

Post these 5 concepts for critique. Revise as necessary, THEN add color. Hope that helps.

[Ned]

Yay, Morea! :D

[Stush]

Thank you, Morea you really did help me understand this! Can't thank you enough.

[RedGorilla]

As a school assignment I have to design a logo I will use throughout the year that I will be putting on all my work. I have to research and design a logo. However I don't know how one researchs a logo... I really need some help on steps of logo design and research.

Thanks!

I'm brand new to the forums but just figured i'd chime in with a few quick tips: for ideas, google is your friend. Both the image and regular search will turn up tons of existing logos. Obviously you dont want to copy any, but they will help get the creative juices flowing so to speak. Use illustrator to create the logo, there are lots of great tutorials for illustrator to help get you started. Google for 'illustrator tutorial' or 'illustrator logo tutorial'. Illustrator works with vector images meaning they will be scalable and much easier to work with for things like logos.

hope that helps~

[Stush]

Thank you RedGorrilla, heaps of help :P. I'm currently... obtaining Illustrator n ow ;P..

Thanks and good night

[PrintDriver]

Yeah, I bet you are.

Piracy is not condoned on this forum and is a banning offense.

[DesignStudio]

awwwwwww, i'm telling.

[MyST]

I believe there's only one annual exception to the piracy rule. And that would be sept 19th.

[DesignStudio]

i don't get it myst.

[PrintDriver]

Ah, then ye be first t' walk the plank on Talk Like A Pirate Day....

[DesignStudio]

ooooooooooh, right, right, right.

[morea]

man, I sure hope that by "obtaining" you mean downloading a free trial of the program and not a pirated copy. If you want to do this, do it right.

[DesignStudio]

:rolleyes: hey does anyone want to share a copy of CS3 with me when it comes out? we can all get together and each pay just a dollar. :rolleyes:

[DivineDesign]

I believe there's only one annual exception to the piracy rule. And that would be sept 19th.

Piracy as in National Talk Like a Pirate Day of course!!! (That is the 19th right?? lol):p

[MyST]

September 19th is TLAPD?? ;)

[DesignStudio]

i'm still waiting to find out when we're declaring "talk like yoda day". i'm not sure if anyone else caught that thread, but in case:
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24691

[morea]

holidays between now and Memorial Day there are not, hmm? A good time it would be soon.

(pirate speak is easier somehow! :o)

[DesignStudio]

easier it tis to speak like a pirate, hmm. but easier does not always better mean does it hmmmm?

yeah screw it that was hard.

[morea]

thank heavens for google. Bookmark this:
http://www.yodajeff.com/pages/talk/yodish.shtml

actually, LOOK:
http://www.talklikeyodaday.tk/

[budafist]

Heh, well high school in New Zealand goes till your 18.. so yeah its the 16-18 year olds who will be doing it.. I'm only 15 but I'm spesh :D.

Ummm yeah, I suppose we waste money on weird secruity gaurds who barely speak English... >.>.
The class is called Digital Design, there is like two other classes where you use photoshop... it's pretty cool.

Hey wait, another NZer? Goodness not long now until we take over this forum :D

What do you have to research about logos exactly?

[DesignStudio]

yeah i would have thought that this forum would be crawling with other people from the west coast, especially the bay area, but as it turns out if i said i'm from the west coast, half the people here would say, "of what country?" seems like half the regulars or more aren't from the US. definetly
cool to have some diversity though.

[Stush]

Umm yeah it's a free trail =P. I think it's like 30 or 15 days free trail >.>.. Heh. But a did do something sneaky, and change my current date to 2099... So ummmm, it expires in about 92 years.

Umm well I don't exactly know what I need to research, but Morea's post seems logical, what my logo schould represent, my target audience, feelings I want it to invoke and what makes me different from my competitors (Other students >:( )

[DesignStudio]

umm yeah, letting us know off the bat that you're stealing software isn't likely to make us think you're the kind of person who we want to offer free advice to. of course i can't speak for everybody.

[Stush]

Well it's not like I'm a software stealing tyrant, I just need sometime to get used to the software-I'll delete it after if it's such a big deal.

[frankster]

yeah i would have thought that this forum would be crawling with other people from the west coast, especially the bay area, but as it turns out if i said i'm from the west coast, half the people here would say, "of what country?" seems like half the regulars or more aren't from the US. definetly
cool to have some diversity though.

I'm in SSF sweetie, so only a few miles away from you!

[morea]

Well it's not like I'm a software stealing tyrant, I just need sometime to get used to the software-I'll delete it after if it's such a big deal.

yes, it is a big deal.

[DesignStudio]

yeah seriously, here's poor adobe struggling to get by, the ceo probably had to downgrade his private jet to a smaller size, and had to sell his bentley and buy a mercedes because of all the people stealing his software. geez.

[PrintDriver]

I don't care about Adobe's CEO. It's people like you that make it a real hassle for me to re-load my software when it goes toes up. Goddam, where'd I put the key codes this time...

[Samakimoto Graphics]

geez, photoshop in high school? and my high school wasted it's money on metal detectors and drug sniffing dogs.

Weeeelllll, the earlier the better. Though a bit "upside down", I believe at this stage you should be sharpening your knowledge of the basics of design and learning drawing techniques so as to appreciate the tools and processes.

The computer is just another tool, as are your brushes, canvases, pencils and paper, etc.

Oh and stealing software is downright C-H-E-A-P! With that I suppose if already figured you will get no help here...

[DesignStudio]

Well it's not like I'm a software stealing tyrant, I just need sometime to get used to the software-I'll delete it after if it's such a big deal.

here's my reply to this statement. a story that a high school teacher told us once:

A man sitting at a restaurant counter asks his attractive waitress, "Would you sleep with me for 10 million dollars?", to which the waitress replies, "10 million dollars? Sure for that kind of money I guess I would." So then the man asks the waitress, "Well then would you sleep with me for 10 dollars?". Indignant, the waitress says, "Of course not, what kind of girl do you think I am!". The man looks her in the eye and replies, "Well we've already establised that, now we're just haggling the price."