What is a Logo?
History
What are logos? How are they different than icons? People
are confused about this but it isn't keeping anyone up nights unless
they happen to be deeply immersed in the study of ancient civilizations.
Even though the word "logo" comes from ancient Greek and it translates
to "word" or "speech", other cultures - the Babylonian, Assyrian, Mayan,
Chinese, Egyptian also used pictographs to communicate words and ideas.
Pictographs could be considered early logos; unfortunately, gang
graffiti on the walls of inner city buildings continues that trend of
identification through signs and pictures.Icons (derived from the Greek) are also used to communicate, but with pictures instead of words. The dictionary definition of "icon" is "image or likeness". Thus, logo is to "word" as icon is to "picture" yet in the modern world of product identification, the distinction between the two is sort of cloudy; many well-known logos combine a tag line/motto and a picture with the corporate or product name in the logo. Other logos are clearly just words - the company name with no pictures. Maybe what we need is a new word to define the crossbred creation - a "locon" or "logon"?
According to wikipedia.org, a logo is a graphic mark or emblem
commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even
individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition. Logos are
either purely graphic (symbols/icons) or are composed of the name of the
organization (a logotype or wordmark).
In the days of hot metal typesetting, a logotype was a uniquely set and arranged typeface or colophon. At the level of mass communication and in common usage a company's logo is today often synonymous with its trademark or brand.
Designing a Logo
The design of your company logo is very, very important to your
company. In fact, it’s just as important as your company name. Not only
does it help brand your company in the business world, but it helps
attract customers and it’s a big testament to the attitude and
personality of your company.
Logo, this is the best and more difficult task of graphic designers. This is always a big challenge for every graphic designers. Logo plays the most important role when you are going to develop new website and organization. It makes separate to others and present the unique identity.
With that in mind here are some logo design
tips to help you as you think about designing your company logo.
1) Keep it simple. Probably the most important part
of designing a company logo is to make sure it is a simple design. Not
only will a simple design be easy to read and remember, but it will also
make it much easier to resize and print than a complicated logo.
2) Think small. In terms of size think about all the
places you will want to print your logo such as business cards,
envelopes, pens, shirts, etc. Your logo should be just as legible small
as it is when it’s enlarged.
3) No need to write a book. If you include words
with your logo (which you don’t have to) they should be short and to the
point. Your company name would suffice. Think of some of the most
recognized logos around such as Apple and Nike – neither uses words with
their logo.
4) Keep it separate. Speaking of text, if you do
decide to use text go easy on your readers eyes. Separate the text from
the graphics. This will not only be easier to read, but it will keep
your logo clean and make it easier to reproduce.
5) Choose your colors wisely. While creating a logo
with all different colors may sound fun and appealing think about what
it will look like when your only option is to print it in black and
white. Also think about color printing costs. Two colors will be a lot
cheaper to print than four colors.
To an outsider, creating a logo design may seem like a ten minute
job. It’s small and simple, how hard can it be, right? Wrong. Creating a
custom logo design takes preparation and creativity. Today let’s dive
into a professional logo designer’s head and see a process often used to
create stunning logos.
Collecting Information
During this initial stage, information on your company will be
collected so that your chosen designer can get a feel for your company
and what you’re looking for in a logo design. This is commonly done in
the form of a questionnaire. Graphic research also takes place during
this stage. Your logo designer may look at your company graphics to see
what has been successful in the past and what has not.
Creation
In this part of the process the information collected will come
together on the screen as your logo designer uses her creative powers to
generate a logo idea. This part of the process takes the bulk of your
designer’s time.
Reflection/Revisions
Reflection is where your designer will actually go over his work with
a fine tooth comb and make small tweaks here and there as needed to get
the best logo design result for your company.
Presentation
Once the final design is tweaked to their liking, your designer will
send you your company logo. Most logo designers offer a revision or two
in with their fee. At this time, you can request changes to be made.
How long it will take a logo designer to create your company logo
design depends greatly on the designer, what deadlines they set and what
process they use as not all designers use the same process. Express
services are a nice way to get a professional logo design done fast
because typically this service has more than one designer and they are
equipped to meet very short turnaround times.
Here is an example of logo: the customized version of CSS logo and the NVSU logo found in the banner of the CSS official website which will be launched soon.
Here is an example of logo: the customized version of CSS logo and the NVSU logo found in the banner of the CSS official website which will be launched soon.
