THE NUANCE OF A LOGO DESIGN

THE SCIENCE OF A LOGO

So are there really trends in logo design, do we get asked to create the same, day after day?

After the internet inspired swooshes of the early 90’s you would be forgiven for thinking so. As graphic designers struggled to depict an entity that few could grasp that point, abstract designs became much more common.

At a fish in sea though, trends are rarely ‘followed’, because we design to the aims, goals and requirements of the client and that is rarely to follow a particular trend, but there are definitely certain preferred stereotypes chosen by our clients for certain industry sectors, colours used and messages conveyed.

With printing advances and the ability to reproduce full colour on an economic level, we are certainly seeing more colours used within logo design, both in house and internationally. The restrictions have been lifted in may ways as costs are nearly the same to print 2, 3 or full colour artwork. This leads to a greater freedom in design and can create impact that was previously not possible the careful selection of colour swatches.

It has been mentioned to us that at least 75% of logo’s contain blue – and we can see from our experience that this is a preferred colour, reasons could be that its considered safe or trustworthy, as well as the fact that decision makers are predominantly male, and they may favour the colour palette that they are comfortable with.

We also receive regular requests for a shadow, and whilst a clean shadow can work well if applied subtly, to ‘lift’ an item off the page, a drop shadow can have implications with the logo’s reproduction, particularly in print as blurs and shadows generally have a feathered edge, this can create issues when the design is placed on an image as the blur and image interrelate and ‘ragged edges’ may be formed.

ICONS, MOTIFS & SYMBOLS

Logos frequently contain an image, symbol or icon, and as such these are usually industry related – they form a connection between the service or product and the consumer, many have multiple messages open for interpretation, we endeavour to avoid negative connotations, as this can unwittingly ruin an identity – the flip side is that if the connection is a strong positive one we can emphasise this with additional benefit to the brand. Visual connections often take time to create and the brainstorming process will not guarantee an immediate result – digging deep and understanding our clients business are invaluable here. We have seen a recent increase in the use of photographic imagery – as digital imagery becomes more personal and widespread.

Logotypes and other written marks that represent a brand (corporate identity)are having a resurgence here – and we are really enjoying the creation of them. These form their own unique challenge – creating a hook that balances the brand message with the subtle dynamics of a typeface – and being memorable.

We have recently created several designs with ligatures (the elegant conjoining of letters) – leading to a more bespoke upmarket feel and have enjoyed the challenge – its not as easy as it sounds! These visual ‘ticks’ are the subtleties that can define a brand and stand them apart from their competition – all important in a competitive market place.

This section of the site is definitely going to grow, as we add to the ‘coincidences’ that pass through our doors, from three new clients all with the same forename coming to us in the space of a week, to the requests of two interior designers at opposite ends of the spectrum… stay informed.