Here is a compilation of similar logos, showing them side-by-side so you can see what graphic designers face today.

Sumpter & Gonzalez LLP and Stylegala

National Film Board (recently updated) and Virtual Global Taskforce

Carrier and Ford

Ubuntu and Human Rights First

Star Sports and maltastar.com

Sun Microsystems and Columbia Sportswear

Research conducted at the Seoul International Color Expo 2004 documented the following relationships between color and marketing:

• 92.6 % of respondents said that they put most importance on visual factors when purchasing products. Only 5.6 % said that the physical feel via the sense of touch was most important. Hearing and smell each drew 0.9 %.
• When asked to approximate the importance of color when buying products, 84.7 % of the total respondents think that color accounts for more than half among the various factors important for choosing products.

Other research reveals people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone.

Source: CCICOLOR – Institute for Color Research.

Everything we touch in our daily life has a color and we have a reaction to it.  This reaction depends on two primary factors- natural associations and psychological symbolism. People are comfortable when colors remind them of similar things.  Many people underestimate the power of color on us.

Furthermore, color may have both positive and negative symbolism. Two colors that constantly offer dual symbolism are red and blue.  Red is the color of blood and fire, which is energizing and bold, yet also, symbolizes danger in stop and danger signs around the world.  Blue has long been associated with loneliness and emptiness ‘ singing the blues’, ‘blue day’, and yet is the color of a beautiful sky and we have ‘blue chip stocks’.

The important aspect to consider here is that color is only one element of your overall branding.  It is the entire branding package that will present your product or service to the world.  Each element of this package must be carefully considered individually but then must be cohesively drawn together to create a powerful image.

Color has an emotional impact that can be both delightful and distressful. There are no absolutes for the sometimes contradictory meanings of color, but there are some logical sources for our human interpretations.

• Trends: current fads in color application.  Today, lime green has been a hip and trendy color in fashion and advertising around the world since the late 1990s.
• Cultural factors: depending on what country or religion a person is from will influence their interpretation of a color logo or symbol.  Muslims see green as heaven, in the US and Ireland this is luck. Other cultural color influences include currency, traditions, celebrations, geography, etc.
• Historic and political: the color of flags, political parties, royalty, etc.
• Religious and mythical: the colors associated with spiritual or magical beliefs.  Green aliens, white Heaven, red Hell.
• Linguistic: individual languages often use color terminology to describe things. For example, some islander languages refer to shades of green by comparison to plants in various stages of growth.

These factors and many others make up the psychological symbolism related to color.  Perhaps the most powerful factors though are the natural associations we have to color.

The psychoanalyst Carl Jung famously said that ‘colors are the mother tongue of the subconscious’.  While color symbols may differ between cultures and religions, there are still a number of color meanings recognized around the world.

Red is an accepted color of the sun, which gives life but can also take it away, and it is of course the color of blood.  In nature, red also signifies danger.  So perhaps there is no need for semiotics to explain why this color can make people anxious, passionate, elated or angry.

Blue- the color of the sky and the sea, vast expanses that give a sense of freedom and perspective- is said to make people feel calm.  However, it is also said to be a ‘cold’ color and a lonely one too.

Vivid green in nature emits an association with health and vitality.

With this in mind the following pages present some common color psychology that influences logo and brand creation and longevity.

Red

Alert, activity, life, passion, power, excitement, determination.

Much has been written about the color red and it is used extensively in logo and brand development.  Famous uses of bright red include Virgin, Coca Cola, Kit Kat and services like the International Red Cross.

Virgin’s brand values are Fun, Value for Money, Quality, Innovation, Competitive Challenge and Brilliant Customer Service.  The use of red is only one element (although a major element) in binding these values into their brand presentation.  It is important for you to consider how color will tie your brand together.

Red is strongly associated with colors from nature combined with linguistics.  As we run we often get red faces and some one will exclaim, “your face is blood red”.  It is a hot color.  Blood is red; the sun is fire which is red.

Choosing red is a good option if your branding strategy is for attention, excitement, passion and raw power.

Orange

Optimism, wisdom, warmth, spirit, action, happy, successful, open, vivid.

Orange is often used for its earthly connotations yet is a happier color than green.  For obvious reasons it is often used for orange drinks and food where the color is reflecting the product.  Similarly used for products containing vitamin c.

Non-food and drink brands that have used orange successfully include Nike.  Although the tick is famous in its own right the orange is a well-chosen color for the brand.  Hutchison Telecom’s brand, Orange, has orange as its dominant color.  Its attractive, bright and cheery nature captures the attention of the spectators and gives the logo a contemporary look.

Green

Nature, growth, renewal, fresh and clean, fertility, adundance, vitality, healing

In Muslim countries, it is a holy color and in Ireland, a lucky color. It was the color of the heavens in the Ming Dynasty. Today’s greens provoke strong reactions. Love it or hate it. The color that won’t go away.

Lime green permeates the world of fashion, furnishings and advertising in the U.S. Combinations of yellow-green and orange are also hot.

Green is a very good logo color for food branding except sweets. People will always underrate sweets in the presence of green unless it has a mint or lime flavor.

Possibly the most famous rebranded logo in green is the BP flower.  Others include Starbucks, The Body Shop, Rolex.

Fuji film is an interesting case study.  If asked what color is Fuji Film most people associate the brand with green because all Fuji film boxes are green.  However the logo has consistently been displayed in black and red with the latest logo removing almost all traces of red.  Now Fuji packaging is moving away from green and into the gray and black because they wish to show more attention to innovation and technology.  Green being an earthly color does not reflect this enough for the company moving forward into the future.

This move away from green is an opposite trend from the rest of the world who are trying to leverage the push for increased care for our global environment.

Black

Importance, gravity, mysterious, smart, powerful, exclusive

For many reasons black is one of the most widely used color for a logo.

Traditionally when black is used for a logo as the only color it is combined with a particular font that solidifies the brand power.  Luxury brands such as Hermes, Bvlgari, Cartier all have a distinctive font that is used to present the black.

A brand such as Adidas uses black in its name and accompanying symbol.  It says simple, strong, classic, traditional.

Black is easy to print and can be combined with many other colors which it often is.  For example- BMW.  The BMW logo is symbolic of a white propeller blade, against a blue sky. It reflects the origins of BMW as a maker of military aircraft engines during the first world war. The strong black circle makes for a strong and robust logo that reflects its company image.

Harley Davidson is another black logo that is combined with a hint of another color.  The predominant color is black.  The brand has been built on the bad boy nature of black.

Black is also used for power symbolism.  Strong, sleek, solid.

Blue

Trust, calm, stability, serenity, cold,

Blue can be broken up into light blue, bright blue and dark blue.  Each has slightly different uses in logo design.

• Light- refreshing, cool, imaginative
• Bright Blue- truth, beauty, tranquil
• Dark Blue- gentile, quality, solid, traditional

Blue is one of the most popular colors in design.  Its use is very versatile and the trigger of psychological calm is an important aspect for many companies when offering their product or service.

The only product that blue does not work for is food.  Blue food is a rare occurrence in nature. There are no leafy blue vegetables and aside from blueberries and a few blue-purple potatoes from remote spots on the globe, blue just doesn’t exist in any significant quantity as a natural food color. Consequently, we don’t have an automatic appetite response to blue.  Of course some confectionary works with blue logos.  Refreshing drinks work well with blue.

Financial institutions and technology companies frequently use blue in their logo’s, most famous being American Express.  Trust our card, trust our system.

Pink

Friendly, soft, gentle, feminine, tranquil, innocence

In almost every culture, one stereotype emerges: pink is associated with girls, blue with boys.

However different values of pink have different effects on peoples emotions: light dull pinks cause calmness and decreased pulse while the deeper pinks have the opposite effect.  Seeing the color pink may evoke taste sensations of sweetness.

Magenta and bright pinks are outrageous, imaginative, innovative.

Pale/ dusty pinks are friendly, compassionate, faithful.

Pink is often used as a campaign logo, or as a one off collection in a line of products. Spa, healthcare and cosmetic products and services often use pink.   Famous uses of pink include Barbie, the pink ribbon for breast cancer support.

Purple

Knowledge, power, integrity, spiritual, visionary, royalty

Purple connotes luxury, wealth, spirituality and sophistication. It also symbolizes rank and authority.

In addition, lavender as a shade of purple is associated with imagination, fantasy, romance.  If your strategy is to whisk the market away on a journey like no other then shades of purple are the ones to choose.

Purple is often used with book stores, or spiritual brands, children’s brands and confectionery.

However, because it is rare in nature, purple is rarely used in logos.

Yellow

Happy, fun, optimistic, playful, sunny

While it is considered as an optimistic color, yellow is the most difficult color for the eye to take in. On the other hand, yellow color symbolizes positivity and buoyancy.

Gold as a shade of yellow reflects illumination and wisdom.  Yellow or gold is almost always combined with another color to help the eyes.

McDonalds golden arches are a classic use of yellow for fun.  Ferrari is interesting as the logo is almost entirely yellow yet we all associate Ferrari with red because it is most often represented on red.  Fun and fast!

Gray

Integrity, maturity, innovation, style

With strong links to chrome, silver and platinum materials, the use of gray is very powerful by itself or combined with another color.

It is not as harsh as black and can be used either in replacement of black or in combination with black.  The Mercedes Benz logo uses black for the text but the emblem is gray shaded to represent chrome.  The Honda emblem is another gray/ silver logo example.

Software companies like gray because of the innovation connotation.

Tag lines are often presented in gray in a logo.

Turquoise/ Aqua

Generosity, elation, motivated, active, dynamic

Aqua. The name means water. This color is often used for nature, or for products that elicit freshness.  A blend between blue and green, the blue represents the water and the green represents parks and nature. Think of things in nature that are cool… such as the sky, sea, clouds and grass.

Aqua is vibrant and vivacious, tells people there’s something different and exciting about this product.

Brown

Stability, earthy, reliable, gentile, classic

Brown is a natural color that evokes a sense of strength and reliability.  It can also bring to mind feeling of warmth, comfort, and security. It is often described as natural, down-to-earth, and conventional, but brown can also be sophisticated.

Brown also stimulates appetite especially when combined with peach or strawberry pink.

White

Hopeful, truth, new, luxury, pristine, untouched, virgin

White is never a logo in itself, for obvious reasons- without another color it cannot be seen.  It needs to be outlined or presented in a negative with a contrasting color.

It is important to consider in its use as a combination color.  Black & white has a long proven powerful association.  White combined with any dark color will give a gentile, powerful image.

When combined with soft colors it does the exact opposite and will further soften the pale color.

Mixing colors

Logos that combine colors are developing a further story for the reader.

American Airlines is saying we are bold but trustworthy.  Visa and Mastercard are both combining colors that show trust (dark blue) and orange (wisdom and success).  Pizza Hut is fun and casual, and Microsoft is all embracing.  There is a never-ending list of multi color logos.

Choosing two colors for a logo, or one, or three is not the most important part when designing the logo.  Also consider costs for reproducing 2, 3, and 4 color logos in printed material.  Consider management costs measured in time ensuring that staff, the media, suppliers reproduce not 1 but 2, 3, 4 colors correctly.

Create a story.  Every logo needs a story.  By using more than one color you should be adding to this story.

Tips and Tricks

Don’t try to reinvent the color wheel by using unusual colors.

Psychologists have documented that “living color” does more than appeal to the senses. It also boosts memory for scenes in the natural world.  Don’t create a new color just for the sake of it- a basic rule is that if you can’t find it on a Pantone color chart then don’t use it.  (Pantone is the universal color system used by designers worldwide).

Be careful when combining colors

A complex area of color theory is how color behaves in relation to other colors.  Compare the contrast effects of different color backgrounds for the same red square.

Red appears more brilliant against a black background and somewhat duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red appears lifeless; in contrast with blue-green, it exhibits brilliance. Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other background colors.

Again the Pantone color system has numerous charts and books on which colors work best together.

Learn from famous brands

As a business about to embark on a new logo, of course you want to be different and you should aim to be.  Keep in mind that the world’s most famous brands have the world’s most famous budgets to research all this logo and brand psychology.  So learn from what they do, how they present their logo and how it is always intrinsically tied into their overall brand strategy.  Contact us if we can be of further assistance in your next logo project.

Written by Lindsay Frangs for Creativeblox.com Copyright 2007,  All rights reserved.

When gauging the relative merits of the 35,000-plus logos that have been submitted from all over the world to the LogoLounge.com site in the past 18 months, it would have been supremely helpful to have some sort of magical scanner-like device that could objectively compare, classify, and quantify the success of each design. But likely such a device could only spot the obvious visual trends.

For example, some directions in design are driven by certain tools. Illustrator’s Swirl and Pucker tools as well as Scriptographer would emerge as likely suspects this past year. Also, that design can be heavily influenced by current events would become evident quickly: Witness the enormous crop of O-shaped logos inspired by the 2009 U.S. Presidential elections that have emerged in the last year.

But it’s only the human eye—combined with the eight-year track that this LogoLounge Trends Report has now blazed—that could reveal actual movement. Here’s what I discovered after reviewing the thousands of submissions: Transparency in logo design has become a bona fide design tool, like type or color, not a trend. It’s too ubiquitous anymore to be considered a direction: It just is.

Also, brightness in hue has become pervasive, likely due to the public’s eye being thoroughly trained now for light-projected, on-screen color. We now live in a RGB, not a CMYK world.

Text is ever more important in identity design. Driven by the delinquent dollar, clients and designers are working hard to make identity messages more succinct and/or direct, and incorporating actual words into logos makes the message all the more immediate. Some logos are simply stuffed with information.

Use of color is even more unrestrained now—which is somewhat counterintuitive given the flu-ish economy. Rainbow-like color has moved out beyond any preexisting symbolism and is often used to represent the concept of full spectrum, more choices, or additional capabilities.

A highly encouraging trend is the emergence of innovative, fresh design emerging from Eastern Bloc countries. Designers there seem to have a freeness that some Western designers have lost: They are more prone to submit a whole range of dramatically different logo designs to a single client, approaching the same problem from many directions. All trials may not be successful, but the effort and exploration are there.

Scandinavian design has also seen a shift of late, to a lighter, fresher approach in design. The clean line and contemporary feel has always been there, but designers are moving past even these factors. There’s a real feeling of freedom and exploration here.

What else is especially noticeable this year?

• There is plenty of optimism shining through in many designs—or at least clients are trying to bravely declare through their identities that they aren’t the slightest bit afraid.
• There is significantly more warping, faceting, and animation.
• Circles upon circles upon circles, especially nested inside each other and of diminishing sizes, are everywhere, as are building objects from circles.
• “Greeness” is still pervasive, but it no longer apparently has to be expressed by the color green: Any fresh palette will do.
• Finally, there is another significant development. For many years, successful logos were built from beautiful shapes. They were usually one color, or perhaps they incorporated a few colors. Now, designers have begun to look at the actual surface of the shapes as an entirely new canvas that can be addressed in myriad ways. Good draftsmanship and good ideas are still crucial to the process, but surface effects now add entirely new levels of meaning.

Every year, it’s worth noting that this is a report on trends, not a recipe book of styles. It is also not a finite list: There are other valid trends out there that are not mentioned here.

The report should serve you as an ongoing view of where logo design is headed. The word “trends” in itself can have a very negative cast, but in truth, trends aren’t bad. They reveal our growth. It’s our take on them that allows us to move even further forward.

Cubist

It should be no surprise that designers have again gone to the well of fine arts to draw upon technique for inspiration. As Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque discovered as the founders of the Cubism movement, there is a certain visual pleasure in the reduction of images down to their essence. In logo design, this same tenet applies, and a good marriage of concept and style emerge. Illustrating an image in a simple series of facets is really a glorified and more aesthetically pleasing version of an image reduced to a handful of pixels.

Illustration software which uses the Delaunay Raster process automatically creates spatial and color averaging that makes this technique broadly accessible. Illustrator Jonathan Puckey uses this process with stunning results on photographic images, and a similar animation style has become a signature look for a number of companies in their commercials. In identity design, hand rendering of these facets is pure cubist eye candy.

1. Iconologic, US Virgin Islands 2. Z&G, Brandogolik 3. Gardner Design, Graphic Impressions 4. Andrei Bilan, Kubis

Spores

Microbial hitchhikers with all the tact of a sticker or cockle burr, these logos are a scaled-back version of a radiant star, and they typically start to take on three-dimensional qualities. They tend to be suspended in space or give the appearance of an underwater mine placidly floating in wait. (In fact, any of these logos could be a perfect candidate for animation.) Despite such dire comparisons, these logos still maintain an attractive, mathematical and mysterious quality that allows them to work well.

In some, the points emanating from the central object seem to have a tentacle-like quality, reaching out to convey a sense of connectivity and of serving multitudes. This same group of logos tends to exemplify how order can be applied to complexity. They show an ability to verge on the edge of chaos but still be held together with the perfection of nature. The aggressive surface of this style certainly requires a client that is able to be faithful to the complex nature of the forms.

1. MYDE, Smart Communication Technologies 2. KITA International | Visual Playground, KITA 3. Seamless Creative, 1025 Photography 4. BrandBerry, Anvexa

Ghosts

Attracting attention in a visual world is a designer’s most challenging task. Encouraging someone to really look is hard; forcing them to engage is harder to the nth degree. These Gaussian-like logos compel the viewer to take the second look if for no other reason than to confirm what they are seeing. The effect of the soft-edged translucent nature of these marks could well be considered a subtle act of confrontation.

That an image is appropriate to the objective is imperative, so this is not permission to just make any logo fuzzy. Remember, however, that there is mystery in leaving something to the imagination. The slow reveal or partial reveal can be much more engaging than the literal, all-out full reveal. The technique seems to have its greatest success if the image in question is obvious enough through silhouette that the viewer is not left confounded. Color is also a critical clue as we tend to identify objects by color before shape.

1. Julian Peck, Futbol California 2. Iconologic, America’s Natural Gas Alliance 3. Supersoon Good Design, Swiss Heat Transfer Technology 4. Strange Ideas, Shadow Farm

Tendrils

There is just the right amount of whimsy and human intervention in the draftsmanship of these logos to make them a pleasure to absorb. In past years, the LogoLounge trend reports have discussed logos with floral flourishes, dingbats and typographic elements bringing life to and skirting the edges of the mark. This group, however, helps place the Si Scott-inspired wisps of fancy into context. Far from being drafted with geometric perfection, these tendrils have a natural gnarl to their wandering, like a real vine.

Humans have been involved here, and that is the message. As beautiful as these logos are, they were not created by a soulless machine. They were created to glorify the brusque reality of imperfection. These marks are important because they show the importance of embellishment that customers associate as an above-and-beyond concept. At the same time, the hand-hewn message reinforces that this is an authentic offer, as different as a handwritten note is from spam.

1. Derrick Mitchell Design, LLC, Easthaven Baptist Church 2. RawType, Jacob’s Well 3. Sabingrafik, Inc., Rosenblum Cellars 4. Dale Harris, Blank Expression

Shift

Perfection is highly overrated even when imperfections are crafted perfectly. Transparent overlays of color often resembling a misregistered CMYK or RGB letterforms are the hallmarks of this trend, although significantly overlapping kerning and turning on the transparent mode qualifies marks for this category as well. Colors are usually clear and clean to allow the murky overlaps to be even more evident. The purposeful layering gives a nod to connectivity between different entities as they come together for a common good.

This trend is a bit of the celebration of diversity that shows a merging for common good. From another perspective, it could be a single entity splitting out into multiples. Because these are brighter, with elements of pure chroma colors, they tend to occur often in the entertainment or literature corridors. Though the images are static, the shifting elements give a sense of motion to the viewer. This instability draws the eye and can create the impression that these marks represent a work in progress.

1. Asta form, Sheriff Studio 2. Go Welsh, Penn State Architecture 3. Effusion Creative Solutions, musicplace.com 4. Liska + Associates Communication Design, Becker and Becker

Parts

This trend give insight into the comment “one of something ugly is ugly, but many of something ugly is beautiful.” Take any one of these ugly things—or, in this case, the iconic representation of your parts—and assemble these into an ideal construction. It’s an element in which many parts come together to create a common goal. From a distance, the image is the larger whole. But on closer inspection the image is revealed to be an amalgam of molecular images.

A diverse group of logos here show some very different takes in achieving similar objectives. “We the people form this nation” and create a map of the United States. A hundred or so divers come together to create a school of fish forming the outline of a shark, and yes, it is for a diving school. In each case, a nice visual balance was found to help the reader make the jump from the whole to the parts that came together to compose the result.

1. Kuznetsov Evgeniy, Russian Team 2. Ten:pm Media, Advanced Armament Corp. 3. Chris Rooney Illustration/Design, Ramsell 4. Hand dizajn studio, Diving Club Big White

Pixel

For your amusement, take a screen capture of the portrait favicon at the beginning of the address for www.marthastewart.com. Then park the minute picture of Martha in Photoshop and enlarge to fill your screen. This view of a 16 x 16 square of pixels as if through a microscope can be revealing. Nothing is as it seems once you knock it down to its atomic core. In the world of RGB, on-screen images, the pixel is the lowest common denominator. So these are logos that speak to their digital pedigree, but which are willing to say, “This is our very essence.”

Pixels seem to be a natural building block when dealing with digital products. They convey naturally the concept of many elements coming together to create a larger result. Because of the medium, the colors are often high in chroma and representative of diversity, but even in the HD City logo, you can see the effective use of the subtle range of tints even within a single color. There is no mistaking the association, but the challenge is to avoid being trite and discovering a new way to present a solution crafted using these tiny tools.

1. Eight a.m. Brand Design , C2 MEDICAL SPA 2. Eightday Studio, Antioch Community Church Norman Corp. 3. Gyula Nemeth, HD City 4. Andrei D. Popa, City Tower

Hexahedron

Stephen Doyle created such an intelligent design with his new identity for The Cooper Union, and the attending animation of the elements tumbling together helps further sell the concept. It’s just two cubes with three transparent, colored faces, representing the letters C and U. But a great sense of space is alluded to, which leaves the viewer with a sense you could navigate the space and imagine what this mark would look like from various angles. In short, it invites you to participate and become comfortable with it.

Other identities based on transparent cubes in various arrangements all have an implied sense of space and almost challenge us to interact with the marks. This may rise from the optical illusion aspect: The greater the participation level the design creates for the consumer, the more chances they have to buy into the ownership of the logo. The greater their level of ownership, the better the level of loyalty.

1. Doyle Partners, The Cooper Union 2. Kristin Spix Design, Phelps Stokes. 3. Tom Hughes Design, Zink, Inc. 4. Adstract Art, Civiquip Industries

Dust

When you speak loudly and fail to modulate your tone, your voice becomes a monotonous drone. When you lower your tone and speak in a hushed whisper, every head in proximity will turn an ear to pick up the conversation. This group of marks understands the importance of subtlety. The whisper is created by a stippled effect that, depending on its density, creates different levels of tone within the logo. Yet because each speck is a hard-edged vector image, any appearance of color gradation is only an illusion.

Again the eye is drawn to these not just for the design but because they are confronting the viewer with something they have not seen before. The soft feathering of edges lends a different tactile nature to these marks that makes them unique. There is something a bit magical conveyed with this technique. The Galaxy Garden logo gives the feeling of some special charm being cast amongst the stars of the heavens, and the Atmosphere logo seems to isolate every particle we inhale.

1. RedBrand, Atmosphere Design House 2. Strange Ideas, Galaxy Garden 3. Tannehill Design, GSL Fine Lithographers 4. Identra, Cognida

Peepshow

It’s the image inside the image that makes the sale. A pedestrian solution suddenly becomes a thing of beauty or interest if there is a great and compelling story showing through from behind the scenes. These logos tend to use vector-edged colored fields in their solutions that are lively and engaging. The contrast levels are kept minimal to avoid making the fill area visually jumpy. This adds a new field in which to play out concept or set the visual tone for a client, and it also establishes pattern as part of the visual vocabulary of the visual brand.

Iconologic successfully developed a series of Coca-Cola icons for use at the Vancouver Olympic Games. The iconic Coke bottle silhouette was fractured into fields that reflect the stacked stone logo of the games. These broken elements could have been rendered with simple color or gradation, but instead these areas use the blues and greens of the patterns developed for use at Olympic venues. It’s a nice sense of connectivity and a smart use of color.

1. Iconologic, The Coca-Cola Company 2. Dalius Stuoka, Trava 3. Wizemark, MonkVibe 4. X3 Studios, Media IQ

Festoon

Anyone whose childhood included a springtime visit to a hardware store remembers the electric fans and window air-conditioners replete with tassels blowing horizontal at attention, thus assuring us that our own homes, too, could become a summertime den of arctic chill. These logos maybe are a bit less about the chill and a bit more about the blowing. Wind tunnels of streamers often in motion and flapping at gale force describe an invisible image underneath, or they may just be in full motion to define a pleasant breeze.

The key to most of these solutions is the tapering of the graphic element to a diminishing point and also the overlapping of the streamers. Generally, these are transparent so there is a color change where they overlap. There is a bit of free spirit and lack of control that comes in as part of the equation. Looking like untamed horizontal licks of flame, these designs convey a sense of joy or festivity that serve well in a lighthearted, feel-good application.

1. BrandBerry, TravelWorld.su 2. Burocratik – Design, Leite & Leite 3. Factor Tres, Gaby Luna 4. Rpd Design, Osorio City Hall

Stains

Imagine hand-drafting the great logos of our age on blotter paper with a juicy brush, and you start to get a feel for the logos in this genre. All are beautifully drafted and probably more than ever require great sensitivity to allow the blur of the technique to not detract too much from the essence of the image. Designers have been using stains on napkins from a coffee cup or a glass of burgundy for years, but this group moves beyond the simple spillage and plays out the art of the stain to new heights.

Paradox Box Design created a series of beautiful animal stains for the Begucci Cafe in Russia. Kangaroos, snails, cheetahs, walrus and more were each crafted in a caffeinated dark roast. The snowboarders shown here were also created as a series by Burton Snowboard. There is motion when a blurred edge comes into play; the grainy immediacy of these marks creates an impression of authenticity. It’s another example of breaking with traditional design technique and gaining that second and third look from the consumer.

1. Paradox Box, Rinat Tuhvatullin 2. Suprematika, Rucksack, the backpack online shop 3. Demographic Inc., Blood Brothers 4. Burton (Snowboards) Corp., Burton Snowboards

Burst

Fireworks no doubt win hands-down in a look-at-me contest. The accompanying audible boom is certainly a factor in drawing your attention to the flash, but the burst and emanating jets of light are visual adrenaline. What better centerpiece could you choose for an identity geared toward excitement, activity, or pleasure? All of these marks, and there were a number of them this year, deal with the imagery in their own unique way. But all of these still capture the fleeting image at its full glory.

Color and lots of it in every bright hue and full tilt spectrums were evident everywhere this year. These marks describe a penultimate moment and define it with motion, distribution and brilliant flashes. Trying to describe this effect in the fewest strokes is challenging, but the LaQuinta logo by LatinBrands and the Logistigo logo by Porkka Kuutsa are both great solutions with simplicity kept intact.

1. Sakideamsheni, Expo Georgia 2. Latinbrand, La Quinta 3. BrandBerry, 1945-2010 4. Porkka & Kuutsa Oy, Logistigo Oy

Wallpaper

After watching monochromatic vines, flora, swirls, and flourishes incase anything and everything for the last several years, a truce to the over-embellishment seems to be closer than ever. But the decoration and fascination with print pattern has found a new incarnation and in full blazing color as well. Silhouettes and shapes are coming to life with substantial gusto, and they are relishing the attention. There is no apologizing for the color being used in this category.

A profile of a woman’s head is no more than that until you imagine what is inside the head. Blend the demure with the flamboyant, and her thoughts leap off of the page. A personality has been defined. These silhouettes don’t typically require much more than solid draftsmanship as the real story is being told with the panoply inside the shape. Obviously, any identity that relies this heavily on diverse color is going to find a challenge when reproduced in one color, but who lives in a one-color environment anymore?

1. Nectar Graphics, Mes Amies, Ladies Fineries 2. Koodoz Design, Tullamore Estate 3. Dirty Design, Nectar Homes 4. Kreativer Kopf, Schoen und Wider Druck

Box-Up

The use of text as part of a visual brand identity has become more critical than ever. Not just the name of the company must be spelled out, but there are other key points of importance as well—what the client makes, the motto, the location, the founding date, the point of differentiation. Even when this additional text is not included, the wordmark and the symbol at the very least require a lock-up to define a visual relationship between the two. A lock-up is always a balancing act that respects the needs of both elements. Enlarging the pair in an effort to make the wordmark larger can make the symbol too large. Reducing the symbol to a more modest size will make the wordmark illegible.

More designers than ever have taken a cue to capture the two elements together in a literal box. Take everything you need to communicate and pour it into an ice tray. No possibility of confusion for those that can’t respect an identity lock-up. It’s all there together in one package, no directions required.

1. Schwartzrock Graphic Arts, Pugleasa 2. Sudduth Design Co., Wilmington-Gordon 3. Fargo Design Co., Inc., Jackson Trading Co. 4. Sigg Design, Swiss International Hotels

Other Noteworthy Trends

	Extrusions: Flat outline forms, whether transparent or solid, that have been extruded mechanically to give dimension.Plastic A/Deksia Designs, Grand View University
	Quilts: Imagine the surface of a logo covered with geometric transparent facets, layered together like the panels of a quilt.Niedermeier Design, Clear Bags
	Melting: Points on a logo are allowed to drip and stretch away from the primary shape, as if gravity was temporarily turned off.Milou, rain bows
	Contort: Graphics or halftone imagery is warped as if looking at a reflection in a fun-house mirror. Sometimes the original image is almost lost when contortion is compounded.Sparc, Inc., LaunchAgents
	Rainbowed: Any use of the full-color spectrum rotation on a logo. Often this occurs when the mark creates a wreath-like effect and the color is able to circle back into itself.Rise Design Branding Inc., Star Creative
	Spirogram: A mark crafted of many repetitive very thin lines, but not necessarily like the rosettes created by a Spirograph. The volume of lines helps create the mass of the logo.Interrobang Design Collaborative, Inc., Zero2sixty Creative

Bill Gardner is principal of Gardner Design and creator of LogoLounge.com, a unique web site where, in real-time, members can post their logo design work; study the work of others; search the database by designer’s name, client type, and other attributes; learn from articles and news written expressly for logo designers; and much more. Bill can be contacted at bill@logolounge.com.

© 2010 Logolounge Inc.

Contact us if we can be of further assistance in your next logo project.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through, and you’ll get my point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five World Cup trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss Universe.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson:  The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

We’re very proud of our awards but we get much more satisfaction at helping our clients achieve their goals.

Vector graphics formats are complementary to raster graphics, which is the representation of images as an array of pixels, as it is typically used for the representation of photographic images. There are instances when working with vector tools and formats is the best practice, and instances when working with raster tools and formats is the best practice. There are times when both formats come together. An understanding of the advantages and limitations of each technology and the relationship between them is most likely to result in efficient and effective use of tools.

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Quick Facts

Vector art is often used for silkscreen, pad printing and vinyl cutting.

You can automatically convert jpgs to vector using Adobe Illustrator, or open source software like Inkscape or other vector software. Results vary.

Creativeblox can convert most images to vector. Cost is based on detail and complexity.

• We redraw all jobs by hand.
• As low as $5 for simple jobs, $20 for the very detailed ones (some exceptions may apply).
• 24 Hour Rush Service is available.
• Revisions done within 24 hours

do you need jpgs converted to vector? contact us

Anyone working in retail, household products, foods, fragrances or related industries knows that – whatever its intrinsic merits – a product is only as good as its packaging.

Featuring over 250 projects in more than 40 categories from around the world, Package Design Book offers the broadest possible perspective on the current evolution of package design and how it influences consumer behaviour.

Featuring the world’s best packaging with in-depth case studies, it analyses how ground-breaking designs are developed by top design and branding offices.

Divided into chapters by type-beverages, electronics, food, health & beauty, homecare & hygiene, luxury, pharmaceutical, store & retail-and indispensable for design and marketing professionals, advertisers, or anyone interested in this field, this book explains how to package a product that sells.

buy it on amazon

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells.^[1] In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial, and personal use.

Package labelling (en-GB) or labeling (en-US) is any written, electronic, or graphic communications on the packaging or on a separate but associated label.

The purposes of packaging and package labels

Diced pork in tray and film overwrap. Label indicates net weight, composition, preparation, etc. The Union Flag, British Farm Standard tractor logo, and British Meat Quality Standard logo are also present.

Packaging and package labeling have several objectives^[4]

• Physical protection – The objects enclosed in the package may require protection from, among other things, mechanical shock, vibration, electrostatic discharge, compression, temperature^[5], etc.
• Barrier protection – A barrier from oxygen, water vapor, dust, etc., is often required. Permeation is a critical factor in design. Some packages contain desiccants or Oxygen absorbers to help extend shelf life. Modified atmospheres ^[6] or controlled atmospheres are also maintained in some food packages. Keeping the contents clean, fresh, sterile^[7] and safe for the intended shelf life is a primary function.
• Containment or agglomeration – Small objects are typically grouped together in one package for reasons of efficiency. For example, a single box of 1000 pencils requires less physical handling than 1000 single pencils. Liquids, powders, and granular materials need containment.
• Information transmission – Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the package or product. With pharmaceuticals, food, medical, and chemical products, some types of information are required by governments. Some packages and labels also are used for track and trace purposes.
• Marketing – The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to encourage potential buyers to purchase the product. Package graphic design and physical design have been important and constantly evolving phenomenon for several decades. Marketing communications and graphic design are applied to the surface of the package and (in many cases) the point of sale display.
• Security – Packaging can play an important role in reducing the security risks of shipment. Packages can be made with improved tamper resistance to deter tampering and also can have tamper-evident^[8] features to help indicate tampering. Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage: Some package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer indicating seals. Packages may include authentication seals and use security printing to help indicate that the package and contents are not counterfeit. Packages also can include anti-theft devices, such as dye-packs, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillance^[9] tags that can be activated or detected by devices at exit points and require specialized tools to deactivate. Using packaging in this way is a means of loss prevention.
• Convenience – Packages can have features that add convenience in distribution, handling, stacking, display, sale, opening, reclosing, use, dispensing, and reuse.
• Portion control – Single serving or single dosage packaging has a precise amount of contents to control usage. Bulk commodities (such as salt) can be divided into packages that are a more suitable size for individual households. It is also aids the control of inventory: selling sealed one-liter-bottles of milk, rather than having people bring their own bottles to fill themselves.

Packaging Schools and Degree Programs

• Clemson University (BS, MS)

External Link to Clemson’s Packaging Program

External Link to The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics

• Michigan State University (BS, MS, PhD)

External Link to Michigan State’s Packaging Program

• Rochester Institute of Technology (BS)
• The Packaging School (online certificate)
• University of Wisconsin-Stout (BS, MS)

We’ve learned over the years that  there are certain things to look for when developing a logo.

The primary considerations in the creation of a trademark, symbol or icon are always the same; Immediate identification, as well as the visual definition of what a company or product is or how it works, are the objectives. Developing a successful symbol requires meeting many different criteria. Listed below is a checklist of ten criteria that must be considered in the creation of a good logo, symbol or icon:

1. Visibility
Will it stand out in its surroundings to provide quick and memorable identification. Seeing how a logotype stands out among the chatter of a metropolitan downtown is a good visual test for many trademarks.

2. Application
How well can the symbol be used in a variety of applications? From the resolution of a video monitor to the heat stamping on a product. It must withstand numerous technical applications.

3. Distinctiveness
Will the application distinguish itself from its competition? It is important to note that many legal decisions are made based on how similar a mark is to its competitor, and many challenges have been won in the courtroom.

4. Simplicity/Universality
Is the symbol’s concept easy to identify? As those who have “overworked” a drawing will know, there is a point at which to stop embellishment. On the other hand, a few additional lines in a composition can make the difference in its readability.

5. Retention
Someone who will identify with a mark must play a small game of mental tennis with it. The Bank of America’s symbol is a good example of this – once a person has read the shape of the letter forms as an eagle, they will never see it any other way. If a symbol is
too easy to read, the viewer will feel no sense of discovery and thus no personal equity with the mark.

6. Color
It is good practice to design everything in black and white first, while keeping in mind the color applications. A good symbol must work in a number of technologies – such as a fax or photocopier – that are unable to display the subtle nuances of some color palettes or blind embossing.

7. Descriptiveness
Does the symbol reveal to some extent the nature of the company or product? A good symbol is one that is able to do this without being an exact literal translation.

8. Timelessness
It was once hoped that a good trademark would last from fifteen to twenty years. Now we are seeing corporate turnovers of identity programs within a five-year period. Even so, you still need to be careful not to follow current trends, for they have a limited
life expectancy.

9. Modularity
Will the potential mark the adaptable to numerous applications? We have seen the best marks diluted in their presentation by the way the support typography or other graphic elements are handled. All the elements must work together to form a single voice.

10. Equity
The age, use and recognition of a mark is also a primary consideration in its development. Knowing when and what to redesign are important considerations for the designer. If one were to be approached to redesign the Coca-Cola script, it should be hard to replace the value the current market retains.

Some have different opinions about the value of equity. For instance, in a dramatic move within the last year, Steve Jobs of Apple decided to change the famous Apple symbol from multicolored to a solid one-color mark. His rationale was that the old symbol reflected too much on the early days of Apple and not where the company was headed. In challenging this more, I would propose that it was those early days of invention by two young man in a garage that should be kept alive.

Need a new logo for your product or service? contact us

How do you get the design you want? The perfect design you envision

in your head? … The design brief is the answer. Whether you are a designer or a client, an effective design brief is the single most critical factor in ensuring that a project is successful. This article will tell you how to write an effective design brief that will be both beneficial to the client and the designer. This article will be based from the client’s perspective.

What Is A Design Brief?

First off, you may want to know what a design brief is. A design brief is something that is vital to any design project as it will provide the designer(s) with all the information needed to exceed your expectations.

A design brief should primarily focus on the results and outcomes of the design and the business objectives of the design project. It should not attempt to deal with the aesthetics of design… That is the responsibility of the designer.

The design brief also allows you (the client) to focus on exactly what you want to achieve before any work starts on the project. A good design brief will ensure that you get a high quality design that meets your needs, providing you have  chosen the right designer.

How To Write An Effective Design Brief

If you answer these questions below in an ordered and detailed fashion, your design brief will be 90% done… the other 10% will come from further questions from the designer after you submit your brief. Have fun answering the questions and remember, provide as much detail as possible! This does not mean one line answers.

What does your business do?

Tip: Never assume that the designer will know anything about your company. Be clear and  concise  and avoid jargon when replying.

• What does your company / organization do?
• What is your company’s history?
• What are the goals?  Why?
• What is the overall goal of the new design project?
• What are you trying to communicate and why?
• Are you trying to sell more products or get awareness of your product / service?
• How do you differ from your competitors?
• Do you want to completely reinvent yourself or are you simply updating your promotional material?

Who is the target market?

• What are your target market’s demographics & phychographics? ie. the age, gender, income, tastes, views, attitudes, employment, geography, lifestyle of those you want to reach.

Tip: If you have multiple audiences, rank them in terms of importance.

What copy (text) and pictures are needed?

Tip: The copy and pictures used in a design are as crucial as the design itself and you should clearly state who is going to be providing the copy and pictures if needed.  You may need to look into getting a professional copywriter / photographer – ask your designer for some recommendations.

• What copy needs to be included in the design? Who is providing the copy?
• What pictures / photographs / diagrams etc need to be used? Who is providing these?

What are the specifications?

Have you got a benchmark in mind?

• You should provide the designer with some examples of what you consider to be effective or relevant design even if it is from your main competitors. This will set a benchmark for your designer.
• Provide the designer with things not to do, and styles that you do not like or wish to see in your design. This will give the designer an idea of what to avoid and will avoid disappointment on your behalf.

What Is Your Budget?

We’ve noticed a growing demand for infographics from our customers. What are infographics and how can they help you draw traffic to your site?

Definition

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information,data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic,computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information.

Overview

Today information graphics surround us in the media, in published works both pedestrian and scientific, in road signs and manuals. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form, and act as a visual shorthand for everyday concepts such as stop and go.

In newspapers, infographics are commonly used to show the weather, as well as maps and site plans for newsworthy events, and graphs for statistical data. Some books are almost entirely made up of information graphics, such as David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work. Although they are used heavily in children’s books, they are also common in scientific literature, where they illustrate physical systems, especially ones that cannot be photographed (such as cutaway diagrams, astronomical diagrams, and images of microscopic or sub-microscopic systems).

Modern maps, especially route maps for transit systems, use infographic techniques to integrate a variety of information, such as the conceptual layout of the transit network, transfer points, and local landmarks.

Traffic signs and other public signs rely heavily on information graphics, such as stylized human figures (the ubiquitous stick figure), icons and emblems to represent concepts such as yield, caution, and the direction of traffic. Public places such as transit terminals usually have some sort of integrated “signage system” with standardized icons and stylized maps.

Technical manuals make extensive use of diagrams and also common icons to highlight warnings, dangers, and standards certifications.

Why are infographics becoming so popular?

• Infographics can be fun and interactive – providing a light-hearted break for social media users, here’s just one of many image visualizations from the hugely popular site The Oatmeal.
• They can communicate an incredibly large set of data – displaying information in an interesting and meaningful way that instantly engages visitors. A recent example is this infographic to show the best value area to commute into London from.
• They’re different – every day we see page after page of black text on white backgrounds, which makes it difficult for us to remember every page we read, presenting information in an infographic on the other hand makes it easier to remember that information. How else could you explain the secrets of the mega shark?

So how do you decide when to use an infographic instead of standard text copy?

I would recommend using infographics and data visualizations when trying to explain an interesting idea which uses comparisons or takes into account a lot of relatively dull or uninteresting data.

For example, I don’t imagine the Mega Shark blog post being anywhere near as popular if it were a text article outlining all of the physics calculations!

Using data visualization for SEO

So besides having an increasingly stronger response on social media websites how can you use infographics to your advantage? It’s common knowledge that images in general have a lower SEO impact than text copy, but there are a few ways that you can use them to benefit your site’s search engine optimization, and this mostly comes down to the link bait potential that info graphics have – we are even beginning to see infographic posts such as this excellent cool social media infographics post, and this top ten infographics post.

As an overview, the top tips to ensure maximum SEO benefit from your infographics should include:

• Host the infographic on your domain, making sure you get the link credit.
• Promote the infographic using social media bookmarking and networking sites such as StumbleUpon and Twitter.
• Submit your infographic to data visualization directories, to generate attention from designers and additional links.
• Name the infographic file with relevant, hyphen-separated keywords, to try and influence anchor text for any links generated.
• Host the infographic on image directories such as Flickr with a creative commons license that requires anyone who uses your image to include a link to your website.

Need help with your infographics? Contact Us

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