10 Mind Blowing Logo Design Tips! 🤯
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, a seasoned logo designer shares 10 essential tips for aspiring logo designers. Starting with black and white sketches to simplify shapes, understanding that a logo is the face, not the entire story of a company, and adjusting letter spacing are just a few of the insights offered. The designer also emphasizes the importance of sketching at least 20 concepts, avoiding online inspiration initially, creating compelling presentations, and checking for design uniqueness to ensure a logo's success and avoid legal issues.
Takeaways
- 🎨 Start with black and white: Focus on the shape and simplicity of the logo first, ensuring it works without relying on color.
- 🏢 A logo is the face of the company: It should be unique and memorable, not necessarily descriptive of the company's industry or products.
- 🔠 Adjust letter spacing for logos: 'Kerning' should be tighter in logos than in paragraph text to ensure the logo looks balanced.
- 🚫 Avoid immediate online inspiration: Create at least 20 concepts without looking at online sources to prevent unintentional copying.
- ✍️ Sketch at least 20 concepts: Pushing beyond the initial ideas can lead to more unique and creative logo designs.
- 📑 Present logos effectively: Use storytelling and mockups to show how the logo can be used in various contexts, enhancing client understanding and approval.
- 🤔 The Noun Method: Combine two standout nouns from the client's brief in their simplest forms to create a distinctive logo.
- 🌏 Change your location to refresh creativity: Shifting environments can provide new perspectives and inspiration for design.
- 🔍 Overshooting in custom typography: Adjust the size of certain letters to create visual balance, compensating for optical illusions.
- 🔒 Check logo availability: Before presenting a logo, ensure it isn't already claimed by conducting thorough searches in databases and using tools like Google Lens.
- 📝 Proof check thoroughly: Avoid potential legal issues and client dissatisfaction by verifying the originality and availability of your logo designs.
Q & A
Why should a logo designer start with black and white colors when creating a logo?
-Starting with black and white helps to focus on the shape and simplicity of the design, avoiding overcomplication or dependency on texture and color. It ensures the logo design works well even when it is shrunk to smaller sizes like on a business card.
What is the main purpose of a logo according to the speaker?
-The main purpose of a logo is to serve as the face of the company, not to explain what the company does or sells. It should be unique and memorable, representing the company's identity.
Why should the spacing between letters in a logo be tighter than in paragraph text?
-The default spacing in Adobe Illustrator is set for paragraph text, which is usually wider than needed for logos. Tighter spacing ensures the logo looks cohesive and fits well within its intended use.
Why is it advised not to look at online sources for inspiration when starting a logo design project?
-Looking at online sources too early can lead to unintentional copying or creating a design that's too similar to existing logos, which can result in legal issues or client dissatisfaction.
What is the significance of sketching at least 20 concepts before finalizing a logo design?
-Sketching at least 20 concepts helps to challenge the designer's creativity and push past initial cliché or existing ideas, leading to more unique and original logo designs.
How can a logo designer effectively present their logo designs to clients?
-A designer should create a story and a presentation that shows how the logo can be used in different contexts and make mockups specific to the brand. Presenting the logo ideas over a call can further help in convincing the client.
What is the 'Noun Method' for creating logo designs as mentioned by the speaker?
-The Noun Method involves taking two nouns from the client's brief and drawing them in their simplest form, then finding similarities and combining them to create a logo that represents both elements.
Why is changing the design environment important for a logo designer?
-Changing the design environment can help refresh the designer's perspective, draw inspiration from different cultures, and understand new design aesthetics, which can enhance creativity.
What is 'overshooting' in the context of logo design, and why is it important?
-Overshooting refers to the optical illusion where certain shapes, like circles, may appear smaller than they are due to their curves. Adjusting for overshooting helps to create a visually balanced logo.
Why is it crucial to check the availability of a logo design before presenting it to a client?
-Checking the availability of a logo design ensures that the design is not already in use or claimed by someone else, preventing potential legal issues and maintaining the trust of the client.
Outlines
🎨 Logo Design Fundamentals
This paragraph introduces the video as a guide for logo designers, sharing 10 valuable tips from the creator's experience. It emphasizes starting with black and white to focus on shape simplicity, understanding that a logo is the face of a company rather than a literal representation of its business, and adjusting letter spacing (kerning) to fit logo design standards rather than paragraph text.
🚫 Avoiding Inspiration Overload
The speaker advises against relying on Pinterest or Google for immediate inspiration, cautioning that this could lead to unintentional replication and potential legal issues. Instead, they recommend creating at least 20 unique concepts first and then seeking inspiration to refine ideas, ensuring originality and a strong personal touch in the design process.
📈 The Power of Presentation
The importance of presenting logos effectively is highlighted, using Nike's advertising strategy as an example. The speaker suggests creating a compelling story and presentation for the logo, demonstrating its versatility and potential applications, which can significantly increase client satisfaction and the perceived value of the design.
🔍 The Noun Method for Concept Generation
This section introduces the 'Noun Method' for generating logo concepts by combining two significant nouns from the client's brief. The method involves simplifying these nouns and finding commonalities to create a unified design that represents both elements, leading to a variety of unique and meaningful logo ideas.
🌏 Stimulating Creativity Through Environmental Change
The speaker shares personal strategies for maintaining creativity, such as changing the design environment by traveling to different places for fresh perspectives and inspiration. They also note that small changes in routine or workspace can be beneficial, emphasizing the importance of an adaptable and varied approach to design.
🎯 Overshooting for Visual Balance
The concept of 'overshooting' is explained, which refers to the optical illusion that certain shapes, like circles, appear smaller than they are when placed next to others. The speaker advises designers to adjust the size of elements to achieve visual balance, even if it means deviating from strict mathematical proportions.
🔎 Ensuring Logo Uniqueness and Availability
The final tip stresses the importance of checking the uniqueness and availability of a logo design before presenting it to clients. The speaker recounts a personal experience where a lack of due diligence led to a costly mistake and lost trust. They recommend using tools like Google's global brand database and other image search features to verify that the design is not already in use.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Logo Design
💡Black and White
💡Concepts
💡Simplicity
💡Company Face
💡Kerning
💡Inspiration
💡Sketching
💡Presentation
💡Noun Method
💡Overshooting
💡Availability
Highlights
Start with black and white in logo design to simplify shapes and ensure scalability.
A logo is the face of the company, not a description of what it does.
Adjust letter spacing (kerning) to make logo types tighter than default paragraph text settings.
Avoid opening Pinterest or Google to prevent unintentional replication of existing designs.
Sketch at least 20 concepts to challenge your brain and find unique logo ideas.
Create a compelling logo presentation to show how the logo can be used in various contexts.
The 'Noun Method' involves combining two standout nouns from a client's brief to create a unique logo.
Change your working environment to stay inspired and refresh your design perspective.
Overshooting is essential in logo design to create visual balance, especially with custom types.
Check the availability of your logo designs to ensure they are not already claimed by someone else.
Use the global brand database and Google Lens to verify the uniqueness of your logo designs.
The importance of not stopping at the first few sketches and the value of the '20 sketch rule'.
The impact of storytelling in logo presentations to help clients envision their brand identity.
The significance of understanding a client's background and story to create a memorable logo.
The risk of relying on online sources for inspiration without creating original concepts first.
The practical advice of not sending logo presentations via simple messages, but presenting them personally.
The technique of using simple forms of two nouns and finding similarities to combine them in logo design.
The advice on not traveling the world to be creative, but making small shifts in your routine environment.
The visual illusion created by curves and how to correct it in logo design through optical balancing.
Transcripts
hello designers and welcome back so as
you all know that I am a logo designer
and I've been designing logos for
million dooll companies from past 4
years and today I'll be showing you 10
logo design tips which will tremendously
help you if you are a logo designer or
if you want to become one so let's jump
right into it tip number one start with
black and white color is easily the most
fun part about designing yes I know it
is a very delightful step but a lot of
times people have their opinions and
biases without any formal education
about color that is one of the reasons
when I work on Logo sketches I don't
even think about the colors at all in
fact I only start using the colors after
I have at least three good Concepts
ready starting with black and white will
save you it pretty much blocks you from
creating something fussy over
complicated or so dependent on texture
that it will just look like a blob when
you shrunk it down to a business card it
basically makes you simplify your shapes
which is a very good thing and if it
works in black and white it will work
with any color anywhere next is logo is
just a face of the company I see many
young designers text me on Instagram and
send me their logo designs on email
saying that their clients are not liking
their logos they're not able to charge a
higher price for their logos like I do
well the problem is not because you're
getting bad clients problem is that a
lot of logo designers think a logo
should say a lot of things a logo should
say what a company does it should say
what they sell no I mean just look at
Apple's logo they are not selling apples
and hopefully won't in the future my
point being a logo is just a face of the
company and not the whole company itself
when a client tells you to create a logo
design for a real estate form don't just
jump right into the concept of building
a house or a building think beyond that
understand their background listen to
their story and work on how you can make
their logo as unique and memorable as
possible for our third one we have King
I think by now we all know what king is
and for those who don't know it's
basically setting the spacing between
individual letters and characters and
when talking about logo types logo types
should be always turn tighter than they
are wide that's because the conning
values that we have as default on Adobe
Illustrator is set for paragraph text
and not for specific logo types so when
you type out a word and you want to use
that exact font for a logo type before
finalizing it K it tighter individually
you can simply do this by still keeping
the text editable by pressing alt or
option on your keyboard and moving the
arrow keys left or right tip number four
do not open Pinterest or Google I know
how tempting it is to just open
Pinterest or Google and type out the
logo design you're working on to get a
bunch of ideas and creative juices
flowing so that you can impress your
clients with your designs as quickly as
possible well it might even work in the
short time your client will get
impressed and even finalize the logo but
what if later they come to you asking
for a full refund on the project as the
logo which you worked on so hard was a
replica of something they found out
later on Pinterest trust me this exact
thing has happened with me before yes I
am speaking from experience so my
personal advice would be to not to look
at any online source of inspiration
after at least creating 20 Concepts on
your notebook and even if you do look at
some inspiration online don't just
blindly copy the idea take the concepts
from three to five different logos and
combine it to make it yours at number
five I have something I tell every
single designer I meet sketch at least
20 Concepts yes you have probably heard
me say this before and the reason why I
keep saying this is because I know there
are still designers out there that just
stop at the first five sketches they
ideate they do not understand the Magic
in challenging your brain to think more
and to force yourself to complete the
minimum 20 sketch rule almost always my
initial sketches are either to cliche or
something that is existing online the
way I able to create unique logo designs
is by passing that stage and forcing
myself more and more and more try this
20 sketch method out and trust me you
will thank me later then next we have a
tip which I use at my own company always
present your logos this one has
tremendously changed the success rate of
logo designs for our clients to explain
this let me give you an example we all
know this famous shoe brand called Nike
when Nike wants to sell you a shoe they
don't just be like here you go here's
the shoe go buy it right they spend
millions of dollars in creating ads
putting out their brand message telling
a story using their own product which
conveys you that if you are someone
serious about running you should
probably go with a Nike shoe if Nike can
spend millions of dollars in just
telling a story to convince you to buy
their shoe why why can't you spend just
one more extra day in creating a logo
presentation for which you have worked
so hard to design none of your clients
will like the logo design just by
looking at it create a story make a
presentation show how the logo can be
used in different ways possible for
different use cases and make mockups
specific to their Brand This Way the
clients will now have a vision on how
their brand will look like with the logo
which you have crafted also after making
the presentation don't just simply send
it to them over WhatsApp or email get on
a call present it to them further
convincing them that why you think these
three options are the right fit for
their brand tip number seven the noun
method the name of this method is given
by a fellow designer I follow Alan pitos
I'm sure you must have seen his viral
videos on Instagram this technique is
also mentioned in his book called logos
that last it is a must read if you want
to know the process of creating iconic
logos the noun method is nothing but
basically taking two nouns out of the
client's brief which really stands out
for example in one of my previous videos
if you remember I was designing a logo
go for an African tea brand named meow
now if you look here you have four nouns
already Africa tea meow and of course a
cat you will take two nouns and draw
them out in their simplest form keep
drawing each one and try to find
similarities between how they are
constructed what shape really makes that
animal look like a cat and not a dog
understand their shape and form try
refining and combining both the nouns in
a way you can see both the elements this
way you'll be able to come with multiple
logo design ideas just by using this
noun method this next tip number eight
uh is probably one of the most important
ones change your location when working
on a design repeatedly it's easy to
reach a saturation point and that's
completely normal creativity is
essentially in this field but it doesn't
always come easy one strategy I use to
stay inspired is changing my environment
you must have probably noticed that I
travel a lot places like Japan Singapore
turkey and many more these trips are in
just for leisure they help me refresh my
perspective draw inspiration from
different cultures and understand new
design Aesthetics which I can apply you
in India of course not everyone has a
luxury to travel while working and
that's completely okay for me these
Journeys serve a dual purpose they keep
my creativity at its peak and also
provide valuable content to share it
with you guys remember you don't have to
travel the world to be creative
sometimes a small shift in the
environment in your routine can do
wonders if you don't even have a studio
like this it's completely okay I mean
it's just been a year since I have this
you can work from your parents' room
sometimes on the dining table in the
living room or at your friend's house or
literally any nearby cafe the point
being keep changing where you work in
fact I've written the script of this
video you're watching at home in my
shudy table and I am your shooting in my
studio I have shifted the environment
where I am working the second last tip
of the video is overshooting when
working on Logo designs especially
custom types we need to keep
overshooting in mind let me explain it
with you with an example let's say we
take the the square a nice filled blank
square and then we take this circle and
put it right besides it now when we look
closely at both of them the circle looks
much smaller than the square but if we
turn on the guides we realize they are
mathematically the same height then how
is this possible the curves on the
circle with a much smaller surface area
creates a visual illusion that makes it
appear smaller than it actually is to
make this visually correct and
mathematically incorrect we will
increase the size of the circle slightly
further making it optically balanced
well you'll be surprised to know that
all the Fontes you use every single day
on your laptops already have
overshooting don't believe me just type
XO on your keyboard in illustrator with
any font you like and try to draw a line
on the top and the bottom part of the
letter X touching it you will see the O
is slightly larger and not only o all
the round letters are slightly larger so
keep this in mind when you're working on
custom type and for our last and final
tip we have check the availability of of
your logos even if you follow all the
other tips I gave in this video and not
this final one all your efforts will go
to waste this last tip is crucial you
have to make sure your Concepts or
designs aren't already out there and
claimed by someone else 2 years ago I
made this mistake while working on a
logo design for a real estate client in
Dubai I skipped the proof checking step
only to have the client call me one late
night demanding a refund I lost not only
the hard- earned money but also the
trust of that very client I don't want
you to go through the same what I did so
here is what you should do after
completing your logo design and feeling
confident about it before presenting it
to your client take an extra step open
the global brand database on Google use
the search by logo feature and drop in
your logo design there this will help
you check if any similar logo designs or
ideas have already been registered by
someone else before Additionally you can
use Google Lens or shutter stock image
search to be completely sure learn from
my experience so you can avoid these
mistakes which I did a little extra
diligence can save you from a lot of
trouble down the road well that was all
from me folks I hope these tips will
help you in your graphic design journey
and if you think this video was really
valuable do drop a like so YouTube will
recommend this video to other fellow
designers like you also while you're at
it comment down below if you need a part
two of 10 tips for logo designers
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