The Myth of Web 2.0 Logo Design

I was just reading some blogs and there someone mentioned a term Logos in Web 2.0 style. I did not understand the term so I searched further and found out that there are designers working on logo designs following the popular web 2.0 style trends.

First of all who describes what is web 2.0 style trend. I know that larger fonts and bright colors are the web 2.0 style. But when we design logos we need to make sure that these logos work on all media whether it is print or the web.

To debunk the myth of this style trend just think of a lemon green business logo with extra large Arial typeface. Such a logo would fade away from print and the type would look really ugly. So perhaps the web 2.0 style is just a myth after all it has web 2.0 in it so how it could be applied to all sort of graphic design trends.

Perhaps these colors and style could be followed if the client specifically need a logo for a web design project alone. However, as a professional it would be our obligation to inform them that such a logo won’t look good in print or television and you might need to create different versions for different media.

Logo Design - what is the right price?

The price you pay for your professional logo design depends on what you want to do with your business and brand identity. If you are an established medium sized corporation you might afford to hire a team of famous designers or sign deal with some marketing or advertising agency. If you are a small business with big ambitions you might want to try some expansive free lance designer.

We believe that to succeed in the wild, small businesses need to make smart decisions.  Smart decisions are those decisions which help you reduce the cost and achieve the highest possible solution to the issue at hand.
The smart decision in that case would be hiring a professional logo design company that offers these things:

1. Affordable Prices
2. Unique Designs
3. Customer Satisfaction
4. Great Support

You can easily compare the prices among different design companies. However, it might be a little difficult for you to find out which one of these companies do the most unique designs and have the most talented teams. Because you see in this case the quality of logos is a subjective term. Some might think that one design company is better than the other and other experts would disagree. So you will have to trust your instinct on this matter.  For other items in the list you can read the reviews customer testimonials and information provided on the company’s website.

Whatever you do one thing you should never forget that your logo design is very important for your business.

Logo Design Quality Checklist

As a professional logo designer or as an small business working on a Logo Design you need to understand that a logo could last for more than a century with out any changes. So if you are creating something that could stay around for many years, wouldn't it be wise if you spend more time on maintaining a high quality standard? Below is a small checklist that you should keep in your mind working on the new logo design. 

1. ColorsWhen we talk about design, colors are probably the most important thing. Colors effect human mind in many ways. Seeing a nicely colored shape could make us like the shape, adore it, notice it, and remember it. A shape with a color that is just not right could make us dislike the shape, avoid it, ignore it and forget it. So when you check your Logo’s Design for quality make sure you pay special attention to color details.
2. Font
Fonts are called Type or Typeface in the logo design terminology. Fonts are used to represent the text in your logo design. A unique font gets quickly noticed by the consumer’s mind. But before you select a unique font randomly you need to check that it matches the other design elements in your logo design.

3. Idea
Your Logo Design is intelligent and represents the ideology of your business. The idea of your logo should be creative, neutral, attractive, non controversial, interesting and memorable. People love logos that give them something to think about.


4. Style
Style is how your logo gathers all the design elements and put them on the canvas. For example if the style of your logo is Modernism you wouldn’t want to include Victorian typeface to the design. Or if your style is nature then you wouldn’t want to include concrete structures to it.

MSU - Logo Design Controversy

We have previously discussed just how important a logo design is for brand identity. Recently there had been a debate among the fans of Michigan State University’s Basket ball team over the newly proposed changes to the team’s official logo. While the university officials consider this design change very important for their brand identity campaign, the fans however are not very supportive of the idea.

Fans, students and alumni have protested heavily against the move. Many of them claim that the proposed design changes would change the image of their team. This whole case shows just how strongly people feel about the brands they love even if it is

 their favorite sports team.
While talking to Lansing State Journal Judy Przytulski said:

“This proposed redesign is almost a slap in the face, I feel like it's messing with tradition, and just feels wrong. I don't think I could ever look at the new logo and feel the same level of attachment.”

What we can learn from this controversy that after a while people get associated with a particular brand and the logo is how they perceive their favorite brand’s identity. This association becomes so strong that sometimes changing a logo could affect the custome

r loyalty. Though sometimes a logo could easily be changed for example Pepsi Cola has changed th

eir logo many times while on the other hand their rival company Coca Cola has never changed their logo since more than a century now. Does this mean that people who prefer Pepsi over Coke do not care about their favorite product’s brand identity?

A logo re-design could be profitable or disastrous. You need to know when it is time to go for a redesign and when to revert back if the re-design affects business adversely. We look again at the example of Pepsi, even though they do change their logo often but the changes they make to their logo are sometimes not very noticeable. Instead of building an altogether new logo they basically improvise and 

modernize their existing logo and apparently their customers like that.

Logo Design Begins with Color Palette

Colors are the foundation of a good logo design. How a graphic design artist picks up a color palette? Where to look for the ideas and why use a palette? Why not just allow the instinct to take over the artistic mind and create a fiasco?

 

There are certain limitations when you are working for clients. You are creating visual images of their businesses. These are like tiny portraits of their business, their values and how they want to be seen. So it needs to be well organized, presentable and meaningful. Choosing the right color palette is the beginning of the idea. 

To pick colors you need to understand your clients business and their mission statement. Who they are? What their future plans are and what kind of people do business with them.

 

Now keeping this information in mind a Logo Design artist you should study colors. Colors not just represent the shades of light. Colors may represent wholesome ideas. Blue may represent calmness, water, sky, and peace. But, it can also represent firmness and strength. Red is supposed to represent love and passion but it can also be representing war and blood. 

Colors may also have different effects in different cultures. The effect of colors may also change in different scenarios, periods, age groups. Considering all this will help you choose your color ideas. Once you have a few colors you can add relevant colors to add contrast and shades. Too many colors might be disorienting so most artists stick to their limited color palette which simplifies the whole idea of their logo design in a coherent and meaningful manner. 

Life of a Fantastic Logo Design

This logo design of the world's most famous soft drink is around since more than a century now. It hasn't died, and even though the company had tried new logo designs in the past but none of them worked as good as this one. The reasons are strong consumer association with the brand identity.

This logo design shows us that if you create a fantastic logo design and run it with an extremely resourceful marketing campaign then your logo design would stick to the subconscious of the consumers. This logo would become not only the identity of the product but it could also become a pop culture icon.

The logo designs like that of Coca Cola are not very common though. Most businesses keep changing their logos by the time to meet their needs. For example expansion of business interests and areas would need a new re-branding campaign which begins with the redesign of the logo. It is not necessary to change the design completely, in fact such a practice could be devastating. However little improvements in an already established brand could bring great changes.

Most small businesses usually do not understand or can not afford re-branding their identity. First of all small business owners usually can not afford aggressive business expansions, which leads them to believe that they do not need aggressive branding and marketing either. However, research has proved that small businesses can do much better and can even get to a point where they could actually launch aggressive business moves by spending wisely on their brand identity and effective marketing. Effective marketing begins with a brand identity by building graphic images that become an icon of your business.

These graphic images or logos can be designed by yourself at home or you can always hire a professional logo designer to do the job. You can even find logo design companies that would do not only your logo but would also provide you with stationary design, templates, web design, brochures and other marketing tools. In the upcoming posts we will discuss these tools and how they can be used for effective marketing.

About Logo Design Blog

Hello and welcome to the Logo Design blog. Logo design blog is a place to share tips and tricks of designing corporate logos. The main topics of the blog are design practices, logo design, brand design, marketing and corporate logos. We hope you enjoy your stay here and don't forget to subscribe and share.

We will be sharing best practises in the graphic design, software reviews, interviews with expert logo designers, best logo designs, and better branding practices. We hope that you will help us improve by leaving your comments and sharing your own logo designs with us.