Last week we talked about how to go about designing an advertising logo. This week we will look at how to design a web 2.0 style telecommunications logo.

From a design standpoint the style associated with the Web 2.0 style logo designs have received a lot of both positive and negative attention. From the point of view of a logo designer the Web 2.0 can be a very positive design process. This is because generally, the look and style of the logo utilizes the best of classic design, layout and type principals with effects and finishing touches that are relative to the modern digital age.

Recently we were asked by a client to create a set of samples that utilizes the Web 2.0 style for their new company MangoNet. Set in the industry of wireless communications it was important that the brand identity convey a fresh and modern look that was fitting to the high tech field they were in, as well as to their target market.

There are several design characterizations, which can be associated with the Web 2.0 look;

• The first of which is the use the choice of typeface. Generally the style of typeface used
  in the style are classic fonts that are highly legible for maximum visual impact.
• The next quality is the use of color and digital effects such as gradients and reflections to create a modern and polished look. Bold and bright colors as well as gradients create a fresh and modern feeling because the processes, technology and software used to create these effects are relatively new and have the most impact “back-lit” on a computer monitor.

In the first concept we utilized an idea that was provided by the client. A text based logo where the “O” in MANGO was replaced with an image of a brightly colored mango. Gradients were used in combination with simple geometric shapes to create the illusion of form. To achieve the effect the removed core a smaller shape was centered and the gradient from yellow to orange was reversed changing the illusion of light and shadow.

In addition a reflective effect was added to the text giving the design the appearance of sitting on a shiny surface. This effect is used commonly in many Web 2.0 identities and works as an afterthought to give the webpage or printed material a unique and realistic perspective. It brings the logo from an image that is just stamped on the screen to an identity that is placed into the virtual environment.

The overall design for this concept is very simple yet effective. The use of the iconic image replacing a letter helps to separate the two words and also create a bit of context. Although the image doesn’t necessarily convey wireless technology, the fresh and unique name and design will create a buzz of interest, which will let the consumer look further into what products and services the company does offer.

For a second concept a much more abstract logo design was created which was intended to create an emotional connection with the viewer. The fluid lines and organic shapes help to convey a sense of energy which reflects the high-tech industry that the company is in. The central shape still fits the theme of the mango and also helps give the abstract icon some focus. Gradients were utilized to give a polished look and create depth and dimension.

In order to achieve this illusion it is important to have an understanding of both light and shadow and other business logo design essentials but also how gradients work in vector based software. It is important to avoid common design blunders.

Generally, a gradient is simple a blending from one color to another either in a straight line or a circular radiating pattern. There are other ways to create more complex gradients but they can cause printing and compatibility problems for the client after the design is finalized. By utilizing a combination of both a lighter color and white the illusions of form and glass-like highlights can be created.

The overall design of the second concept is a nice combination of an abstract, energy fueled icon with a clean and simple font. The bright colors again convey a very fresh and modern look that is bound to capture the attention of a potential consumer.

For the third concept design the idea utilizing a series of abstract shapes to help convey wireless technology and communications was used. The basic premise was to create an image that related to the industry with a color scheme that related to the name which would help create a complete design.

A radiating pattern of circular dots was created to express waves or bits of information traveling over a distance. To achieve the effect of perspective the circles were stretched into ovals with smaller shapes at the back and larger shapes gradually getting bigger toward the front. The mind will correct the oval shape back into a circle and view the image as if it were stretching off into the the distance.

By placing the dots as a white image onto a block of color, the maximum amount of visual impact could be achieved. The clean square format blends nicely with the text creating a very clean and effective design.

For the final concept we went back to the mango theme and created an icon with the potential to act as a stand-alone image without the name but still represent the company. To do this the image of mango was created in combination with the initial “M” running through it.

Using gradients once again to capture the form and color of a mango, the cut away “M” adds an additional touch helping to create a very fluid image. The stylized scripted letter utilizes various elements to create fun yet elegant icon. The bold look helps draw the eye whiles the flowing lines help create a sense of energy.

The overall design follows a very “traditional” Web 2.0 layout by utilizing the icon at the end of company name and acting almost as a superscript symbol. The end result is a very effective design that creates a sense of impact and interest while following a modern Web 2.0 style.

While designing business card it is very important to take into consideration who is going to look at the card. The look and feel of a business card depends on the industry the company is in and the kind of people to whom the cards are given. Take a look at some of the business card designs we have created for our clients.

For example a very simply and clean looking card would suit a financial consultant where as a real estate agent might benefit from a more “colorful” one. The logo also plays an important role in how you should design a business card.

Seth Godin posted an interesting articles about business cards mistakes today. I will probably eloborate on that and discuss how to go about creating an effective business card design in a future post. But for today we will take a look at how to properly set up a business card design file for printing to achieve the correct printing results.

This post assumes you are creating the business card design in Adobe Illustrator. There are two important reasons why Illustrator is better than Photoshop when creating business cards. First of all Illustrator works in vector mode and the end result could be the EPS file format which most professional printers use for printing business cards. Secondly you could also save the files as PDF with “Printer” settings. PDF files are very popular with online printing websites. Read more about the difference between vector graphics and raster graphics file formats.

Setting up your document in Illustrator

I have provided an Adobe Illustrator business card template* that you can use as the base template or you can create your own. When using the template that I have uploaded please ensure the “guides” layer is turned off. Otherwise you cards will print with the red and blue borders. When creating a base layout for the business card, margins, trim, bleed area and safe areas must be carefully setup to prevent any issues when the design goes to print.

Outer Edge of the card: This is the outline of the document in Illustrator. The standard US business size for this would be 90mm x 52mm.

Bleed Area: The very edges of the document are called the bleed area. If you have any design elements or color that comes close to or touches the outer border, you should extend it to spill over the card outer border. This way when the cards are cut by the printer, there will be no ugly “white edge” effect that would make the cards looks cheap.

Trim Area: The red border you see above shows you where the card will be cut after printing.

Safe Area: The blue border you see above is called the safe area. The safe margins are borders that are definitely inside the place where the cut will take place. Please remember to keep all important information, like names, addresses, phone numbers or logos within the safe margin (at least .137” from the edge) to ensure that they are not cut off when your document is trimmed.

When to create your document at the full bleed size: If you are working in an illustration program (such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw) or a photo editing program (Such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photo-Paint), we recommend that you create your document at the full bleed size. This will prevent any white edges from showing at the borders after the final product is trimmed.

When to create your document at the trim size: If you are working in a layout program (such as QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign) we recommend that you create your document at the trim size and include the specified amount of bleed for your product (.137”). When you export your document as a PDF for upload, make sure to include the bleed in your output settings so that the final upload PDF document is at the full bleed size for your product.

Document Color Settings (CMYK vs. RGB)

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) are the colors used in the printing process, whereas RGB (Red, Green and Blue) are the colors used by screen displays such as your monitor. Please note that JPEG files are almost always in RGB.

Your document should be created in CMYK mode so that the colors that you see on the screen most closely match the final printed product. If you create your document in RGB, the colors in your printed product may vary slightly. Many of the bright values produced by your monitor cannot be reproduced in print.

Print Resolution Settings

To get a high quality print result it is important to set up the resolution of the artwork. Once set up this effects both the EPS file and any other file conversions.

The optimum resolution for high quality printing is 300dpi. Resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi), or the amount of detail the image has. Most documents prepared for commercial printing should be 300 dpi at 100% of the final print size.

You can set up the resolution of the document in the “Document Raster Effects Settings” dialog box. To get to that option Effects > Document Raster Effects Settings

Converting Fonts to outlines

Once the design is completed and you are preparing the file for printing always ensure that you convert all text part to outlines. Normally the text is in font format which means that if some one else wants to open your document they would need the same fonts to be installed on their machine. So by converting the text to outline mode you do not need to send the fonts to your printer.

PDF Document Settings

If you are saving the business card to a PDF file (for use with most online printers and few standard printers), the following setting must be used to achieve correcting printing.

/ASCII85EncodePages false
/AutoPositionEPSFiles true
/AutoRotatePages /None
/Binding /Left
/CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%)
/CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
/CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2)
/sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
/CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Error
/CompatibilityLevel 1.3
/CompressPages true
/ConvertImagesToIndexed true
/CreateJobTicket false
/DefaultRenderingIntent /Default
/DetectBlends false
/ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged
/DoThumbnails false
/EmbedAllFonts true
/EmitDSCWarnings false
/EndPage -1
/ImageMemory 524288
/LockDistillerParams true
/MaxSubsetPct 100
/Optimize false
/OPM 0
/ParseDSCComments false
/ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true
/PreserveCopyPage false
/PreserveEPSInfo true
/PreserveHalftoneInfo false
/PreserveOPIComments true
/PreserveOverprintSettings true
/StartPage 1
/SubsetFonts true
/TransferFunctionInfo /Remove
/UCRandBGInfo /Preserve
/UsePrologue false
/ColorSettingsFile ()
/AlwaysEmbed [ true ]
/NeverEmbed [ true ]
/AntiAliasColorImages false
/DownsampleColorImages true

If you find this too tedious to manually set up I have uploaded a Adobe PDF Presets* settings file that you can import into Adobe Illustrator. Simply go to Edit > Adobe PDF Presets and once the dialog box opens up you can do an import of these settings.

* Note: The design and settings template files provided in this article should be used at your own discretion. Logo Design Works can not be held liable for any issues arising from the use of these files.

Welcome to the first edition of “how to design a logo” series. This week we will analyze how to design an abstract logo for an advertising company. We will take a look below at all the logo concepts we came up with for our client, Quantum Creative, how we came up with those concepts and what elements were used to bring our ideas to life.

A little bit of info about the client, Quantum Creative: a data driven advertising agency. The company is strongly driven in its decisions by research data. It is affiliated with the top business consultancy in UK and benefits from its strong data based strategic positioning. The target market is current Elixir Business Consultancy clients and local manufacturing brands that require advertising and branding services.

The client wanted to see a logo design that represented the concept of Quantum which is “indivisible energy that is everlasting”. The client came to us without a real vision of what they wanted. They knew that they wanted a very modern, cutting edge type design that would appeal to a younger, more tech savvy market. Using themes based on the idea of energy, and science a set of five initial logo designs was created.

For all of the initial concepts it was important to create a basic geometric structure that could easily be converted into a simple one color image. That said, various gradient effects were then utilized to create a polished look to add both depth and dimension to create a modern, technological feeling.

The first concept is based on an abstract rendering of the atomic symbol. Dynamic rings were created first, which were then layered to create a sense of space and depth. For the center globe, a circle was rendered and then using a series of simple elements the illusion of a glass-like finish was created.

After adjusting the angle and placement of all the elements the graphic was then formatted to flow with the type treatment. For a maximum visual impact, a very clean and simple font was used to offset the 3D look of the graphic. The final design for this concept is a clean and modern image that effectively reflects both a technological idea as well as the theme of science.

The second concept utilizes an abstract shape reminiscent of the initial “Q”. Using the initial in a very stylized manner is a great way of expressing the overall theme without resorting to literal imagery. It also gives the graphic a direct relation with the name creating an integration which makes the brand more memorable. Using a simple series of circles and a crescent, the elements were adjusted as solid shapes to get an over all sense of flow and layout.

After that step, gradients and highlights were created to give the elements a sense of form and shape. By adjusting the gradients in simple and subtle ways the overall light and shadow begins to blend which adds to the realism of the overall design. Because the image is so iconic, it was placed above and centered to the text, which utilizes a very modern and almost futuristic style creating the completed brand.

For the third concept we wanted to focus more on the concept of energy, reflected in an abstract, organic way. The first step was creating a kind of free flowing vortex shape. By developing just one side first, the element can be copied and then rotated to create an overall symmetrical look that gives the illusion of movement and seamlessness. By utilizing very simple geometric shapes you easily create a very dynamic and fluid image that has a high visual impact.

To enhance the organic quality of the graphic a series of soft, silver background elements were created. This not only helps to enhance the visual impact of the main part of the graphic but can also help to direct the eye. In the end an oblong, circular shape was used. The abstract shape flowed nicely with the rest of the image as well as added direction down to the type. In terms of font choice a simple, yet modern square font served to complete the design.

For the fourth concept keeping with the theme of science and energy, the next concept utilizes a kind of molecular structure that could also be used to convey the initial “Q”. By experimenting with several circular shape, a unique yet simple design was created. By breaking down the letter “Q” down to the simplest identifiable elements, the larger circle and the cross at the lower right, it was easy to create an abstract icon that could represent both ideas at the same time. To enhance the overall visual impact, a globe shape was created using subtle gradients. The “Q” image was then inverted to white and placed over the globe to form a “cut-out” look.

For the text, a simple sans serif font was used to reflect the straight forward “scientific” look of the overall design. The icon was also utilized in the text to give a correlation between the imagery. The placement of the icon to the right just over the text is a reference to mathematical symbols, further enhancing the science theme and completing the brand.

For the fifth initial concept we wanted to try a more identifiable representation of the atomic symbol. This rounds off an overall spectrum of styles and images and also creates a good base. To start, a simple ring was created and given a gradient to convey the feeling of round tube-like shape. Once that was achieved, the ring was stretched out to create a sense of perspective. The next step was to copy the rings and position them at angles that correspond with the atomic symbol.

A circular disk was also to create some impact and also enhance the idea of energy and movement. The graphic was then placed next to a very bold and striking type which creates a very strong and stable impression. The block of color at the bottom serves as a way to display the tag line and balance out the heavy type at the top.

Word processors and spreadsheet or presentation applications, although suitable for creating files for office or Internet use, are not recommended for creating digital art for print. Microsoft Office applications are included in this group. In some cases, however, such files may be converted so as to enable use.

Here are 2 examples of an image when magnified or scaled up. You will notice the difference in clarity. The mascot below was designed by Logo Design Works for a client.

Vector Graphics typically are generated using drawing or illustration programs (e.g., Adobe Illustrator) and are composed of mathematically-defined geometric shapes—lines, objects and fills. Since vectors entail both magnitude and direction, vector elements thus are comprised of line segments whose length represents magnitude and whose orientation in space represents direction.

Vector graphics usually are easily modified within the creating application and generally are not affected detrimentally by scaling (enlarging or reducing their size). Because vector elements are mathematically-defined, scaling simply requires modification of their mathematical locations. However, vector files do not support photographic imagery well and often can be problematic for cross-platform exchange. Vector graphics typically are saved as EPS format.

Raster Images are produced by digital image capture devices: digital scanners or digital cameras, or by pixel editing programs (e.g., Adobe Photoshop). Raster images are composed of a matrix (grid) or bitmap of digital picture elements (pixels). Pixels are squares or rectangles described as black, white, gray or color. Raster images typically are saved as TIFF format, but can be saved as EPS as well.

Whereas conversion from vector to raster is easily accomplished, raster conversion to vector is much more difficult (and often is not possible). Raster images typically are easily shared across various platforms, but can be more difficult than vector graphics to modify. As well, raster graphics are impacted by scaling.

Your church logo design is the foundation of how your church is recognized. You want your church logo design to encompass both your beliefs and professionalism.

Depending upon which part of the country you live in, you may require that the church logo design is completely unique so that it will stand out amongst all of the other church logo designs.

Typical church and religious logo designs tend to portray their religion through crosses and light imagery. Church logo design also tends to incorporate text that is of a traditional and professional manner. Your identity should communicate to your target audience.

The church logo design should be a symbol of your church and represent the church’s personality. Is your church warm and inviting or is it fun and creative?

These aspects can be easily portrayed through your church logo design. You want your church logo design to communicate what your church believes in and how your church portrays its beliefs.

Church logo designs can be fun and use a variety of colors. They can portray that going to your church is fun and creative. Fun church logo designs invite people of all ages to attend.

They especially attract the younger generations and encourage them to attend a fun and creative church environment. More traditional and straightforward church logo designs will attract the older generation.

They still want to have a good time at church while they learn about God’s word, but they also want the church to represent tradition and traditional beliefs. Using classic style fonts and similar colors will achieve a traditional church logo design.

Church logo design is also a great way to re-brand your church. Are you building a new chapel or an addition to the church and you want to represent the church’s new look?

You may want to revamp the original church logo design to represent this new change and new look for the future.

You want to make your church stand out from the crowd and you want the church logo design to make the public aware of your presence.

Your church logo design will allow people to recognize and remember your church. Your church will soon recognize the logo design and will feel as though they are a part of it.

The church logo design is the image that the community will view your church by and you want it to be unique, original, and professional.