With the plethora of design tools and graphic design materials available, a lot of designers have found themselves lost deep in the mayhem of clutter. It happens when you attempt to create overly complicated designs that end up losing their purposes as branding tools.

Whereas it is important and encouraging to display your design prowess, you lose the initiative when your design fails to achieve its objective. But how can you, as the designer, cut the clutter and bring logo design back to the basics? Here is how:

Be thorough in your research

Before you sit down at your desk to implement a logo design, it is imperative that you do a thorough research to enable you gain useful insights regarding the logo you are just about to design. A lot of designers end up with complex and sophisticated logos simply because they bypassed the research stage hence they did not comprehend what was needed for that particular logo design.

Basic logo design requires that you gather as much information as possible about the industry you are designing a logo for, with great emphasis on the target audience and the competition likely to be faced. Your aim, therefore, as the logo designer is to come up with a simplistic yet effective design that will dwarf the competition and speak to the target audience in a language they understand. If you have a logo design principle in mind, then you will always avoid the clutter and have a ride downhill each time you are designing a logo.

Always be Original

Many designers in the present times have a higher propensity to lax in their creativity by imitating designs that are already in existence. This is driven by the need to make a quick back with total disregard for the industry’s ethical standards and the importance of giving unique designs to clients. It is guaranteed that you will always come up with a clutter design if you are unable to put your creative mind to use and come up with unique designs. Originality is a requirement for basic logo design, and you will never achieve it if you prefer to be a copy cat.

Careful Choice of Typefaces

Most logos that would have been great and appeared professional have been ruined by the wrong choice of fonts. Basic logo design requires that you be very vigilant with the fonts you choose to use in the design. Remember, the font chosen should act as a tone for the brand and reflect on the company’s vision.

With so many fonts to choose from, there may be a temptation to go for the most modern fonts or the breathtaking ones thinking that they will give the best results. However, whichever choice of fonts you go for, you must have two things in mind: the fonts must be simple and most of all, they must be legible. This is imperative in basic logo design because you desire people to see your logo, read it so as to understand the particular message you are trying to pass across.

Test the logo for effectiveness

For you to be successful in basic logo design, you have to test the logo for effectiveness before you can finally wrap up the process. Essentially, this implies that you should check if the logo will give satisfactory results when placed or viewed in different places. For instance, it should render well in printed materials such as the company’s letterheads the way it rendered in your computer screen.

Additionally, a good logo must be easy to print, scalable, distinct and memorable. Due to these attributes, therefore, the use of icons and symbols are highly encouraged for basic logo design as opposed to as opposed to using photographs that might lack in originality besides being blurred or pixilated.

Fads Will Come and Go, Avoid Trendy Looks

Basic logo design is based on solid principles and not graphic design trends that are here today and will be gone tomorrow. It simply implies that you should ground your logo design on the core principles and avoid the temptation to conform to the current trends. This is because trends come and go but principles will always remain.

As much as you want the logo to be fresh and appealing, remember that you wish to create a logo that will be effective and exude timeless elegance several years from today. Rather than trying to play the trend, therefore, stick to basic logo design that will remain appealing when the trends will be long gone.

Always work in Black and White Fast

Starting your design in black and white is another basic logo design concept that many people tend to miss. By starting your design in this manner, all you attention will be on the idea and not the aesthetics. You will have the clarity to bring all the important aspects of the design before you start splashing around colors.

Once you are content with the black and white design, you can then go ahead and add color to finalize the design. Mastering this basic logo design principle will save you from deviating and cluttering your design with things that will only end up hurting the effectiveness of your logo.

Check out where to use your logo after it is completed. 

The post Cut the Clutter: How to Bring a Logo Design Back to Basics appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Choosing or pairing the right font for a logo design is usually a challenge to most designers, sometimes even the most experienced ones. It may be possible to use one or two fonts that will work well in your design, but there are no guarantees that they will collaborate to help you achieve the typographic aim you had.

But the process of choosing the right font for a logo should not always make you reach for your aspirin each time you design if you can understand the basics and always adhere to the rules. This is not to say that you should limit your creativity and stick to the rules at all the times, but using the tips given below will save you a lot of time and enhance your process of choosing the right font for a logo each time you sit down to design.

How many fonts should you use?

No strict rule restricts the number of fonts you can use in your design since there are a number of factors that comes into play when choosing the right font for your logo. But irrespective of the number of fonts you decide upon, you must have in mind the overall effects you want to achieve when the design is complete. Just like human beings, Fonts have personality, which might sometimes clash if you bring a lot of them together.

You are thus not limited by the number of fonts you can use in your logo design provided that you can manage to achieve harmony when using multiple fonts on the same design. If you will end up with a decorative and striking design, then go ahead and use as many fonts as you want but if you feel you can still use fewer fonts and still get stellar results, nothing stands in your way.

Whereas you are free to use whatever number of fonts you want in your logo, a quick glance at some of the best logos in the world will reveal to you that most of them prefer to stick with one font. By using a single font, they have a chance to send a strong marketing message to the consumer. If they have to use multiple fonts, then these will appear on their other advertising materials or in the logos of sub-brands of the same companies. For proven results, therefore, sticking to one font may be the right thing to do when choosing the right font for a logo design.

The Font Categories

Font category is another factor worth giving consideration when choosing the right font for a logo. The choice of a category should also be guided by the overall aims of the design as well as the particular effects you would want to achieve with the logo design. Once you have determined the objectives of your design, you will find it easy to choose a particular category that will work well for the project at hand.

Font Scale and Proportion

It is rewarding to pay close attention to scale, space and case when choosing the right font for a logo. This is especially important when you are considering using multiple fonts on the same logo design. It is imperative that all the fonts chosen for the design have congruency in terms of scale and proportion so that the final design may have strong overall coherence.

It is not a must that the fonts chosen must be identical in terms of scale and proportion, but you want to look for fonts that are nearly similar or fonts that are entirely different and which will make it easy and simple to create contrast in the logo design.

Use Fonts with Color or Style

Can you imagine using six different fonts, seven colors and four different styles on the same design? If the design is approved for final production, then whoever will be looking at it will have a tough time trying to find out what it is all about if they will have the grace to stick around for that long.

This is not to condemn you in using just a font with a single color or style, but you need to exercise sobriety and be careful not to overdo anything in the logo design. When choosing the right font for a logo, the recommendation as far as color goes is that, no matter the number of fonts chosen, you need to stick to colors in the same saturation or hue. This so that you can have the colors mesh rather than have them clashing on the same design.

On styles, you may have a little more flexibility when choosing the right font for a logo. However, the preferred style must make sense with the weight and emphasis created by the fonts.

Finally, choosing the right font for a logo is something you will be proficient at following a lot of practice and experience. You may get it wrong a couple of times in the beginning, but as you continue to do more designs, it will come second to nature in your designs.

Use this advice on picking the right colors for your fonts!

The post Choosing the Perfect Font For a Logo appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

The less is more design principle is becoming a strong trend lately in the spheres of logo design. It has come to the realization that simplicity leads to the creation of effective logo designs that will add immensely to the branding endeavors of the business and make it memorable to the clients for a long period.

The less is more principle would have been dismissed as another passing cloud, but if you see big companies and large corporations rebranding their logos to simpler ones, then you know that there are some serious undercurrents taking place. These companies spend fortunes in their branding and for them to revert to less is more logos, they must have done adequate research and are convinced that it is the best design approach to consider.

Netflix, PayPal, and Avery are some of the corporate giants who have demonstrated the effectiveness of applying the less is more design principle in logo design.

Why less is More Logo Design is Successful

It not in question that less is more in logo design has a lot of benefits as compared to cramming lots of graphics and wording in the same logo. Other than the aesthetic appeal created by such designs, here are some of the reasons why this concept is such a powerful one when it comes to the logos and overall branding for the company-:

Creates balance and harmony in the design

In the absence of balance and harmony,  a logo design might lose coherence and fail to capture the attention of the viewers effectively. The less is more design principle is useful in creating a harmonious layout in the design and removes any unsteadiness, either in the text or the graphics to make the logo more visible and easily recognizable.

Improves readability

One of the benefits of applying the less is more design principle is that it greatly enhances the readability of the logo. Simplistic logos does not feature a lot of texts and images hence viewers can easily and quickly comprehend what the logo is all about.

Leads to creation of simple yet sophisticated and elegant designs

If you are observant, you will realize that the corporation that have rebranded using the less is more design principle are some of the giants in their respective industries. Cheap and local companies will in most cases have overly complicated logos. It is also evident that simplistic logos are simple, yet display a great deal of professionalism and elegance in the design.

Gives focus and emphasis on the subject

When less is more is applied in logo design, there are few elements of design used making the subject of the design get a lot of focus. This clarity is immensely useful in branding for any business. Again, the less is more principle in logo design helps in directing the viewer’s eye to the particular components of the design that requires the most attention. There are no distractions around to make the viewer deviate from seeing and understanding the message of the logo.

Useful for mobile application

Since the world is drifting towards e-commerce and the use of the internet to access various goods and services, companies and organizations need to have their content readily available to a number of mobile devices used to access the internet. The less is more design concept is responsive hence, it renders perfectly well in the mobile devices. It is important to have in mind that over half of the world population with access to the internet use mobile devices for browsing. Hence, less is more is ensuring that every person who visits the various sites get a good experience, irrespective of their devices.

Flatness for more quality

The less is more trend leans heavily towards “flatness” in the logos as well as other graphic designs. It eliminates shadows and blurs that are the normal culprits in making logos or other graphics unreadable.

Works well with photos

Photos are a huge consideration when it comes to logo design. Not every photo will render properly in mobile devices, and since companies want their contents accessible to such devices, simplicity in logo design has provided the much-needed solution. Whether or not a photo is used in the logo design, it is guaranteed that it will display perfectly well on all the devices.

Less is more is here to stay

Despite the fact that certain corporate organizations have tried to rebrand using the less is more design principle but failed, we can only expect that the trend will get more steam and might be the main thing in logo design. While doing it, however, it is important to remember not to be over simplistic to a point where the logo loses meaning and relevance.

Use these top tips on creating a flat design that is simple

The post When It Comes to Logo Design, Less is Better appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Very many people in the design industry think that flat design is like a fad that will be present today and gone by tomorrow. Whether or not this assumption is correct, it is imperative for every designer to keep up to date and always be ahead of every trend.

As a professional designer, it is not your duty to refuse or accept trends that you don’t necessarily agree to. Instead, you should have an open mind and consider anything that can make you add more value to you clients and improve your skills as a designer and presently, flat design is one of such things.

When you get to the internet, you will get a plethora of articles and web pages giving versions of illustration on various flat design projects. Whereas they are right, and most of the designs they show are breathtaking, they fail miserably at telling you how to come up with such designs on your own.

They leave you high and dry because they offer you with nothing at all to enhance or improve your skills towards becoming a good flat designer. We, however, break this norm and show you how you can create flat design projects that rock. For the best results, consider the following when working on flat design projects-:

Consider bold color choices

Bright and bold colors are the secret sauce in most flat design projects you will ever encounter. But this is not to say that they are the only colors you can use when working with flat designs. In fact, several flat designs don’t use bold colors, yet they give stellar end products.

Therefore, feel free to use bold color palettes. However, you can use not solid color hues, with different amount of lightness, slightly more than normal saturation levels and you will still end up with successful flat design projects. You can also use solid colors and have great success just as seen in the case of Windows 8.

Typography and Flat Design

The typography used is a great factor of concern when thinking about flat design projects. Typography, as usual, is an enormous subject with endless details and options. But with regards to getting it right with your flat designs, there are fundamental aspects of typography you have to give close attention.

For instance, the use of the traditional serif fonts has proven not to give the very best results with flat designs. You have the option of using Slab-Serif faces like Sanchez or Rockwell. But if you want the most authentic looks for your flat design, then you should consider using clean, modern Sans-serif fonts.

Choose icons that reflect the design theme

Using icons in designing is always important irrespective of what you are working on, whether they are symbols, large logos, or glyphs, icons will always fit. But with flat design projects, when you use icons, then they must create coherence with the overall design theme. You are free to use small sized icons or oversized icons so long as they don’t have any sharp or strong rounded edges and also they don’t have any gradient.

The use of images in flat design

If you have to use images in your flat design, then it is a good idea to have them filtered or stylized. You will realize that most of such designs feature full-width images that stretch across the entire layout. Again for great results, the images you use must never have any borders, so be sure to cut your images directly without creating any borders.

Flat Design and Spaces

Learning how to use spaces correctly is something that many designers still struggle with, and it’s not when doing flat design projects alone. Too much space will leave the design bare while too little space will make it look cluttered.

As a good design practice, you should always add spaces rather than subtract, and this also applies when you are working on flat design projects. For instance, start by including all the elements you need in the design before you start taking away the ones you don’t need so that you remain only with the essential ones.

Avoid the following

Proficiency in flat designing will come with a lot of practice. Besides, it is still considered a fad. Hence, there are no strong industry guidelines on what should or should not be done. Most of it involves trial and error and so far, observing the above factors has always led to great designs.

Even though the concept is still evolving, there are a few things that will certainly ruin your flat design projects. These include using gradients, unless they are subtle, using drop shadows, application of borders on design elements and using traditional serif fonts. Stay away from them and you will fare well with any flat design projects you make.

Check out some other new trends in design from 2015!

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