For your brand to stand out amongst the millions in the site, it is imperative to provide real value to the followers and give them a reason to believe that you have a solution to their needs. Additionally, your branding must be spot on and this calls for the creation of a well suited logo to distinguish your brand from the rest. It should be noted, however, that when creating a logo for the social media such as Instagram, there are a few subtle aspects you need to have in mind to make the logo more effective. Presented here are cool tips one can use to create logos designed to be used in the social media, and especially in Instagram.

Consider the aspect ratio

Most of the marketing gurus will bring to your attention that your logos ought to be proportionate, in the sense that they should not be too wide or too short. If the logo is meant to be used in the social media such as Instagram, then there is another reason why the height and the width of the logo need to be in harmony.

Most of the social media websites, including Instagram, will display your logo or icons in a square or circular shape as is usually seen in profile displays in Facebook and Instagram respectively. In as much as your logo doesn’t have to be a perfect square or circle, it should have an aspect ratio that will enable it to display just perfectly well when should placed for display in the social media profiles.

Detach text from graphics

Since it is not possible to foresee all the applications of your logos in the future, it is highly encouraged you be versatile with the design, especially if you ever think that the logo will be used in the social media websites such as Instagram. You may be faced with a situation where you will be compelled to rearrange or use certain section of your logo if it doesn’t fit properly in certain shapes or sizes. If, perhaps, you needed to have very small icons, then it may be possible to include the entire logo. Due to this, most companies have adopted the use graphical elements or a single letter for their logos in the social media. It implies that if your graphics and texts are intertwined in the logo, then it may not be possible for you to separate the elements and use the logo in Instagram without confusing your followers. Therefore, consider detaching text from graphics when you are designing a logo for use in Instagram or any other social media platform.

Remember to keep it simple

Gone are the days when the quality of a logo would be determined by the total number of graphical elements and colors it had. Presently, minimalism and simplicity rules in the world of logo design. When designing your logo for use in Instagram or any other social media platform for that matter, avoid using too many words, thin lines, and very detailed graphical elements in the design. If the logo becomes too detailed, it will not just appear confusing to many people, but also resizing it may be difficult and this may work against your brand. Again, avoid using all the colors of the rainbow in the logo hoping that you will make it more beautiful and more conspicuous. This will create unnecessary noise and may not deliver you very good results in the social media, where there is already a lot of distractions from the followers.

Be consistent

In as much as you are creating the logo to be used in Instagram, it should be consistent with the logo being used in other social media sites. Through consistency, people will see the same image in the different platforms and this will work strongly for your social media branding needs. If you are keen, you will notice that most of the successful brands have a simplified variation of their designs being used across all their social media outlets. Without consistency, you will miss an opportunity to connect with your audiences throughout the social channels and in the process miss an incredible opportunity to achieve effective social media branding.

Learn how to build a social media strategy here!

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Typography in the graphic design industry keeps on evolving with each rising of the sun. In the last few years, we have seen exciting developments happening in the design industry. Whereas some of them were weak trends that were bound to die after a few months, some of the developments have stayed and are even growing much stronger. Watching out for such trends, especially the developments with the logo design font trends can be rewarding, but it is advisable that you don’t adapt your entire designs on such trends.

The reason for this is that you may be a victim of design fad when you used a trending font that died as quickly as it had come. Presented here are the major logo design font trends that are worth considering in 2016. These trends started picking up steam in 2015 and are expected to get popular and get more adoption as we get deep into 2016.

Sans Serif is there to stay

Designs in sans serif continue to dominate most of the market places for buying and selling typefaces. But while this happens, designers should not forget the history and the development of this typeface and why it is still a force to reckon with in the world of typefaces.

Back in the days, the low resolution used to be the greatest limitation of using serif typefaces, but with advancements in technology, this is no longer considered a huge limitation and designers are presently able to achieve a lot more exquisite designs using the sans serif typeface.

With the increased use of high resolutions screens and devices – whether it is a phone, a tablet or a high pixel density notebook, most of the digital devices now have the capacity to handle some of the nuisances that were associated with the sans serif fonts and this effectively placed the typeface to the right place where it belonged as far as graphic design is concerned.

Due to the limitations that were typical of the sans serif font, there are some specially tuned versions of the typeface that were released to compensate for the limitation of the font. But while this is happening, technological advancements are also in top gear to ensure that as many variations of the typeface as possible are supported since this is the only way to continue harnessing the power of the font in design and especially as a logo design font.

Continued awareness of custom typefaces

Other than placing the san serif font in its rightful place as far as logo design is concerned, there is increased awareness of the presence of custom typefaces. Whether you know it or note, digital typefaces is virtually everywhere and not just in logo design alone. For instance, your television, coffee maker and smart phone all use digital typefaces which in most cases are custom typefaces. With the increased awareness and the application of custom typefaces in such media, the same is also taking place in the graphic design world and especially in the design of logos.

Though it may not be apparent to the majority, continued awareness of the use of custom fonts in design are easily recognizable for anyone who has even the slightest knowledge in design. Big brands are turning to the use of these typefaces as they provide flexibility and robustness as well as the versatility needed to meet all their design needs.

As the design industry continues to evolve in 2016, the continued awareness and exposure of the custom fonts to the mainstream media can only be expected to result in the adoption of such typefaces. And since logo design is a core component for most of the designs, this is effectively one of the logo design trends that most logo designers are watching with a keen eye.

Anyone can design their own fonts

If you are a professional designer, then you already understand that designing a type requires a specific set of skills and to those who have this skill usually guard it very close to their hearts. The professional logo design font types especially. Similarly, to create a visually compelling and effective logo, there is a lot of visual power that is needed and this never comes out of thin air.

However, the advancements in technology in the graphics design world have simplified a lot of these things such that designing a font and using it to create a logo is no longer a preserve of the selected and skilled designers. For instance, with an application such as Glyphs, any designer can create fonts in just a matter of seconds and then use the fonts for whatever design applications they want.

But even with the presence of such easy to use tools, it is possible to create a professionally looking font but this is no indication that the font is indeed professional. There are certain levels of irreplaceable artistry and a specific production process which must be adhered to for the creation of good typefaces.

Check out these logo color trends for 2016.

The post Logo Design Font Trends for the year 2016 appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Fonts play a huge role in graphics design. With a plethora of fonts to choose from, designers have the liberty to use fonts to their advantage and bring out a wide range of effects. But just as it pays to know the best fonts to use in your designs, it pays even much better to know the worst fonts to use.

Wrong font choice has the potential of not just ruining your design but also putting to doubt your prowess as a graphic designer. It is why it’s crucial to know which fonts to use for which project and the ones you should always avoid like plague and never use in any of your graphic design projects. Listed here are the 5 worst fonts to use when designing. Take keen note of them.

Comic Sans MS

This is the basic Windows font installed in your computer when you are booting up Windows. It was designed by Vincent Cornare in 1994, and it was intended as a child oriented font. Its inspiration came from comic books in his office back then and he thought that the font would be ideal for writing speech bubbles but not general communication. However, many people have fallen in love with this font until its use has now become a cliché. But this is not the reason why it is one of the worst fonts to use.

The main reason why you should never use this font is that it is childish. It doesn’t have any formality, though you will see it being used in formal events and some formal letters. Restrict its use only when you are working on a children website or designing kid’s birthday invitation. It will be a gross mistake to use it in for business sites or when working on warning signs or on other official forms of communication.

Papyrus

Papyrus font came into existence in 1983 as a result of Chris Costello’s work. Its inspiration came from the pre-modern writings on the leaves of the papyrus trees. It is true that the design and the subsequent use of this font were noble, but now it is considered as one of the worst to use in your designs.

The passionate hate on this font comes from that it has been duly overused, until its now saturated and very boring to look at. It has been the signature font for signboards, advertisements, captchas, books, banners and whole lot of other typographical designs.

As one of the worst fonts to use in your designs, you must stop using the papyrus font forthwith or else your designs will be generic, boring and will show that no life at all.

Curlz MT

The Curlz MT is another font considered as the worst fonts to use in design during this time and age. This loathsome font was the creation of Steve Matteson and Carl Corssgrove in 1995 and it was primarily intended to be used for party invitations. After its introduction and adoption, it took the same path as comic sans font in the sense that it became the mainstream font, until it reached a level that people were sick and tired of it.

Besides, it lacks formality and authority hence you can never use it where coat-and-tie events are involved. Again using it in designs like warning signs makes it appear like some kind of a sick joke and no one will ever take such a warning seriously.

Since the font has been overused and it appears virtually in most of the designs, you should designate it as one of the worst fonts in design and use better alternative even if you have a special love for it.

Courier New

Courier New is another font that makes it to the list of the worst fonts to use in design. It is one of the oldest fonts in the world, having been designed and sold to IBM way back in 1955. It was used for typewriter print and this why it was sold to IBM since IBM was manufacturing typewriters by that time. Other than being almost in a state of deprecation, the font lack dignity and prestige and since typewriters are no longer in use, it deserves to remain in the bin of worst fonts to use in design.

Bradel Hand ITC

Bradel Hand ITC font was designed by Richard Bradley and it was intended be a font for non-formal communication. However, the font makes it as one of the worst fonts to use in design due to the fact that it is readily available hence it’s being massively abused. It features heavily in designs such as school announcements, posters, bulletin boards, story books, invitation cards, etc. Due to the need for freshness and originality, this font no longer appeals to many designers since no one wants to be a copycat.

This is not exhaustive in any way but it gives an indication of some of the worst fonts to use in design. Do your own research to uncover more so that you can stay fresh and pragmatic in your designs.

Use these royalty fonts instead!

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How to help clients choose a font? Graphic designer’s job description entails a lot other than just sitting behind a computer and churning out design after design. It sometimes includes helping the clients make the right choices as far as choosing a font are concerned. Many are the times when clients make proposals that seem not to be feasible, but it is the duty of the designer to offer advice and direction in such instances to ensure the successful completion of each and every project.

How to choose a font is one such area that many designers find themselves working a lot with the clients. Knowing how to choose a font is such as an important matter in design, and it requires all the attention from both the designer and the client. The right choice will lead to a great design that will meet the goals of the project, and it will also make it easy for the designer to work faster and more efficiently.  If you don’t know how to choose a font, you will waste lot of design time since the designer has to force other design aspects to match, but with no guarantees of a stellar outcome. So how exactly can a designer help a client choose the right font?

By considering the goals of the project

The goal of the project is the first consideration on how to choose a font style. Different design projects are meant for different purposes, and they are also targeting varied audiences. With the variety of fonts available, they can be used in design to create a wide range of impressions dependent on the particular goals that the design is aiming to achieve. A client should therefore not be guided by the aesthetics of the font, but rather, the impact it will create in the final design.

Legibility of the font

Since designs are aimed at passing on particular messages, the font used should be legible enough, so as to make it easy for the target audience to read and understand the message in the design. Again, the legibility of the font will be dictated by whether or not the design is for decorative purposes or it will be used for other reasons such as in the print media.

For instance, decorative fonts will always have low legibility since they are meant to attract attention while fonts meant for newspapers and novels will usually have high legibility. As a designer, you need to work together with the client and define an overall legibility that will cut across all the design. While considering legibility on how to choose a font, the following factors are worth considering-:

• Choose fonts with conventional letterforms
• Choose fonts with generous spacing
• Choose fonts with a tall x-height

Readability

Next to legibility is the readability of the font. It is possible to use a font that is easily legible but does poorly when it comes to readability. Such factors determine the readability of a font as the style, color, tracking, size and every other property useful for overall impression. For example, if your focus for the design is to have high readability, then the client should settle for a style that will not hinder the audience’s ability to get the full meaning of the message.

It is important for the client to remember when thinking on how to choose a font that the message of the design comes first before the style. This doesn’t imply that the style is not important, but there should be a balance between the style and the effectiveness of the message being passed across.

Aspects of appropriateness

It is true that there are other fonts more suitable for design tasks compared to others. While helping the client choose a font, aspects of appropriateness will be determined by the designer’s experience of working with different fonts. It will be upon the designer to advise the client on the best fonts to use to let him have a great design at the end of the project. Aspects of appropriateness are in most cases determined by the intent of the design, the mood of the design, and the aesthetics desired for the design.

Technical Consideration

When all is said and done, the client will leave the designer to embark on the project. As much as you may consider a plethora of fonts to use in any design, you also need to consider the technicalities of using the fonts for the projects. For instance, you have to weigh other specifics of the design and evaluate if the font chosen will not be problematic at all.
Suppose the design is going to feature a lot of numbers, your ideal font should have the kind of numbers you are likely to use. A client may not have such finer details of design but as the professional, you need to bring to their attention the technical considerations involving the use of various fonts. Never ignore technical details on how to choose a font when with the client.

Use these resources to access the best free fonts online!

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Green businesses, also known us sustainable businesses are ventures with minimal negative impacts on the local as well as global environments. A logo for such a type of business should thus capture the essence of the business and help in promoting the ideals and ideas of the venture. The design process for a green business logo will not differ significantly from the of other types of logos only that you have to consider the context of the design, the intended user as well as the green message to be displayed by the logo. Listed here are important factors of consideration as far as green business logo design is concerned-:

Keep the design simple

Simplicity is a great factor of concern that not only affects the design of green business logos but every other kind of logo. But concerning designing a green business logo, it should be kept simple and clear to pass the intended message concisely to the target audience. The simpler the logo is, the more effective it will be in creating a lasting impression on those who see it hence enhancing the branding efforts of the green business.

The color of the logo

The color choice in logo design does more things than just enhance the aesthetic or the visual appeal of the logo. Colors are used to evoke different emotions from those who will be seeing the logo. It is, therefore, important to have in mind the particular message you want the logo to display as well as the kind of emotions you want evoked from those who will be seeing the logo. Green businesses are agents of conservations and advocates of processes that doesn’t have adverse effects on the environment. In most cases, green is usually the predominant color for the design of such logos. As a designer, therefore, you have the liberty to use green, and its various shades in the design but you can also deviate a little, and use earth colors like mild shades of orange, grey, etc. Ultimately, however, remember it is a green business logo hence it must express the spirit and the letter of the business, which will always revolve around conservation.

Fonts used

A logo is all about communication, and this includes all types of logos, including a green business logo. The font choice is an important element in green logo design since it will have a direct implication on the final visual impact of the logo. The ideal font should not just be legible but also be readable so that people can see and read and understand the message of the logo. There are different fonts suitable for different design projects. As a designer, it is your responsibility to choose the suitable font, which will be unique to the green logo industry and will have the ability to communicate effectively with the image of the design. There are a plethora of places to search for different fonts that you can use to great results in a green logo.

Nature of the green business

The green industry is a wide and a varied one. To come up with the appropriate green business logo, it is imperative that you understand the specifics of the businesses. This is what will dictate the target audience as well other logo design components such as the imagery used. Understanding the specifics of the industry will also give the ability to coin the main marketing message in a simple and effective manner. Avoid the temptation to over-think and try to make things complicated at this stage.

Always be creative and don’t copy

Conservation businesses always have the desire to be unique so that they can attract a good number of following to believe in their products and services. One way of standing out in this manner is to have a unique logo to tell the story of the business. As far as the green industry is concerned, there are endless places to get inspiration if at all you are struggling with coming up with unique ideas. You can think about nature, animals, green energy products amongst a wide variety of items for inspiration so that you green business logo will be guaranteed to be unique.

Use Negative Space to draw attention

The use of negative space is very powerful in any logo design and not just in designing green business logos alone. Since green businesses are keen on passing on specific messages to their audiences, and business logo is one of the tools they use for doing so, the use of negative spaces is very appropriate. With a negative space, you can draw attention to sections of the design where you want the viewer to focus most. You can also use negative space with these logos to create interaction with the user with a view of enhancing their comprehension of the message so that they become more aware of the brand.

There still are a plethora of other factors you can use to design a green business logo, but these are the most fundamental ones that will give you higher chances of coming up with a great design.

Use this article to find the best royalty free fonts!

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Using Royalty free fonts can help you turn around your designs from good to great. But it is important for every designer to realize that certain fonts usually come with usage restrictions, and you may be prohibited from using them for commercial purposes. It is very important to take note of such copyright issues as ignoring them may be a catalyst to a long drawn legal battle with the respective copyright owners.

As a designer, however, you should not restrict your creativity prowess for the fear of running into legal problems when searching for fonts online. There are several places on the internet where you can find plenty of Royalty free fonts you can use for any commercial project. The only caveat to using these kinds of fonts is that they may not be of the very best quality, but if you do a little bit of digging and searching, you will find a good number of them that will fit your design purposes. Listed below are the various sources you can use to find several royalty free fonts for your projects-:

Urban Fonts

Urban Fonts is one of the few places where you will find fonts that are not just free, but also very cool for design. It presents you with a powerful search tool to let you search for the various fonts based on the names, as well as tags such like 3D, curly, comic, wave, college, cursive, etc. Urban Fonts has over 8,000 royalty free fonts as well as a few premiums ones available for purchase.

Font Squirrel

Font Squirrel is a powerful resource where you find an extensive range of fonts, ranging from calligraphic to Sans serif. It has awesome filtering capabilities to let you search for the fonts based on attributes such as those ideal for eBooks, print designs, desktop and mobile applications amongst others. The other beauty of Font Squirrel as a source of royalty free fonts is that it groups them according to various formats such as distressed, contemporary, retro, all caps and many others. The resource has more than 264 unique fonts

1001 Fonts

1001 fonts is one the oldest sources for royalty free fonts having been around since 1998. It has an extensive database of fonts, and it lets you search for the fonts based on any criteria you may have in mind. Though the name alludes to it having just only 1001 fonts, you will be surprised to learn that there are more than 6,000 royalty free fonts in this place.

Lost Type Fonts

Lost Type is not just a nice place to find lots of royalty free fonts, but also, it is a great resource for finding other fun graphic elements all presented in a nicely laid out interface. The site has over 50 fonts that you can download for free, and it also has a provision for you to set your pricing if you want anyof the premium fonts available. It simply implies that you can pay whatever price you feel appropriate for any font you would like to purchase.

Hype for Type

Hype for Type is a premium commercial font site, but it also has an enviable collection of royalty free fonts that are worth considering. With a collection of close to 100 choices, it has something for everyone irrespective of the types of design you have. It is also worth mentioning that Hype for Types has a fun feature that lets you play around with the various fonts you have selected so that you see the kind of flexibility they can offer you.

Google Fonts

It is surprising to note that the world’s biggest search engine is also a source for royalty free fonts. Google Fonts brings you more than 600 royalty free fonts that designers can download and implement o their designs. Though the site has a good number of free fonts, it is recommended that you double check to confirm the usage policy of the fonts, owing to a large number of creators submitting their fonts to this resource. The site also has filters to make it easy for you to search and locate the particular fonts you want.

DaFont

DaFont is another cool resource that every designer interested in getting royalty free fonts should know. It doesn’t just offer you with a huge collection featuring over 23,000 fonts, but also, it categorizes the fonts according to style thus making it easy for you to search for and download the various fonts you are interested in using. For instance, if you are searching for the right fonts for a logo project, you simply head over to the logo tab, and it will give you a wide range of fonts suitable for use in logo design.

These are only a few of some of the places where you can find royalty free fonts on the internet. Thoughthere are others, these will suffice for most of your design work. However, feel free to research further and discover others so that you increase your list of font resources.

Learn More about choosing the right typography here!

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For many people just starting out in design, the process of choosing the perfect typography is usually such a bewildering task. The choices seem to be endless with no straightforward way of knowing what to select and what to ignore. For someone to get it right in choosing the right type-setting, however, a combination of firm rules and lose set of intuition, as well as a few of years of experience, is necessary. But this is not to allude that you have to be an experienced designer to become a pro in using typography. It is only that you become perfect with consistent practice, but anyone, including the very new in designing, can still get it right with their typography the first time. Here are five important guidelines on how to choose the right typography-:

Understand the context of use

One secret to choosing the right typography is first to understand the context of use. This is of grave concern because, as designer, you are working on a design that will be used by other people and not for your personal use. Many beginning designers are fond of considering their individual preferences in the choice of type-setting, and they focus on what appeals to them. This is a destitute approach because you are egocentric on the design.

As a designer, you need to have a set of workhorse typography you can always turn to when the project demands. Of course, you will be comfortable with other typography more than others, and you will be naturally inclined to use them as opposed to trying new ones. It is imperative that you understand different typography and know exactly the particular contexts when they can be used without ruining the entire design.

Group Fonts in Families

Learning to group fonts into families will not just help you on how to choose the right type-setting for each design project that lands on your desk but also will save you a great deal of design time. The secret to grouping fonts into families is to have some structure that you can use to categorize mentally the various types of typography you encounter.

Typography can be divided into different categories, but for a good designer, you need not to keep track of all the types. Most of the expert designers only watch about five groups, and these are the ones they work hard to become proficient in using so that they can always adapt them and use them for different projects. There is already several classifications of fonts, but you are free to classify some as you dim right and in a manner that will enhance your skills as a designer.

Decisive use of contrast

Now that you understand the context under which you will use the typography, and you have also grouped them to suit your project and design habits, it is time to apply the principle of decisive contrast in the use of the typography. This is a paramount principle because many designers are misled into believing that every design must have a high contrast to be considered great. This is grossly wrong and as a designer, it pays to know when to mix and match and it pays even much better to know when you need not to mix and match in the first place. Whenever you are in the middle of a design and you are faced with a situation where you need to add additional typography, the rule of thumb is that even with the addition of the typography, the design should remain the same and if it has to change, then it has to change a lot. This is what is known as correspondence and contrast in design lingo. Avoid incremental variations or being wimpy with the contrast.

Whenever multiple typography is used in a single layout, the aim is to make them coexist peacefully without distracting the attention of the viewer into thinking that they are more than one design on the item.

Don’t be afraid to bend a few rules

Good designers are those who follow standard fonts and norms in design, but the great artists are those who are not afraid to intelligently break some of the rules and come up with unique designs. Occasionally, you can go a little bit overboard and try what your intuition is telling you as far as the current project is concerned. You will never understand how to choose the right typography if you are timid to explore on your own and do what the books are not telling you.

“There are no rules,” really!

When it comes to how to choose the right text, it boils down to one thing – there are conventions but never iron-clad rules on which is the best typography for each and every particular project. As a designer, you need to know about the basics then you will adapt yourself to the conventions and create your rules as you move along. With experience, you will no problem in deciding on the typography but it is always good to be flexible enough so that you have the competency to work with different typography on a countless number of projects.

Use this guide for helping you pick the best colors for your text as well!

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