The creation of this visual representation of a brand goes beyond just possessing graphic design skills. Presented below are certain essential rules which should be applied in the design of logo meant for the web or print. If followed correctly, the result will be a stunning logo with the ability to spearhead the success of the company’s branding efforts.

You must do preliminary work

The first step towards designing an effective logo is to do a thorough preliminary work. It is out of the preliminary sketches where you will get the initial design sketches and move forward with the rest of the process. For the preliminary work, you can simply use paper and pen drawings or you can make drafts using a vector program such as Adobe Illustrator.

It is recommended you create between twenty and thirty sketches or ideas to give you variations to use for the final logo. This process may sound a bit difficult, but it is a very fundamental one and skipping it might end up compromising your final results. Remember, that the more time a graphics designer spends on the preliminary sketches, the higher the chances of coming up with a great design.

Always create balance

The next essential rule in designing a logo for both web and print is to ensure balance in the design. The importance of having balance in the design is because the human mind has a way of equation balance to nice visual appeal. It implies that without a good balance in the design, the logo won’t appear as beautiful as it would have appeared with the right balance.

In this regard, therefore, you should keep the weight of the fonts, colors, sizes and graphics equal on each side. In certain occasions, you may be allowed to break the rule on balance, but just have in mind that the logo will be seen by multitudes, and not just those who have a keen eye for design, therefore, you will be safer by creating a balanced logo.

Never ignore the sizes

The next important rule for creating logos for web and print is the rule on size. This matters so much because all the components must look good and readable in all sizes. A logo ceases to be effective if it loses its definition when scaled down to fit into letterheads or small promotional items. It is important for the logo to appear the same whether displayed on a billboard, a television ad, and email signature or on the website. The best way to test if the logo is of the right size it test manually to see its behaviour on different mediums.

Wise use of colors

The color theory may sound complex, but to a designer keen on creating killer logos for web and print, there is no other way but to understand the theory and be proficient in its application. The basic rule when it comes to using color in logo design is as follows-:

• Use colors that are near each other on the color wheel
• Avoid very bright colors which may make the eyes strain while looking at them
• The logo must also look good in black and white or grayscale or in just two colors
• You are free to break the rules, but you must have a good reason for that.

It also pays to understand how different colors evoke various emotions or feelings. For instance, the color red might evoke feelings of love, passion, aggression, and strength while white on the other hand might evoke feelings of cleanliness, purity or simplicity.

Adopt a design style that suits the company

There are various design styles at the disposal of every graphics designer. When working on other graphics, any other style which suits the needs of the designer can be preferred. However, when working on logos, whether for the web or for print, the style adopted must be in tandem with the needs of the company. To get the style right, it is recommended to do a background check about the company so that you have a good understanding their operation and the nature of the businesses they do. You should also do a research about the target audience of the company then identify the best style that will give greater results. Preferably, you should identify the right style when working on the preliminary sketches.

Learn how to create a consultancy logo here!

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Just because you’re running a nonprofit that doesn’t mean you should skimp on a logo. While money can be extremely tight for nonprofit services, it’s still extremely important that you have a marketable brand. In order for people to hear about your nonprofit organization and provide donations or support you need to be a professional company. With the help of a professional logo design you can really make an impact in your marketplace and generate interest. Remember that your logo will be finding its way to event posters, on your corporate literature and more. Here are 10 of the greatest nonprofit logos available that you can use for inspiration in your own nonprofit logos.

Girl scouts of the USA:

The girl scouts of the USA have been around over many years. Their simple lowercase logo symbolizes not only the original Clover symbol that the organization has used for many years on their merit badges, cookies and other products but also mentorship. The big sister little sister mentor position in this company has always been a big aspect of their non-profit and this is now symbolized in the most updated version of the Girl Scout logo.

The Humane society of the United States:

The United States Humane Society has always been one of the most supported charities in the USA. In a recent redesign of the Humane Society logo they worked to form a map of the US with some of the most popular animals that they care for almost every day. This heartwarming and all encompassing logo is simple but also extremely effective at making its message heard. The company went on to recently created a Humane Society international logo as well which showcases a globe and some more exotic animals that their international locations cater to.

PBS:

It is extremely difficult to forget about the public broadcasting station and its iconic logo. The PBS logo has been roughly unchanged since the beginning of the channel. While PBS relies on donations to keep afloat, they produced a strong logo that can be used in a wide array of marketing campaigns and that’s highly recognizable.

Red campaign:

The red campaign for HIV and Aids as an extremely powerful logo. We have seen this symbol across U2 albums, events, Apple commercials and more. The red campaign owes some of that success to a simple and effective logo that has remained unchanged through the duration of the program. With effective logos like this, nonprofits can really market their cause with pride.

Stand up to cancer:

Stand up to cancer utilizes extremely readable text as well as a simple logo design. This campaign to collect funds for cancer research has been going for number of years and the logo combines modern features with a subtle use of color. Overall this is an extremely bold logo that captures attention and really ignites people to donate. This is an iconic nonprofit logo that will be around for many years to come.

WWF:

The WWF panda is one of the most recognizable nonprofit logos in the world. The simple black and white logo features a panda bear as well as a unique typeface. The logo has remained mostly unchanged over the years but the brand did encounter some trouble with the world wrestling Federation a few years past. The world wildlife foundation won its suit and kept the name rights for their charity. This simple black and white logo will most likely be continuing on into the future as the main logo of the WWF.

The YMCA:

The YMCA did a recent rebrand that shows extreme promise. The y’s logo remained fairly simple and unchanged since the beginning of the organization. Today however it has a modern rebrand with a new logo design. The red and yellow Y logo is iconic and perfect for the fun recreational organization.

One drop:

One drop is a world water charity that showcases the importance of sustainable water around the world. There are several versions of the logo, one of which includes many drops of water in one large drop of water as well as  one large drop of water. The 1 drop logo is very modern and a bit eye opening as well. It really shows you the value of just one small drop of water and how it could help communities around the world. One drop makes you think of conservation as well as donation to make the world a better place.

American Red Cross:

The Red Cross is one of the most recognizable worldwide medical/ support charities. The red cross alone as well as the simple gray text are recognizable in many different languages and designed for maximum visibility. Although the Red Cross has undergone some newer rebranding, the elements of their nonprofit logos remain the same.

American diabetes Association:

The American diabetes Association has had the same nonprofit logo over many decades. The A and stepping stone configuration in red as well as the modern text make this logo standout in advertising and more.

Check out these Iconic auto logos!

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If you are building a website you know that you are going to need a professional logo design. The problem that many companies forget is that there could be a need to produce a logo that can be used both for web use as well as print materials. If you want a logo that is going to be able to be used for display in stationary, webpages, business cards, posters and signage you need to have a very versatile product. Here are some top considerations that you should keep in mind with your logo to make sure that it can transfer to print from online designs.

File types:

One of the best styles of logo to use if you are planning on recreating or regularly printing your logo on a wide array of materials is a vector file. This type of output can be commonly created in programs such as indesign. The nice part about this file format is that you can scale your logo design to almost any size without the image losing its crisp nature. This means that you won’t end up with pixilation or distortion in your Logo image even if you are using it on a website or on a large scale poster. You can also make sure to save your logo in a few different file formats for future use. Png files are great for online use and they allow for 256 colors. JPG or JPEG files are just fine for sharing in word documents, powerpoint presentations and simple materials. You should never attempt to print using JPG or JPEG files as this will often lead to an unprofessional and distorted image. High resolution vector images or PNG files are a much better way to go for printing. Understanding the right file types for use with your logo is important to maintaining your brand image. Keep file types in mind especially when you are going to be recreating your logo many times over.

Consider how a logo might be seen in print vs web:

You know how your logo will be used on a webpage to display your brand culture. When you think about some of the products that you might use a print logo for example you need to approach the logo or find a place for the logo where it can be utilized in the same way. This means that if you designed your logo to be the focal point of your site, it should be front and center in your print advertising. This could mean having the logo of your company in the middle of your webpage as well as a print logo at the middle of your brochures and business cards. Maintaining consistency between your online materials and print logo materials only leads to stronger and more calculated marketing/branding solutions.

See if the message changes:

A good logo or marketing design should engage the user directly. If you are planning on using roughly the same campaign online as you would offline, make sure that your design can still engage the user regardless of where it may be shown. A great example here might be creating a billboard ad. A user may be more inclined to view a banner ad on the subject for a longer period because they don’t have to drive past a banner add while reading it. A billboard may also contain more blank space or different scaling dimensions in relation to some of your other web material. Scaling some of these items before you print them will help you to identify trouble spots and make sure that items still showcase your methods and your design well, before the printing process begins. Remember to mock up your print logo first to see how it looks on a large scale.

The layout:

The layout for your web content and your logo is bound to be a little bit different from your print content. Don’t be afraid to get creative or have a bit of variance between your print logos/content and your online content. Changing up your logo and branding just a little bit so that it presents better on a notebook or business card is not a bad thing. Just be sure that the new branded logo still reflects your original web work or vice versa. Make sure that you present a unified branding front even if you have to make small tweaks between print branding and online logo creation. This is especially true in large scale print. The layout of a website page or a banner advertisement will not often be scalable to a large scale print design. Rather than having a lot of extra blank space or design elements that simply do not resonate well in print, do some testing ahead of time and be sure to adjust the design as necessary. Use the printing space you have, just as you maximized the space available on your webpage for proper presentation.

Keep these top elements in mind when creating a logo that successfully translates across web and print.

Learn why you should avoid the use of stock images in logo design. 

The post How To Make Sure Your Design Looks Great Online and In Print appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Business cards remain one of the most important tools for any serious business-minded individual in the world today. They are not just ideal for promoting brands and sharing contact details, they also play a crucial as far as image presentation is concerned. Every business owner desires to create a good first impression with their business cards hence it pays to have a stylish and uniquely design business card.

With everything moving so fast in the world of business and technology, various trends in the design as well as functionality of the business cards have now become very evident. People are trying to pass across more information with the cards and not just name and contact details alone. The designs are also no longer generic. Rarely will you find the rectangular shaped cards as businesses are adopting shapes relevant to their products and services. Presented here are a few of the unique trends in business cards today-:

Business Cars with QR Codes

The inclusion of QR codes in business makes them very effective in providing a lot more relevant information to the recipients. Such codes are printed on the cards, and they can be read using various Smart phone applications. This is a unique, and also an unusual trend since it brings together technology and the traditional business cards to offer more information to the holders of such cards. The other beauty of using such QR codes in business cards is that they provide a humongous marketing opportunity to the business owners.

Interactive Business Cards

The other unusual business card trend is the design and production of interactive business cards. These cards came into light in 2012 and their adoption seems to be on a very strong uptrend, three years later. This can be attributed to the awesome design capabilities that these business cards trend to present to business owners.

With the advancements in the printing industry, the looks of these cards are expected to improve owing to the possibility that they can be printed in 3D. Though these business cards don’t offers a lot of marketing opportunities to the businesses, their fascination is strong enough to attract attention and make people take keen note of the brand featured in the business card.

Fun Shaped Business Cards

Gone are the days when the only shapes you could find for a business card had to be the generic rectangular, wallet sized cards. Businesses are eager to explore other areas of creativity by using fun shaped cards to attract the attention of the recipients, besides illustrating using shapes their various kinds of products and services.

But even as businesses adopt the use of fun shaped business cards, it is imperative not to overdo it such that the recipient will get distracted from the important contact details because they are looking at the shape of the card. This beats the spirit and letter of giving out the card, even though it looks trendy and appealing to the eyes.

3D Business Card Designs

If you are in the creative industry and you want something that will wow your potential clients, besides displaying your design prowess, then you have every reason to know about 3D business card design. It is the desire of every business to have their clients look at their cards whenever they are in need of any service or product and call them immediately. 3D business cards are guaranteed to attract the attention of the potential clients from the many cards they have in their drawers and this will increase their likelihood of calling your business if you have these kinds of cards.

Cards made from unique materials

This is not really a unique trend in business card design, but rather an escalation of a trend that has been around for some time. People in various industries have used different materials to make their business cards, but what we are experiencing now is something completely unusual.

Due to the need to get the attention of the potential clients whom the cards are given to, some businesses are using unique materials in creating their business cards. Some of these materials include wood, silver, steel, x-ray etc. The beauty of using such unique materials is that they are also attractive leading to very fine looking business cards.

Simple but elegant business cards

People used to shun simplicity in design a few years ago, but surprisingly, it seem like designers are rushing against time back to simplistic designs. We are currently witnessing different types of business cards designed in simple but elegant manner.

These types of cards are ideal for corporate who still hold on to strong corporate practices or professions that does not have a lot of room for being casual. But it is good to point out that since the cards feature simple designs, they don’t offer a lot of distractions to the readers hence they are still very effective in branding and giving contact details to potential clients.

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