Great offer at LogoDesignCreation!

 

We found great offers at LogoDesignCreation!

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Start thinking of refreshing your logo, a new website or perhaps a brochure to promote your business. Remember, a successful business starts with a strong visual impact. Therefore, improving your branding outlook is a MUST! Take this opportunity, hurry up and get started now.

LOGO DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2012

It’s the new year once again and of course the logo design industry has always something up its sleeve, now let’s take a quick peek at what 2012 has in store for logo  design enthusiasts. With the new year comes a new start. Designers are constantly trying to find the newest design trends which are likely to sweep the world of logos this coming year.

Last year, Logo Lounge released logo design trends for 2011, based on their half yearly performance of the logo design industry. These trendy logos will guide the designers in the right direction explaining the trends being followed and accepted in the branding business.

Some of these are continuations of the sorts of things the designers did last year; others are totally new and could well see their popularity rise.

So, what is the logo trend for this year?

Firstly, lets talk about colors. We have seen a lot of bright colored logos (rainbow colors). Most of them are eye catchers and evoke a good feeling with their clients. On the other side, limiting the color choice is part of the logo design process because some logos have gone too far over the top with the colors used.

The year 2011 gave us more gray and brown logos. These logos are bit more subtle then the harsh black ones and the tone ranges very from sepia to chocolate.


ANIMALS

It seems like in 2011 we unleashed the entire zoo onto the world of logos. There have been so many animals in logos: monkeys, owls, dodos, lions, whales, mooses. The reason: most of the animals listed here have attributes that we would like to associate with a business: aggressive, powerful, dominating, strong, top of their class. It’s a psychological thing.


FRUIT


Nowadays, you will often hear brand names that are inspired by a fruit. Popular examples of famous logos are Apple and Blackberry. These allusions to the fruit depict a sense of freshness and sweetness for the brand identity. The fruit inspired shapes are now being considered as an iconic representative for brands to represent purity and wholesomeness. Bananas, apples, the lot. All these corporate identities are (probably) in some way related to nature or are sustainability oriented.


THE TRIANGLE

Combining many triangles into a larger shape.


UNUSUAL SHAPES

 
Traditionally, logos have been focused around squares and circles, with the occasional triangle thrown in for a bit of visual interest. 2012 is where that changes. Now people will be using much more free form shapes. Brush up on your pentagles, guys.


BUTTONS AND BUBBLES

The prevalence of Facebook’s like button and Digg’s digg button has totally changed the way that most people interact with the internet. It’s also changing the logo design world, with more people deciding to incorporate press buttons and speech bubbles into designs in 2012.


GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK

Those massive strokes people used to use in logos are no more. Now sleek, ink-shy logos are the way forwards, with lighter weighted fonts and grays and browns replacing the harsh blacks. Very few people are moving towards #000000 on their  color wheel.


GOING GREEN

The environment has always been a concern for ethical logo designers. 2011 saw a lot of greens coming into the average designer’s palette, and 2012 will see this trend continue. Expect to see earthly tones to make big companies seem a little more conscientious.

All these trends have affected many logos (for the good and the bad). It also affected the way clients wanted their logos. Personally, we think that too many designers followed these trends and the upcoming years will show that some of these logos will have an outdated look and clients will be looking to update their logo, because customers fail to recognize their logo. So what I hope to see in 2012 is a lot more variation and we hope that designers will be less affected by trends and will develop a tone of their own.

What do you think that 2012 will bring?

Branding, Identity and Logo Design

Source: justcreativedesign.com

Most people in business have a hard time distinguishing between the terms Branding, Identity and Logo Design. They use them interchangeably in the business world, which is a huge mistake in marketing your company. Logo design, Identity and Branding all have different roles of their own. They have to work together to form an recognized image for a business or product.

BRAND

Source: edibleapple.com

The word Brand on dictionary defines brand identity as “the outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications and visual appearance.”

Most of us will never get to be recognized to that degree like McDonalds, MAC, Facebook etc, but we can still be identified in our own realm if we take the time to do it correctly. The first thing to be done is to create and identify your brand.

“Your brand is your company's personality.”

A brand identity represents what your business stands for and how you will ultimately be known. That is why it is very critical for businesses and companies to have a striking, memorable and timeless brand identity. Successful brand identities are able to evoke a desired set of feelings from the public, instead of just looking good.

Source: guardian.co.uk

As an example, let's look at the well known beauty product company, The Body Shop. The Body Shop inspired by nature has ethically produced more than 900 natural beauty products at the same time committed to social causes. They support innovative global projects working in the areas of human and civil rights and environmental and animal protection. These values of their business dimension are prominent throughout everything they do from their innovative products, advertising and promotion, right through to their customer service. The Body Shop is an emotionally society brand that connects with people. People can feel part of the brand as they can connect and feel towards it. It is this emotional connection that creates their brand, not purely their products.

IDENTITY

Source: ibtimes.com

Corporate identity refers to all of the visual parts of your brand including logo, color palette, tagline, font, etc. A talented art director or graphic designer can help you create these, but not until you have answered the key branding questions for your company.

“Corporate identity refers to all of the visual parts of your brand.”

Your company identity is the ultimate goal. If you're recognized, it is assumed people gravitate to you. The more they see your logo, the more they trust you. For example, everyone wants the recognition the gold arches brings McDonalds, the f that stands for Facebook or the apple with the bite taken out of it which is unmistakably MAC.

LOGO DESIGN

Now think of your brand as a toolbox containing all the tools you need to promote your business and its identity. In that toolbox are all the advertising you use whether it is online, television or printed material as well as coupons and promotions. But the most important tool in there is your logo because you want people to see it and recognize it. You should have an impact so as soon as people see it they will think of your business.

“The logo identifies a business/product in its simplest form.”

Your logo design is a vehicle to get your brand/company known. It is a visual representation of the company or product that expresses your brand in a memorable way.

It is important, before you do anything else, even before you get your logo designed, is to define your brand identity. What do you want your company to be known for? How do you want to appear in the public's eye? Make sure your logo represents what your business is all about-that it's compatible with your brand and company identity.

We hope this helps to distinguish between logo design, brand and your company's identity!

Great Deals this coming Xmas!

Christmas is coming faster than you'd think! And we found great deals from LogoDesignCreation we love to share with you!

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Enhancing your corporate logo to a Christmas themed logo is a great way to engage with your potential customers and offer a fresh view of your brand during this holiday season.

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Textual, Iconic or Illustrative?

A logo design needs to be eye-catching and memorable at the same time so that it can stand out from the masses and give a long-lasting impression to its target audience. Going for shock value or setting sights on a subtler impact depends on how you want your ideal logo design to look like in the first place. Either way, it all boils down to how you want the public to remember your business by. A creative and fun illustration? Or something more serious, like a textual interpretation of the name of your business?

Basically, there are three general categories for logo designs which are:  TEXTUAL, ICONIC & ILLUSTRATIVE. 

TEXTUAL

It’s relatively much simpler in terms of design as it fundamentally consists only of words but a lot of hard work goes behind the scenes into making a distinctive and unique font for the textual logo. If the textual logo is designed impeccably well, it stands out and serves as both a display of the company’s name and easily a design to associate the company with. Below are some prime examples of famous text-based logo designs:

ICONIC

This is a more interesting approach in designing an identity and brand for a business as it is much more appealing to the general public. The design usually depicts the company’s image be it an outline of a wild animal or a simple everyday object. Though it is uncomplicated and more minimal compared to an illustrative logo design, it is still the most popular option today for most businesses be it multinational corporations or small enterprises. Here are some examples of well-known iconic logos:

ILLUSTRATIVE

An illustrative logo design is a complete eye-catcher with very detailed designing and vivid colors. Albeit its complexity, many still regard this as a very effective marketing tool in branding a business. Its popularity has been slightly on the decline these past few years as we see more companies and businesses steering away from having an illustrious logo design but opt to have something more minimalist. Here are some examples of illustrative logo designs:

Those three categories mentioned above are only the general groupings. Nowadays, there are many corporations who intend to incorporate a few types of designs into their logo. Thus, many of those are classified as in-between categories. Before choosing the direction you want to take, think about your target audience in addition to how the logo will be able to associate itself and be in-line with your intended business.

Is It Important To Have A Logo Design? Undecided?

I have heard from many emerging SMEs which are unsure of whether or not they should invest a huge sum of their budget into a logo design for their company. A logo is very imperative in branding your business. What comes to mind when you see the ubiquitous Golden Arches? You decide.

Why not just use a unique font for your logo, you ask? A free-for-all, creative-looking font which can be easily downloaded on the Internet is commonly thought to be a cheaper alternative to a logo design. But you are actually staking your company’s image for something which can be easily attained from the Internet.

Is it really necessary to have a logo design? It’s NOT compulsory but nevertheless, advisable. A good logo helps to drive your company’s sales to far greater heights as it is all about branding your enterprise. You certainly want your target audience to easily remember your company and a logo design is a good way to do so.

If price is an issue, you should read my previous post on the range of prices offered by online design firms: Expensive VS Cheap.

Cheap & Still Good… Are You Actually Serious?

This will be a follow-up to my previous post of Expensive VS Cheap. Many have asked: How come there are countless online design firms offering such low price for respectable quality logo designs equivalent to those of high-end prices? Could they earn a profit? How are they able to sustain their business? And finally, are they a legit, reliable design firm to deal with? Consumers are genuinely very concerned and curious over this matter as to how a business offering low-priced services could in short, survive and still churn out quality logo designs.

Well, it all boils down to how the company works to minimize its cost. For instance, some online design companies do not provide a contact number be it toll-free or not, as it helps in playing down the cost involved in having a hotline customer service. The absence of having a phone line for customer service will help reduce the cost of the designs you are paying. More often than not, many design firms do have an online feedback system (live operator chat, e-mails and the likes) as a much cheaper alternative.

Design agencies with a fixed line or toll-free customer service number usually offer higher design rates as you are actually paying for these accommodating yet hidden and costly service provided by the respective design firms. This is true when you compare prices between those online logo design companies with and without a direct telephone link to their customer service.

So, if you prefer to communicate with the head designer responsible on handling your design project than you must be more than willing to fork out the price attached to the design you are getting. On the other hand, if you have a preference to skip the hassle of actually having to talk to the designers you are assigned to (similar to conventional local design company), those low range priced online design firms are definitely your choice. In all honesty, for me, I would prefer to at least, be able to communicate to the designer in-charge of my project be it via the phone or the Internet. It is just as vital to be able to explain to the designer your visions, requirements and the creative direction you want to take.

Besides, these online design companies are able to survive because they manage to produce the designs at a very fast rate while at the same time maintaining the quality of their work. This further helps to make up for any losses incurred from their low-priced services. By hiring permanent in-house designers instead of freelance designers also help to minimize the total cost of the whole business.

With more and more of these cheaper online design firms sprouting on the Internet, choices are aplenty and it is up to your judgment on choosing the right one that work best for you company.