Logo Design Process

Trident have read and researched the logo design process, these facts and opinions are taken from the best websites to give you the most balanced opinions from around the world. We hope you find this as interesting and as insightful as we have.

Want to know the secrets of how top graphic designers create their logos?

This article will reveal exactly how top logo designers of today’s modern age create their logos. It will show the design process that these designers go through to get to their final logo design.

Their Design Process:

   1. The Brief
   2. Research
   3. Visual Research
   4. Sketching & Conceptualising
   5. Reflection
   6. Positioning
   7. Presentations
   8. Celebration

1. The Brief

Nearly all designers agree that the initial accumulation of information from the client is the most important step, either by a face to face interview or a questionnaire. This is where you must establish the design brief. Designer, John Homs says “You really need to understand your client very thoroughly before you get started. Logo Design is never just shooting in the dark. It’s just the opposite.”

2. Research

After moulding the design brief, getting to know your client’s businesses is the next crucial step in making a logo successful. Research includes general reading on the industry itself, sometimes on its history, and on its competitors. If budgets allow, external research can be carried out.

3. Visual Research

This is research not into the clients business, but into the actual logo style. This is where we seek out a look, a style, an approach or attitude, usually to attain a period or style that we are unfamiliar with, or to refresh ourselves with what is new or successful. Eg. Find logos of similar business’ and critique them. This is where you look for inspiration.

Note: Some designers actually refuse the use of visual research, preferring to use their own mental source book, however others say that doing so, is limiting your design solution.

5. Reflection

Taking breaks is as important as the physical research and the design brief. It is so easy to get stuck in a creative cul-de-sac (learn how to be creative) and get tired of a project and this is why logo designers take breaks. By resting, your ideas mature and develop in the back of your head. When you go back to your project, you have renewed enthusiasm, insight and opportunity. This is also a good stage to get feedback from others.

6. Positioning

This is where designers choose how to work… they either position themselves like contractors and take orders according to their clients wishes (ie. Don’t advise their clients of design matters) OR they position themselves like a business and build themselves a long term relationship (ie. Guide clients to a more appropriate solution much alike how a lawyer does). Designers have to choose how they wish to work.

7. Presentation

This is where the designer must present their work to the client. They can choose whether to show the client a huge variety of logo design concepts (if it is hard to gauge a clients taste) OR they could choose to showcase just a few select logo designs. This is another debatable issue. I personally, present only the best 1 or 2 concepts.

So thats all for now folks, if you want to visit our website for information and helpful tips please visit www.tridentdesign.co.uk

How to choose colours and fonts that fit your brand

Trident have read and researched how to choose colours and fonts that fit your brand, these facts and opinions are taken from the best websites to give you the most balanced opinions from around the world. We hope you find this as interesting and as insightful as we have.

Corporate branding helps a product get easily recognised by consumers. The association of a company’s name to the brand of a product or service characterizes it. There are several reputable companies such as Coca Cola, Google, and IBM that are successful in using corporate branding to attract more customers.

Small and medium sized businesses can also benefit from branding. The brand of a certain product will tell much about the seller. Once your business has built a reputable brand, your customers will easily develop trust toward your products and services.

One thing to consider in creating your brand is the best set of colours and fonts to represent it. But, branding doesn’t only stop in the conception of a name; you have to make your brand image unique so that it can easily be recognized separately from other brands. The fonts and colors chosen play a huge role in making a brand image distinct. You have to develop a sense of consistency and familiarity by using one font and color palette in all the marketing materials to be used in promoting your brand.

In creating your brand image, make sure that all the elements of your brand reflect your company. If you have a conservative business, you wouldn’t pick loud and complicated colours. Different colors symbolise different ideas.

Below are the most popular colors with their corresponding associations.
• Blue – authority, integrity, intelligence, peace, and loyalty
• Green – growth, optimism, nature, relaxation, and youth
• Yellow – warmth, happiness, warning, and energy
• Orange – force, determination, vitality, success and productivity
• Red – passion, power, action, desire, and love
• Purple – spirituality, mystery, wealth, ambition, and royalty

Your brand image should also match the personality and preferences of your clients. What better way to attract customers than giving in to their wants? Corporate branding is a tested and proven strategy because the companies involved know how to delight their customers.

You should develop your own qualifications in identifying the font and colors that will suit your brand. No one knows your company better than yourself. But to help you in creating a corporate identity and choosing the most effective fonts and colors to use in your brand, you can contact us anytime. So thats all for now folks, if you want to visit our website for information and helpful tips please visit www.tridentdesign.co.uk

Trident goes to visit the land of Paper...

When the opportunity to travel to Germany to visit a paper mill and see how paper is made arose, I was more than happy to – the chance to learn more about how the material we use every day for our clients’ work was something I wasn’t about to miss out on.

For many, paper is just something that brochures and magazines are printed onto, but there is so much more it, and it can often give a massive indication as to the quality of the item that it is selling, just from the look and feel of the surface of the paper.

 

 So, after a 4am start, and the early morning flight from London into Munich we were picked up by Tony and the driver. We were then driven across Bavaria at break-neck speed down the autobahn to the Myllykoski paper mill in Plattling, on the edge of the mountains and forest.

On arrival to the mill, the scale of the site was the first thing that struck me – there aren’t many places I have been with 2 train tracks coming into their business premises!

After seeing some of the 2000m³ of logs used each day being precisely trimmed into 0.5m pieces and then stripped of bark, then promptly ground under extreme pressure to produce the pulp, we went to see the largest machine I have ever seen – these paper machines make web-offset presses seem small (in fact it is the second biggest paper machine in Europe)!

After the pulp is added to the wire it is then pressed under 800 tonnes of pressure and heated under steam to dry the paper out and then rolled to smooth it out. The pictures can explain this in more detail, rather than me trying to simplify the process to get it into words.

The sheer scale of the factory and the amount of power, pressure, steam, wood, water is used to produce something that we all take for granted in our every day life, allowed me to see why paper was so expensive to buy. European forests are very well managed, and almost all the wood used is from forests that are farmed and replaced when tress are felled. The most interesting thing that I found was that despite all the water used, the mill actually feeds back the same amount of water into the river that it takes out – so none is wasted!

After 4 hours of being shown the interesting method of producing paper, and learning the difference between how gloss, silk and matt paper are produced we left the factory, and headed out into Munich for some fantastic Bavarian food, and of course, plenty of beer and schnapps!

Is it time to redesign your logo?

Trident have read and researched the key elements for reasons to redesign a logo, these questions and facts are taken from the best websites to give you the most balanced opinions from around the world. We hope you find this as interesting and as insightful as we have.

You should ask yourself few questions to find out whether your logo needs a redesign. If your answer is no to all or most of the questions below, then an effective logo redesign is the solution.

1. See your logo closely not being as a business owner rather being as a customer. What do you feel? Does the design appeal to you?

2. Are the colours, font, style and other elements recognised easily?

3. Does it look fresh and modern?

4. Is it successful in portraying the business image to your target audience?

5. Is it compatible with all the advertising and marketing mediums?

6. Is it unique and doesn’t match with any other logo?

Reasons for face lift

Improving small bits of elements in your logo sometimes become crucial. There are several reasons that can justify the above mentioned comments:

1. Giving a new look to your logo can be eye-catching to viewers. The graphics, images, colours, fonts used in the logo must all reveal the aesthetic element of the design. If the logo you have does not meet the above standards, a logo redesign is highly recommended to earn benefits from it.

2. Fonts, colours, and all other elements in your logo should be located in such a way that they are easily visible to the viewers. If the fonts are hard to read, or the logo is over-crowded with too many colours, it tends to irritate the viewer, who is more likely not to recognise your logo next time he sees it. Whereas, simple and easy to recognise logo will allow the viewer to memorise it at a glance. If your current logo has necessary message buried that irritates the viewer in finding the purpose of your business, then a logo redesign is a turnkey solution to draw attention of the viewers.

3. The style of your logo is another very important factor. There may be several things that you look for and want to put in your logo. But at the same time you should keep in mind that the style should be similar to the aspects like the type of your business or the kind of your target audience. If the logo you own does not suitably portray your business purpose to the old customers, logo redesign is necessary in order to carry targeted message accurately and efficiently.

4. Logo design trends have been constantly changing. In addition, contemporary logos reflect the company’s image as an innovative and modern. Thus, if your logo is not according to contemporary logo design trends, you will be seen as old world compared to competition. Would you want that to happen or would you prefer redesigning your logo...

5. Take into account, how you are going to use your logo on different marketing and advertising mediums like billboards, brochures, letterheads, pens, buttons etc., your logo is meant to be versatile, and its design should bestowed to any use imaginable. But, if your logo is not compatible with all the available mediums, it’s better to consider a redesign.

Design is vital to your marketing efforts!

Aside from having the most amazing products and services, the marketing of your company is absolutely vital, the overall design of your website and other marketing materials will lead you to a successful business. Just as people ignore stores that look dull and unattractive, people will also pay no attention to your poorly designed website, brochures, flyers and business cards.

Design plays a vital role in attracting customers. If you aim to compel people to buy your products, you should tickle their visual appetite. Graphic design, for example, can turn simple information about a product into a convincing message, which attracts potential buyers. This is done by combining the power of text, images, colours and layout.

Here are some of the benefits you can get from a good marketing design.

1. It can communicate your message well. Graphic design conveys a message faster and more efficiently than text alone. To improve your sales, you will need to focus, not only on the quality of your products and services (although this is equally important), but also to the design strategy you use to sell them. Let’s face it, even if you offer the best possible product in the market, other companies will still get ahead of you in terms of sales because they have a more effective design to market their products.

2. It gives you a good name. Your website (or any other marketing tool) represents not only your business but more importantly it represents you as well. A well-designed website will assure clients that they are dealing with a good company. Build a good reputation by first gaining their trust through a good design. Remember that in business, first impressions are of utmost importance.

3. It helps improve your marketing strategy. Your marketing plan should be devised together with the design of your marketing tools (brochures, flyers, website, corporate identity and so forth). Graphic design is intended to help you promote your products and services. So to yield the best result, you must work well with your hired designer.

Your business deserves more than a dull and ineffective marketing strategy. Ensure that your business looks and feels professional in all media (print and online), not just when a client enters your offices.

Necessary elements of a great web site

1. WELL ORGANISED HOME PAGE
You have probably seen Web sites with so much information jammed packed on the home page that it makes it impossible to know where to start. Having a well organised home page means making it easy for visitors to find information and having a clear plan on where you want your visitor to go. Unnecessary icons and buttons are distractions. Keep it simple for your visitors and they will not only stick around, but they will come back.

2. MINIMAL ANIMATION
Excessive animation may have been cool 5 years ago, but it is now considered annoying. Animation is okay in moderation, however, as long as the maximum loop is 5 times or less. You can effectively use animation to draw attention without distracting the visitor from the purpose of your Web site.

3. READABLE BACKGROUNDS
Have you ever visited a Web site that looks good until the background image loads and now you cannot read the text? The beach, the sky, your cat may all be very important to you, just do not use them as your background. Solid backgrounds without patterns that offset the color of the text work best.

4. CONSISTENT TEXT
You may use different fonts besides Arial, Verdana, and Times New Roman, but do not go overboard. Stick to one font for your text. Fonts like Arial or Verdana are easy to read. Remember that if you use an uncommon font for your text, your visitor must have that font loaded on their system in order to view it properly. You can create graphics with uncommon fonts, but graphics can slow the load time of your Web page and are not indexed by search engines without added HTML code which can hurt your search engine rankings.

5. NO UNDER CONSTRUCTION SIGNS
As detailed in our last newsletter, A Web Site is a Constant Work in Progress - http://www.bannerview.com/newsletter/archive/?id=127 - no site is a finished product. Most are continually being updated with new information. In a sense, every Web site is always “under construction.” However, that message should never appear on your home page because you’re essentially telling visitors that your site is not ready for them to view. Search engines like Yahoo! will automatically reject your site if you have ANY page that states it is under construction.

6. DON’T SPECIFY WHICH WEB BROWSER TO USE
Few statements on a Web page annoy visitors as much as “This Site Best Viewed With...” How many times have you ever upgraded or downloaded a new Web browser just to look at a single Web site? Probably never. Unless you are absolutely certain that visitors will use a particular Web browser (on a company Intranet, for example), your site should be optimized to display effectively across major browsers.

7. NO BACKGROUND MUSIC
Background music on a page adds no content but increases the annoyance factor and the page download time. It is ok to include music clips on your site, but give your visitors the option to listen instead of assaulting them with your choice of music. Since most people surf the Internet at work or have music already playing on their computer, adding to that really detracts from their experience.

8. CONSTRUCTION AROUND MOST POPULAR SCREEN RESOLUTIONS
A lot of Web designers will design their site around a certain resolution - their own computer’s! The problem is that not everyone will have a 21” monitor and a resolution of 1024x768. This makes it so visitors have to scroll if they aren’t using a high resolution. Using expandable tables that contract and retract with different resolutions and designing to the most popular resolution of 800x600 is a good way to ensure that your site is viewed correctly by the majority of its visitors.

9. USE WEB COLOR COMBINATIONS
The Web Palette consists of 216 colors that both Macintosh and Windows systems display accurately. A lot of graphics are “too large” meaning they have “unused” colors in them which cause the graphics to be larger (in file size) than they need to be. By taking out these unused colors, it will make your graphics load faster, sometimes by as much as 30%.

10. OVERALL CONSISTENCY
The layout and design of your site from page to page should remain consistent. Keep the color scheme, sight lines, navigation buttons and text links in the same places from page to page. This will give the visitor a better experience as they will come to expect certain aspects of the site appearing in the same places and anticipate their navigation throughout the site.

Colour Psychology - Are you showing your true colours

To find out more information about design and print related topics please look at our other blogs or visit www.tridentdesign.co.uk to see how we can help you with any of your design and print needs!


Being aware of Colour psychology can send out positive or negative messages to your audience.

You can encourage sales, provoke a reaction, encourage a call to action or evoke some emotion. By combining colour with the correct use of imagery this makes up a fundamental part of any designed piece.

The information below may help you decided what colours to use in your marketing projects.

Black - is the color of authority and power, stability and strength. It is also the color associated with intelligence. Black is a serious color that evokes strong emotions; it is easy to overwhelm people with too much black

White - is associated with purity, cleanliness (doctors in white coats) and the safety of bright light. It is actually a compression of all the colours in the color spectrum.

Red - if you want to draw attention, use red. It tends to be where the eye looks first. Red is the colour of energy it is associated with movement and excitement. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving (red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.)

Blue - the majority of people will say blue is their favourite colour. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas)... Seeing the colour blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming. Over the ages blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty

Green - is the colour of growth, nature, and money. It is also the color associated with envy, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the traditional colour of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support and well paced energy.

Yellow - Cheerful yellow the colour of the sun, associated with laughter, happiness and good times. A person surrounded by yellow feels optimistic because the brain actually releases more seratonin (feel good chemical in the brain)

Orange - The most vibrant colour on the planet! It's the color tied most this fun times, happy and energetic days, warmth and organic products. It is also associated with ambition.

Purple - our most royal colour it is associated with wealth, prosperity, rich sophistication. This colour stimulates the brain activity used in problem solving. Use purple most carefully to lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect.

Brown - is most associated with reliability, stability, and friendship. It is also associated with things being natural or organic.

To find out more information about design and print related topics please look at our other blogs or visit www.tridentdesign.co.uk to see how we can help you with any of your design and print needs!