Logo Design: What You Need To Know

Logo Design: What You Need To Know

Author: Kevin Kidder

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Article Link: http://www.mineeds.com/Riverside/Kidder-Design-Group/Articles/Logo-Design-What-you-need-to-know

Tags: logos , design , colors , image , theme , logo design , icon , business , branding

First of all, I would like praise you for doing a little homework.

Not only will you be better educated in directing the image of your company, but you will also learn how to get the most out of your company image.

I want to discuss logo design in general.

A logo should be easy to read and easy on the eye.

Lets look at some of the national brands, that we all know and recognize: AT&T, McDonalds, Nordstroms, etc. Maybe you have even heard of Starbucks...... and I bet you could recognize their cup lying on the side of the road!

We all know what the company is, even if we only see a portion of the name or logo.

Each is easy to read and recognize. Many also adhere to a certain theme of colors.

This is called "Branding" or Brand Identity.

It permeates every aspect of the business from cards, to cups, to buildings, to vehicles, to advertising.

Sounds simple enough!

How do we build brand identity for your business?

Font:

First, make sure that your name is legible.

The script, tribal, or gangster font might look cool, and even go with the image of the business that you are in. BUT, to be honest, if a potential client has to decipher the puzzle, just to find out who you are and where to find you, they are most likely to go with someone else, a more recognizable name.

Colors:

Colors may have more of an impact on a person's impression than you may think.

Are there any colors that you can readily associate with your type of business? Perhaps the image that you are trying to portray?

Lets look at an example:

You are opening a day spa. The basic premise for a day spa is what? Relaxation, tranquility, and so forth.

We want to relay this message in the colors and tones that we use. Red, bright orange, bright yellows (what we refer to as "hot" colors) won't work well to relay the "feeling" that we are trying to present. How about softer tones of greens, earthtones, maybe a splash of gold for that upscale, pampered touch. Skulls, flames, and tribal graphics...... probably not a good idea! But then again, maybe that is just the "odd" approach that you may need to make your business different.....or attract the client base that you are marketing to.

What type of "feel" do you want your company to have?

Sophisticated and professional? Fun and whimsy? Energetic and exciting?

Get the picture?

Now that you have come up with a basic look or feel for your design, how does it translate to the rest of your business?

Will it work for letterhead? Business Cards? Window Signs? Vehicle Graphics? Web site? Pens? Shirts? ........

Bottom Line:

To get the most out of your logo (and design dollar), make sure that your logo is fitting to your business and image. Make sure that it can be used for more than a fancy business card.

Design does not have to cost an arm and a leg, but quality will surely have an impact on your business.

Make sure that your "graphic designer" truly has your company's best interests in mind, not the quick lining of his pocket book. Don't settle for the "I'm the designer, therefore I know" attitude.

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Font and Typography Magic for Posters

Font and Typography Magic for Posters

If you list down the major elements of poster design, one of the next on the list after the Images is the text or the typography. Now, standard poster printing will always have a significant portion of its design dedicated to the text and fonts.

It is crucial that everything about it is perfect before sending the design to the poster printer. That text provides the important information that the color poster is trying to convey and it must be as good looking as possible for people to notice it.

Therefore, if you are looking for nice tricks on how to make your fonts or your typography look better, here are a few font and typography magic tips and tricks that you might want to use.

1. Getting and installing free fonts – Now, one of the best resources for typography are the free fonts over the Internet. There are hundreds of sites out there that offer free downloads from their font databases. You can easily acquire these and install at your leisure for your design application.

Just choose the one that you think is right for your poster design, download it, and install it for your design application. For example, if you want to install new fonts for Adobe applications, you should just download the “TTF” files from the internet and copy it to your C:program filescommon filesadobefonts folder. You should then be able to use the new font in your color poster designs.

2. Adding shadows to words – In terms of effects themselves for your fonts, adding shadow effects is one of the most common. Shadow effects basically simulate a source of light and the shadow that letters would probably cast when hit by that light. It is a nice effect if you want to have some of your words and texts “come out” lifting them in the design. You have the option usually of shifting the direction of the source of light so that you can change the angles of the shadows to your liking. Most image editing software like adobe Photoshop can do this for you.

3. Adding 3 dimensional effects – You can also use some three-dimensional effects for your fonts. Try to find a feature that offers to “emboss” letters and words so that they look like they are made of something in 3D. These add substance to your color poster designs, which is distinctly different from shadows. Your letters will look like they have been molded into the poster design.

4. Adding texture and fillers – Fonts can also look great if you add textures and fillers. This effect basically fills the body of your characters with more than one color. These fillers can make your letters look like they were made from something such as satin, feathers or even stone and bricks. In addition, some filler add color gradients into the characters, shifting colors as words and sentences are spelled out. This is a good effect if you want to create logos and special headings in your poster design.

5. Adding borders and strokes – Now, if you want to emphasize certain words and letters. You can also add font borders or strokes. These borders are easily used in most design applications. They add an extra color border around characters, increasing the word's visibility amidst its background.

6. Adjusting character spacing and sizes – Spacing can also be a great thing to play within your poster designs. Most fonts have pre-set spacing and sizes. However, in some design applications you can change this so that characters can appear closer together beyond the usual character spacing. You can even cause them to touch and overlap one another if that is your desired effect in your poster designs. This is pretty useful if your posters are already getting a bit tight on space.

7. Mixing and matching effects – Finally, you should of course not be afraid and mix and match the effects above. You can try for example, adding font borders in your text, while at the same time it has shadows. This gives a more detailed design to your text that can be great for many possible designs. So do not be afraid, experiment with your text fonts or typography.

Now you know how to magic your way to improve your fonts when designing layouts for color poster printing. Use these designs wisely for your benefit. Good Luck!

Learn about the developments in poster printer or poster printing industry.

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Get a Cheap Package Family Holidays!

Get a Cheap Package Family Holidays!

Cheap package family holidays are always the primary objective this time of the year. Holiday season is just around the corner making it one of the perfect times to get a holiday and spend quality time together with your family or loved ones. But due to our economy's state, many families feel a bit hesitant whether to start on a holiday or just spend the holidays at home. Then there are the questions that range from where to go to get the best value, to how to save money on a holiday travel, to where a great family-friendly destination is located, solely to name a couple. [**] there is still a silver lining when it comes to travel.
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rnThere are 2 engaging trends in the sector nowadays. First, people are booking their vacations nearer to the actual travel dates, as they need to have the best picture possible of their life before they make the decision to book their travel arrangements. 2nd, the'power of the purse' is in action, with more women making the majority of travel calls and taking responsibility for booking family getaways.
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rnSo how do you get the most for your cash when booking travel for your family? First off, you've got to pick the right destination. Deals are abundant, but especially at family destinations this year. Beach resorts have always been the mainstay of the family vacation market. Occupancy levels at well-liked family resorts are already low. If you can scouse borrow a break with the kids this autumn, San Diego, Orlando, Hawaii and los angeles all offer superb value this season and lots of entertainment for your family.
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rnsecond, find flights. The unexpected increase of low-cost airlines has opened up a good choice of family holiday destinations. Airline prices change constantly, so look for these low fares now and when you see a great fare, book it straight away. A handful of airlines still offer child discounts , but as a general rule, you may find an improved deal if you look out for the lowest fares you'll be able to find online and special sales. These are without doubt lower than the full-priced child fares. Also, little local airfields and short transfers to the resort area have made family holidays extremely hassle free. Family holidays to less popular destinations offer great excellent value.
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rnthird, you need to consider all-inclusive resorts. They are a family's best friend and are providing some of the finest rebates. Everybody can eat, stay and play at an all-inclusive with just one set price .
rnfourth, if you need to save even more money and score some awesome deals on flights or beach holidays, try the following couple of months before the holidays, when the demand and prices are low. Timing is actually everything.
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rnultimately, book your family package holidays travel now. October is a good time to order travel because you will still see some good options on pricing and routes. If at all possible, try and fly nonstop out of a popular airline center. You may find more competition among airlines and thus better price.

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rnRelated Article: Cheap Package Family Holidays
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