Designing Effective Logos: Learn by Video

Designing Effective Logos: Learn by Video

Released September 2014
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 0133855996

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Video description

The DNA of a strong business identity is its logo, making effective logos key to the success and longevity of any business. In this six-hour video, educator, author, and award-winning logo designer Maggie Macnab explores how to create powerful logos that are meaningful, effective, and substantial enough to scale over time and beyond trend. Macnab pulls from her 30 years of experience as a designer and educator to reveal the secrets to making your logos memorable, aesthetic, and immediate through universal principles and shapes. She explains the basic principles of successful logo designs (balance and proportion, symmetry, the 5 Gestalts, etc.) and the importance of visual storytelling as you conceive your logo designs. She also offers practical business approaches to sourcing clients, strategies for designing what you’re drawn to, advice on how to draft a successful proposal to land the job, and guidance on how to legally protect your work–the essentials of logo business–along with the fun stuff of finding inspiration, exploring software tools, and developing your creative skills as the basis of logos that truly work. In this video, you will learn about: Different types of logos, from symbolic to literal The business of logo design: contracts and legal considerations Logo design principles such as gestalt, negative/positive space, visual storytelling, scaling, and economy Secondary logo design considerations: color, typography, and technique Creating identity guidelines to maintain the integrity of the brand and to support your client’s future brand

Table of contents

  1. Why Effective Logos Are Important
    1. Welcome
    2. How we process information
    3. Universal information and logos
    4. Materials needed for this video
    5. Working with exercise files
  2. Different Parts and Types of Identity Design
    1. Introduction
    2. Vocabulary
    3. How logos communicate
    4. Trademark: Predecessor to the logo
    5. When to use what
  3. An Overview of the Process
    1. Let's get started
    2. A Step by Step Guide to the Design Process
    3. Interviewing the Client and Doing Research
    4. Structure and Flow in Design
    5. Design Flow
    6. Problem-solving Styles
  4. The Principles of Basic Black
    1. The Principles of Basic Black
    2. Flexibility
    3. Logo Scalability
    4. Scaleability in Logotypes
    5. Letterspacing Logotypes
    6. The Power of Empty Space
    7. Economy and Elegance
  5. Proportion
    1. Introduction to Proportion
    2. Proportion Basics
    3. The Golden Ratio as Aesthetic
    4. The Golden Ratio as Structure
    5. How to Create the Golden Section Spiral in Illustrator
    6. Golden Ratio Tools
    7. The Fibonacci Sequence
  6. Symmetry
    1. Introduction to Symmetry
    2. The Three Basic Symmetries
    3. How to Create the Three Symmetries in Illustrator
    4. Refelection Symmetry Exercise: Create a Name Totem
    5. Rotation Symmetry Exercise: Create a Mandala
    6. Tessellations
    7. How to Create a Simple Tessellation
    8. How to Create a Complex Tessellation
  7. Good Gestalt
    1. Introduction to Gestalt
    2. Figure/Ground
    3. Closure
    4. Continuance
    5. Similarity
    6. Proximity
    7. All the Gestalts in One Design
  8. The Importance of Visual Storytelling
    1. The Importance of Visual Storytelling Introduction
    2. Create a Relationship with the Audience
    3. Develop the Concept
  9. Choosing a Creative Strategy for the Logo
    1. Choosing a Creative Strategy for the Logo Introduction
    2. Individualize the Cliché
    3. Symbolic Logos
    4. Metaphoric Logos
    5. Literal Logos
    6. Style and Substance
  10. An Introduction to Patterns in Logos
    1. An Introduction to Patterns in Logos
  11. Patterns of Movement: Branching
    1. Patterns of Movement: Branching
    2. How to Use the Branching Pattern
    3. How to Integrate the Branching Pattern
  12. Patterns of Movement: Meanders
    1. Patterns of Movement: Meanders
    2. Choosing and Using a Meandering Pattern
  13. Patterns of Creativity: Spirals
    1. Patterns of Creativity: Spirals
  14. Patterns of Cooperation: Helices
    1. Patterns of Cooperation: Helices
    2. How to Use the Helix in Logos
    3. Process of Selection: Helix
  15. Patterns of Security: Stacking and Packing
    1. Patterns of Security: Stacking and Packing
    2. How to use Stacking and Packing Patterns in a Logo
  16. An Introduction to Shapes in Logo Design
    1. An Introduction to Shapes in Logo Design
  17. Circles: Wholeness
    1. Circles: Wholeness
    2. How to Use Circles in Logos
    3. Process: The Circle in Logos
  18. Intersecting Lines: Relationships
    1. Intersecting Lines: Relationships
    2. How to Use Intersecting Lines in a Logo
    3. Process: Interstecting Lines in Logos
  19. Triangles: Inspiration and Transformation
    1. Triangles: Inspiration and Transformation
    2. How to Use Triangles in Logos
    3. Process: Triangles in Logos
  20. Four-Sided Figures: Stability
    1. Four-Sided Figures: Stability
    2. How to Use a Four-sided Shape in a Logo
    3. Process: Four-sided Shapes in Logos
  21. Spirals and Stars: Creativity and Excellence
    1. Spirals and Stars: Creativity and Excellence
    2. Spirals and Starts in Everyday Experience
    3. Process: Spirals in Logos
  22. Secondary Logo Characteristics
    1. Secondary Logo Characteristics
    2. About Color
    3. Color Associations
    4. Modifying a Typeface to Accompany a Logo
    5. The Value and Challenge of Lines
    6. When to Add a Style of Technique
    7. Unifying the Components
  23. Presenting the Logo to your Client
    1. Presenting the Logo to your Client
    2. Preparing for a Successful Presentation
    3. Digital Presentations
    4. Hardcopy Presentations
  24. Finalizing the Artwork
    1. Finalizing the Artwork
    2. Vector versus Raster Considerations
    3. Final Production of the Logo Artwork
    4. Color Format and Printing Considerations
    5. Prepping a Business Card for Digital Press
  25. The Importance of Establishing Consistency
    1. The Importance of Establishing Consistency
    2. Creating an Identity Standards Guideline Brief for the Client
    3. Creating an Extensive Identity Standards Guideline Document
    4. Providing Final Files for the Client
  26. Extending the Logo into a Brand
    1. Extending the Logo into a Brand
    2. What is a Brand?
    3. Prep for Brand Thinking
    4. Process: Putting the Brand into the World
  27. The Business of Identity Design
    1. The Business of Identity Design
    2. Negotiating a Contract
    3. Logo Ownership
    4. How to Copyright Your Work Online
    5. The Logo Designer's Business Documents
    6. Your Work's Future Value
  28. Finding Clients and Getting Work
    1. Finding Clients and Getting Work
    2. Put Your Best Work Out There
    3. Initiating Contact and Networking
    4. Pro Bono versus Spec Work
    5. Design as a Way of Life

Product information

  • Title: Designing Effective Logos: Learn by Video
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: September 2014
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 0133855996