I think Will.I.Am is ahead of his time when it comes to his thoughts on logo desigh. Why? Well, because I agree with him. lol. I just think many people don’t understand exactly what he’s talking about. So, I break it down exactly what it is in terms of logo designs.
So a lot of people are giving Will.I.Am a hard time about this video where he gives sincere advice on logo design. People are calling him crazy, wack job, and he’s a musician that doesn’t know shit.
He’s not claiming to be a professional graphic designer. He’s a non-technical company founder. It’s common knowledge that a non-technical or business development founder is required to be a jack of all trades.
This means having knowledge and foresight in all aspects of starting up which includes, programming, design, marketing, accounting, SEO, web design, UI/UX design, mobile app user onboard experience design, etc.
will.i.am’s Tips On Creating Your Corporate Logo (in his own words)
1) If your logo is not powerful in black & white, then there’s a problem.
I relate this back to black and white black photography. In the early days of photography, photographers had no choice but to shoot in black and white.
Modern black and white photography at it’s best is art, and many photographers regard it as the purest form of photography. Colour is a distraction. It takes attention away from the visual building blocks of a great photo; texture, tonal contrast, shape, form and lighting.
A photographer shooting in black and white has to learn how to use all these elements to create a memorable image. Thus, if you can create a memorable impactful logo in the raw black and white environment than more than likely it will be effective in color.
2) If your logo isn’t powerful when very very small, then there’s a problem.
Here he’s just talking about how a logo has to be able to adapt in any environment in the social digital economy. A logo has to be able to be resized for Instagram profile pics, blow up for the huge ass dimensions on google+ headers, ad banners, etc. For example you see many logos that are cut off and don’t fit in the Instagram profile area. That means it was done poorly.
Examples of how bad logo appear on the small display of Instagram news feed.
Examples of Good Logo design that are still impactful yet the size being reduced on Instagram’s news feed.
3) If your logo collapses when you blow it up really really big, then there’s a problem.
So your logo has to be impactful under the tiny condition on Instagram and also has to be just as memorable when resized larger on platforms such as Google+, Youtube, or Facebook. Facebook cover photos are 851 x 315 and Google+ cover photos are larger at 1080 x 608.
If they don’t look good when made larger than the power of your logo “collapses”.
4) If your logo can’t transform into other things and know what that logo is, then there’s a problem.
Yes, your logo has to be able to transform like a Transformer. I’m sure that’s what many people were thinking and why they were calling Will.I.Am crazy.
But, the man is right. Your logo has to be able to transform and morph for things such a Kinetic Typography Animations.
When your logo is transforming and morphing as a kinetic logo, it should look good anytime you pause the frame. Whcn pausing a frame of a good kinetic logo design you will be givin a totally new variation of your brands logo. And if done right…it should still look great.
5) If the logo doesn’t represent the company’s objective on a symbolic level…
It’s easier for the brain to comprehend visual images faster than text. This is common sense 101, and I don’t know why people were making fun of Will.I.Am on this.
Brain Processing Efficiency: As one might expect, not all visual stimuli are created equal. Some cruise through our neural circuitries with ease and others require more analysis. Text is a prime example of the latter. Asking people to read text on slides requires a lot of processing effort. Text, after all, is a symbol system and must be decoded to have meaning. That is, the brain first must compare letters and word-forms with shapes stored in memory. Then it gauges how the words fit together in the context of sentences, and so forth. All considered, reading is a lot of mental work.
1) 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. (Sources: 3M Corporation and Zabisco) Tweet This Stat!
2) 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text. (Source: Zabisco)Tweet This Stat!
3) 46.1% of people say a website’s design is the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the company. (Source: Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab) Tweet This Stat!
So your logo and website design is really important for establishing credibility. It’s a superficial world. Its just part of the game.
6) India’s unique because they speak English, but they have a different alphabet. So they’re going to add a whole new visual connected language to the planet.
I don’t know what Will.I.Am is referring to. As, I’m not an well versed in history. I’m sure he knows stuff that I do not, but I’m am curious to what foresight he may see.
7) Symbology and logos are going to play a big role in that. Understanding something just by looking at logo or different symbols. A new language. A new type of font will emerge and understanding of symbols.
This is just his personal foresight. It doesn’t sound crazy at all to me. Let’s just look at Last.fm’s logo. Just by looking at it…I understand it to be Last.fm
New fonts are appearing all the time
I mean…look at DJ/artist logo.
Or, the logo of BJJ practitioner Marcelo Garcia. Sure looks like a new font and symbol type to me.
Tell me how is Will.I.Am talking Crazy?
So why are all these people saying that WIll.I.Am talking crazy about logo design…I really do not know.
All the great thinkers of our time were made fun of when they make expressed their foresight. I respect Will.I.Am for not being afraid to tell the public what he thinks will happen.
