Thinking of starting logo design? Here are the main types of logo design and recommended websites for reference

As society becomes growingly complex and chaotic, it is becoming increasingly important to have a company logo that accurately defines the corporate mission as well as the founder’s vision.
In this article I have summarised a bunch of things, such as types of common logo designs and useful websites for designing logos. I hope that this can be a good reference for those who have recently begun logo design or are thinking of giving it a go.

The main types of logo designs

1. A simple geometric pattern

Logos made of simple geometric patterns or plain lines are very memorable. This type of logo is also great practise for beginners who have just started designing logos. However, a drawback to this pattern is that this style has already been widely used globally. Thus, you will need to be careful that your design does not accidentally become a replica of somebody else’s logo.

2. Wordmark or lettermark

One of the most common practices for logo design is to use an existing font. They are versatile and can maintain high accessibility regardless of the way it is used in the design. Wordmarks are usually used by companies with a unique name such as Google or Etsy, where the name itself becomes the logo. Lettermarks like IBM and HP are similar to wordmarks, but contrast in the sense that it is an abbreviated form of the company name. (E.g: IBM→International Business Machines Corporation)

In choosing an appropriate font, keep in mind that serif fonts are considered more traditional whereas sans-serif fonts are thought to be quite modern. This is important in making sure that the font accurately reflects the image of the company.

3. Handwritten

Logos are more versatile if an existing font is used. However, utilizing handwriting to make a logo that depicts the uniqueness of a company is also an option. (Of course, you will need to digitalise the logo.) It is possible that the logo will live on through the generations as the symbol of the company, thanks to the originality of the handwritten style.

4. A simplified symbol

You could make a logo by simplifying an existing object. It can be easily remembered and described if people can recognise it by its image, such as “that apple mark” or “that bird mark”. When designing a logo in this way, it would be better to add your own taste to the object or consider how the company image could be incorporated into it rather than directly taking its exact shape.

5. An abstract symbol

Unlike logos that are designed based on an existing idea or object, there are also logos that are made up from abstract shapes and cannot be easily interpreted. An advantage to this type of logo is that you can put whatever meaning you want into the symbol without worrying about pre-existing meanings. On top of this, your logo would be unique.

6. Classic style

A classic logo like an emblem with a more complicated design could have disadvantages in terms of versatility or visibility compared to simpler designs. However, this type of logo allows you to express originality like the handwritten style, as well as better portray the company’s history and worth. Having said that, this type of logo is more often used for public institutions and established automobile makers and not so much for new startups or venture companies.

7. Negative space

This and the next category is more of a logo design style rather than a type. Negative space is, in other words, blank space. Looking at the above examples, we can see that the space between the E and the X for FedEx creates an arrow. Being a transportation company, it is said that the arrow portrays the message, “speed and accuracy”. The F1 logo, which was in use until last year, clearly makes up the number 1 with the blank space in its logo. Making use of negative space effectively could help in creating an unique logo that allows you to depict various ideas and images of the company at once.

8. Layering different colours

Every person has their own idea of what each colour portrays. For instance, some say red is for passion, or purple is for royalty. Of course it is okay to use just one colour, however you would have more options for your design if you combined several different colours and were able to utilize them effectively. On top of this, the use of multiple colours would give more depth to your logo in contrast to a black and white logo, and would more easily attract the user’s attention.

The above examples are merely basic styles for logo design, and most logos use a combination of these styles instead of just one. In terms of typography, some make designs out of the first letter of the company name. Other companies like Github, Android, or Reddit have aimed for more originality and used their company mascot for their logo. So as you can see, there are infinite possibilities for design.

In the next section I would like to introduce some useful websites for logo designing. I hope that these can also be of some use to you.

Useful websites for designing logos

1. Behance

Some of you may have used this site already. Behance is managed by Adobe, who is known for the development of softwares such as Photoshop or Illustrator. It is a community website for creators to share each other’s work. There is a wide range of works, including 2D and 3D works, that are uploaded every day.

Dribbble, which is a similar kind of site for sharing works, is also quite good. However, I would recommend Behance for beginners as you are able to see the steps that the designer took as well as the criteria that they had to keep to in making their logo. (E.g. 1 & 2)

2. Instagram

Instagram, an app for browsing and posting photos, is a great place to get some inspiration for logo designs. Compared to Behance or Dribbble it is a much more popular app, thus a lot more designers actively post high quality logos here. Many of these designs usually incorporate some trends in style that are not mentioned above, so it is truly a great place for some different insights. Some user accounts I recommend for you are: @logoimport, @logolearn, @logo_showcase, and @logotypeclub. I especially recommend @logolearn as you will find many posts about how exactly a logo is designed.

3. BrandNew

BrandNew is a community website specialising in CI designs. Users can discuss newly updated CI or logos, as well as vote on designs that they like. Some articles on the site explore the reason or background behind the change in CI of some prominent companies. Although it is only in English, there are some very interesting posts. Many active graphic designers comment on the site also, allowing you to see many different perspectives from just browsing.

4. Logo Design Love

Logo Design Love is a blog run by Irish graphic designer David Airey, and includes a lot of information about logo design and CI. There are many fascinating articles such as those that study the change of CI of some notable corporations. This site is also in only English, however everything is explained with images so I guarantee it will be worth your time. In fact, this blog has been put together as a book and has been a number 1 best seller in the U.S under the branding and logo design category. A Japanese version of the book is also available in Japan. For those who are interested, please check it out.

5. Kamon Database

This website is a little different from the others, but a personal recommendation of mine; Kamon Database.
(*Kamon is “family crest” in Japanese.)
Family crests are considered the foundation of Japanese design, and you can find approximately 3000 of these on this site. The beauty of these family crests live beyond time and somehow communicates something about modern logos. Looking into how these crests came to be may also help you to find ways of portraying an organisation’s vision into a logo. If you are looking to find inspiration from a slightly different angle, this is the website for you.

6. Worldvectorlogo

On Worldvectorlogo, you can find the vector data of logos of corporations worldwide and can download them for free. Recently, UI tracing has been a trend on Twitter. So why not take this opportunity to research logos of major corporations and try logo tracing? I’m sure that it will help you in designing your own logo. (As stated in the terms and conditions, this is a website for making new logos. Malicious use of these existing logos are strictly prohibited.)

7. WhatTheFont!

Have you ever looked at a logo and wondered what font was used? Upload the image of a font you like on WhatTheFont!, and you’ll get dozens of suggestions for similar fonts. You won’t be able to get exact fonts for those that are custom made, but it is no doubt that it will be of help for your logo design. And thanks to deep learning, a sophisticated mobile app (iOS, Android) of the service has been released for you to download.

Conclusion

So here are the main types of logos as well as my recommendations for some inspirational websites. How did you like it?

It may merely be a logo for some, but these logos could be the face of a company for many years ahead. There is actually a lot of depth to logo design and it is not something that can be learnt overnight. Even for me, writing this article reiterated the intricacy of designing logos. I hope that this article may lead you to take some interest in logo designs.

Originally published at Goodpatch Blog.