Create an Art Deco-inspired Vector Logo in Gravit Designer
Art Deco was popular in the late 1920’s and 1930’s as a style that represented glamour and modernity. It died away with the ornate Victorian-style design of the past in favor of sleek, geometric designs with clean lines and a focus on symmetry, repetition, and bold shapes and colors.
Now, nearly 100 years later, the style can take on a whole new meaning that blends modern and retro vibes. Within a graphic design context today, Art Deco’s aesthetic evokes the perception of class, strength, and brand longevity. Below are logos currently in use by various brands — each with designs and typography inspired by Art Deco.
Making Your Logo
Making your own Art Deco Logo in Gravit Designer is surprisingly easy, considering that the style relies on a lot of simple repetition that results in a complex yet streamlined gestalt. Let’s get started!
Color
For this graphic, I’ve chosen a color palette from a 1914 Art Deco poster by George Barbier L’Oiseau. His art uses striking color combinations with muted tones. You can check out some of his designs for your own inspiration here.
After you’ve selected the image you wish to draw inspiration from, you can easily pull from the image’s main colors using the “Colors” tool in the right panel of Gravit Designer, that shows under the “Appearance” tab when you have the image selected. Simply click the one of the colors in the palette Gravit Designer automatically creates and drag it onto any object to apply the color. I plan to use a medium blue color for the background and a dark red for the lines and font color.
Typography
For this design, it’s best to start with a general idea of your typography and build the rest of the logo around that. This is because the shape your typography makes will play a role in how you design the surrounding lines and objects. Below are some suggested fonts, available online from places like Google Fonts and 1001 Fonts.
If you want to create a truly authentic and historically correct design, you can try using fonts based on designs by A.M. Cassandre, a highly influential graphic designer of the Art Deco era. Below are samples and the names of the fonts he created, which are widely available online:
Graphic
When creating your document, you can start with pretty much any size you want since this is a vector, or just don’t put in any values and click “Create!” to start with an infinite canvas.
To start working on the graphic, I find it easiest to turn on the grid in “inches” mode, so I can easily align my shapes, lines, and text with the help of rulers.
Next, I created a solid colored background using the Square tool, and made it blue using the color palette I chose earlier.
I’ve added a scalloped pattern as a background to give it some texture, a design element that borrows from Japanese motifs that were popular at the time. You can access the Public Domain image I used here.
It doesn’t match my color palette, but we can change that by desaturating it and setting it to “screen” mode.
Time to add the text selecting one of the fonts from earlier! I chose Monoton, which is already included in the Web Fonts. I set it in a contrasting red font from the color palette, which I will also use for the line colors. If your text has too low visibility with the background, add a solid rectangle with 60% behind the text in the same color as the rest of the background.
I’m using 1pt lines because I think it matches my font-style well, but feel free to use a different line weight for your design.
Now, add three more lines with varying dimensions.
Now we’ll add two more lines, select them both, left click, and choose “Merge Selection” to create an interesting new line shape.
We’re done with rectangular shapes for now … let’s move onto some triangles! You can add these by going to the same shape tool in the toolbar, where you found the rectangles in, and instead select “Triangle.” Be sure to use varying sizes and stay symmetrical! I’ve added small triangles on each side, two offset triangles on the top and bottom as well as mirrored small triangles on the top and bottom.
Addding small line accents is simple, just use the “Line” tool and make five small, evenly spaced lines in a pyramid shape. Duplicate the line set and move them to match the image below:
Add two large diamonds for a bold design that mirrors the triangles.
Our final step is to add some fan-like elements inside the large diamond at the top and bottom. Use the Line tool again, or just hit the “L” key to instantly select it. Create three obtuse-angled “7”-like shapes. The easiest way of making sure the angles are uniform is by creating one, duplicating it, sizing it smaller and moving it to the left a bit. Do this twice to create three stacked angles.
Next, go to “Layer > Merge Selection” to merge the layers, and then, duplicate and flip them to create the fan shape.
You have now completed the design!
Variations
To personalize your logo, try adding or deleting some of the lines. Increasing or decreasing some of the lines’ thickness can also make the logo look drastically different. Also, use different colors from the palette, and try out some new fonts. Below are some variations of the logo I made:
Inspiration Gallery
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and it gave you some inspiration to create your own Art Deco-inspired logo. Please post your creations in the comments for the others to discover.
