Design Considerations and Origins of the Logo

The core understanding of what makes a logo is what dictates how I approach all design, whether it is highly technical or creative.   I'd like to share the constraints that are imposed on logo design so that I can convey similarity when exploring all design strategy.

Elements of Logo Design

There are basic elements that need to be considered when exploring logo design.  Although they are declared elements in the design world, to me they are constraints.  Constraints in my opinion dictate how I think in terms when considering all of the factors involved in outlining a design, where I confine my potential opportunities into what will actually work.  The challenge to know whether a design will implement properly is that we cannot predict the future and reusing past historical evidence is based on perspective.  New ideas, when evaluating novelty, require that guarantee that it will work.   The most straightforward implementation evaluation is whether or not a logo is effective.  Just look at the logo, if it doesn't make work at first glance, glossing it over for hours and hours isn't going to help.  That is why I would emphasize being aware of the elements of what makes up a logo, that way, it is easier to ascertain whether a new idea in itself also will be effective.

Let's start by outlining the basics of logo design elements:

Proportions

The main consideration of proportion with composition design is to achieve the Golden Ratio.  You see the ratio everywhere, whether visible in the patterns of nature, the roots of architecture, art and as well, across almost every effective logo you are acquainted with.   Most importantly, the human face composition, in which people acknowledge as one of the initial recognition patterns while in infancy, is one of the most widely used logos to promote decision making in marketing campaigns.

It is quite effective to at least review the proportions of a logo.  When deciding on an effective design strategy the proportions of the logo itself dictates the perpetual user experience for the site.  It is much like how facial recognition dictates your entire lifetime user experience.  This may seem like an exaggeration, however, if it is overly emphasized, the site experience benefits reinforce the tenants of the organization.

Not suggesting to get too specific regarding the mathematical constraints imposed by the Golden Ratio.  Measurements too specific may be easily implied using elements such as prominence and the impression of size.  More creative approaches do accommodate the need to be scientifically correct.   Beware to explore too much into the creative side and lose the simplicity of design. Keeping it simple in proportion allows opportunity to save attention towards the other elements of logo design being contrast, repetition and nuance.

Contrast

When you want to include everything into a composition, complexity amplifies.  The more simplified the message, there requires common traits that bridge between those subtle details together.  When balancing both complexity and simplicity, that is where contrast gains value.

Logos usually include shapes, colo(u)rs and font.  Two totally different font families really don't go well together.  Although they do effectively contrast in definition, there is no relationship.  Try to align the families of font in a close knit fashion where there is only a subtle different in kerning, alignment or emphasis.  With shapes, positioning is key mostly in consideration with balance.  Having two similar images of different sizes is also in definition contrasting, however, if they share the same axis, then the weight between the two appear competing.  Changing the geometry of shapes can somewhat share the same axis.  However, it is much better to overlap or integrate the shapes into a single entity, the contrast of that relationship is compelling.   As for colo(u)rs, complement two together, without adding too many different colo(u)rs, unless they are shades of the same.

It is quite challenging to determine how to align contrast into a composition such as a logo.  You could mark anything different anywhere and just declare that as contrast.  The main idea is to be consistent.  Consistency in how elements contrast establish that bridge that reinforces the message.  Consistency can also be emphasized in repetition which is the next element of a logo.

Repetition

The most visually pleasing experience to humans is the beauty perceived out of abstract form.  To achieve a pleasing experience is to establish an axis, or a point of reference, then to facet around that, all forms that seem to have similarity.  The most subtle way to enable symmetry is to implement repetition, which would imply sequence, create animation, and communicate more information that what could be contained in the singular objects themselves.

The most popular number of repetitions is 3 so that symmetry is not forced.  If symmetry is too obvious, then the composition is exhausting.  Multiple of 3's is also effective as long as there is an centre point.

By reviewing the IBM logo, for example, there does appear at first too many repetitions. The complexity of repetition is reinforced by the repetition of the letters which is actually the target number of 3, thus using that relationship between letters all sharing the same repetitive lines, creates a message of consistent coverage, all effectively communicated through a logo on the premise of repetition.   If there were two letters or four letters, then the contrasting number of lines may not be as effective.

Nuances

The most important element of design is the delicate attention to detail to such a degree that all other elements of repetition, contrast and proportion do not appear forced.   At the same time, when everything is too structured or too organized, then no attention is garnered.  The middle ground between structure and creativity is where nuance holds the design together.

If you are a fan of font styles, then you are really a fan of nuance.  Most fonts have those small nuances which shows a different of a letter between another font.  Those small differences of how the letter is represented is appealing.

Nuance is the hardest to measure directly.  It is the tiny coordination between proportion, contrast and repetition which need to be reviewed.  The outcome of the design analysis will tell you whether the combination of all elements of a design are subtle or forced.  If the design seems forced in some manner, then readjusting one element may require to readjust the entire composition.  This alone will impose hours and hours of detailed effort to ensure that nuance is achieved.

Conclusion

The reason why I posted about Logo considerations is because it actually dictates how to approach all design for any solution.   The discipline of perceptive design actually applies to all facets of life, I would most likely regard that to the fact that everything we do is based on perspective and perceptive alignment.   To be able to arrange a logo and to also analyse it's effectiveness contributes towards elegant design for all solutions, whether visual, technical or mechanical.  Behind every design is a set of constraints, some known by all, and many more known by the experts - it is those hidden constraints that are more transparent following these key elements.



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