danielopezamora {blog}

One refused draft of the every journey matters cover

1.- Tell a story, a logo, isotype, isologo, they’re all different and sometimes we just call to all of them a “logo” it doesn’t matter if your “logo” use just text or a graphic, a picture, or a mix of all of them, just tell a story with it.

2.- Fast Readability, articulate simple elements for the graphic, if you cannot read and catch the idea in 3 seconds, burn the paper and start over. A good logo can last years. Simplify!!!.

3.- High Contrast, if your logo cannot work in simple black and white basis, erase the file and empty the trash. Really, you need to think in later applications like t-shirts, screen painting, laser engraving, high quality print, mugs, corn fields to being photograph by google earth, etc. ease of reproduction and versatility. High contrast is the key.

4.- Your logo doesn’t need an explanation to being used, even if it’s in the form of a subtitle, an elaborated detailed graphic, a sub title of the subtitle, if you need to explain what’s all about more than one time, you are not so good at telling stories.

5.- See it from the outside, how you visualize your logo? how you will like to appear besides the competition, how you will like to be accepted?, see it from the outside as you see how other people in the same business show off their logos.
Like to be different? do all the opposite of what the competition does. Like to be accepted fast? recycle some use and tested ideas.

6.- Remember that all the above should help to make the logo memorable, your logo should remain in he head of the audience tending to be as an iconic graphic, while still make the connection between elements; product, branding, company, people, main points of the project, context, (mmm too much huh), the key is to choose at the most 2 of the elements and graphic them, if you made a connection with more of them in the process cheers!, but don´t try to explain them all, otherwise the logo will end up being a poster.

7.- Start over, there´s never too much drafts to review, all of them got good ideas, mix them, simplify, reinterpret… Like to be you! just tell your story in two lines of text and solve it with a graphic.

Bullet points Commissioned by Tanya Mowbray, Development Officer of Peace Child International.