Five things a
logo must have

BY ZAIN AHMED KAMAL

In this blog we will discuss what a logo is, why it is important and the five things a logo must have.

Logo is a graphically made mark, emblem, shape, text, color or symbol used to give an identification and recognition to a particular brand or business. Logo is generally made in vector based software’s like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.

If you wish to know what vector based software is, logo designing process and more then you can read a blog by the name Ultimate Guide on Graphic Designing at https://zakdesigns.co/2019/10/17/ultimate-guide-on-graphic-designing/

Or if you want to see a video on logo designing process then watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1_Mv53BT-c&t=5s

A logo is not only made for separate identification from other companies and its competitors but is also the base for all branding initiatives. Every idea, logic, design and execution is going to revolve around it and so its importance is obvious. By now it must be clear why a logo design is needed.

Let’s start with it.

Concept

A logo must be designed with a concept. It is must for the concept to be unique and original. It should not be copied from anywhere. Let us discuss more about it using an example.

This restaurant “Dosamania “specializes in South Indian dishes. They wanted the logo to have a touch of their culture and tradition.

So we made a custom font, taking inspiration from south Indian language and their fonts. Each letter is creatively made and you will not find it anywhere else. After designing the custom font we placed it on a banana leaf as in their tradition they give food wrapped in a banana leaf.

This was the concept behind this logo. I hope it is clear now and if you have any question please put it in the comment box and I will definitely reply to it.

Tagline

Have you ever noticed a three or four words sentence below a logo? You must have seen but still let me remind you. Under the logo of Nike you will always find written “Just do it”. In every advertisement of the famous food chain KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) you will always find “Finger lickin good” being said or written below the logo.

Let me show you an example of one of the logo we made.

Kefi Lounge, this name comes from Greek culture meaning party. It was believed that no one partied better than the Greeks. So the icon you see is a glass, made by placing the mask upside down. This mask is what the Greeks used to wear in battle to protect themselves from the enemies. Coming to tagline “Party like the Greeks” is used as this lounge is for parties and to have fun time.

The basic function of a tagline is to help the logo communicate with people and make them understand what the brand or company deals in. A tagline not fulfilling this need is of no use.

However it is not necessary for a brand to have a tagline but it definitely helps in the process of communication.

Color

It is very obvious to add color on a logo, but the question is which color? Which color will carry the meaning and concept of the logo properly? It is a very important question and must be answered. One has to understand that every color has a meaning and any color added to a logo must have logic, reason and must go with the concept.

Let’s understand this better with an example. We made a logo for a company by the name Marvel, which deals in pools and fountains.

This is what we call a word mark logo, concept in the letters itself. We made the alphabet “A” look like a swimming pool and added light blue color in it. If you will notice the entire logo is in blue color and the inside of “A” in light blue color just like the color of water. The reason behind keeping everything in blue is because both pools and fountains have water in it.

Just as a tip, do not add too many colors in any logo. Choose one or two colors and maybe different shades of it. Please remember the color chosen for the logo stays the same everywhere, for all the branding initiatives no matter what. So choose the colors wisely. Logo designing and branding goes hand in hand.

Originality

I cannot emphasis more on this topic than to write a section for it. To be successful in this or any profession one must come up with original ideas, copying will ruin the reputation of any designer and once ruined it cannot be recovered. Do not copy an idea or concept from anywhere, rather create one. It is going to be challenging but that’s the fun, once you create a concept it is all yours.

Story

On the journey of designing a logo, you will end with a story. A story of how you started, what concept you developed, what challenges you faced and what you ended with. Let me show you what I mean, watch the video.

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Case Study on the Logo designed for SPBS

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More than just a name – Identity Designing

You are more than just a name with a personality, values and traits; combining that builds your Identity. In the same way a brand too needs an identity which can be designed. In this blog we are going to discuss it.

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Graphic designing
vs Web designing

BY ZAIN AHMED KAMAL

This blog is for people who are confused between graphic designing and web designing. It is very important to understand that Web Designing is a part of graphic designing and both are different from Web Development.

But How? That we will discuss in details and let’s start with Graphic Designing.

graphic designing

By definition Graphic Designing is the process of creatively arranging photos, symbols, text, patterns, illustrations and shapes to convey a message to an audience or an individual reader. In our everyday life we come across a lot of things which is made with the help of Graphic Designing. For example while walking on a road we see a huge hoarding beautifully designed for the advertisement of a product or service, buying something wrapped in an attractive package with details of the product or see a poster of an upcoming movie. Sitting at home reading a magazine or a menu card in a restaurant. All this and much more is made with the help of Graphic Designing.

Anyone can become a graphic designer but not all will become a successful graphic designer. To be the latter practice is a must and with that full knowledge of Graphic Designing Principles. With these the most important thing is love and passion for designing because the beginning will be so difficult that anyone will give up but not those who Love Designing.

To get an idea about Principles of Graphic Designing you can go to the link below:

https://zakdesigns.co/2019/10/17/ultimate-guide-on-graphic-designing/

SERVICES

Coming to Graphic Designing Services List, one can do all of these or master in any one to make a career in this field.

Logo Designing
Brochure Designing
Catalogue Designing
Package Designing
Leaflet Designing
Visiting Card Designing

This and lot more can be made with the help of Graphic Designing however if you want to know in details about Logo Designing then click on the link below

https://zakdesigns.co/2019/10/17/ultimate-guide-on-graphic-designing/

Here you will get to know what a logo is, the process of logo designing and logo designing tips.

If you wish to see a video on the same then click on the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1_Mv53BT-c&t=3s

SOFTWARE

There are three major software which is professionally used for Graphic Designing.

Corel Draw

Corel Draw is vector based software, commonly used for graphic designing. This software is best suited for Logo Designing, Brochure Designing, Leaflet Designing and more.

Adobe Illustrator

Among all the Adobe software one is which widely used is Adobe Illustrator. A very powerful vector software and many designers prefer it over Corel Draw. If you want to become a successful graphic designer then learning Adobe Illustrator is a must.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is called the King of all software, based on raster concept. It has power beyond imagination and one who learns it can do incredible things. It is very commonly used for any kind of photo editing.

This more or less covers everything about graphic designing, and now let’s move to Web Designing.

web designing

Web designing by definition is the process of arranging a layout using pictures, information, shapes and color to provide details about the products or services being provided by a company. Among various types of website the most commonly used are informative websites and e-commerce websites.

An Informative website is generally designed to provide the information of a company. For example about the company, its services, may be portfolio and more.

On the other hand an e-commerce website is made with the sole purpose of selling products. They may deal in one type of product or various types of product. These kind of website are more complicated than informative website. They need more storage capacity, payment portals, tracking details information and more.

The layout of any website must be simple and consumer friendly. A complicated website is of no use. The images being used must be of low resolution but not blurry so as to keep the website fast. A slow website will make the user run away.

A website must be made keeping in mind that it will be operated on various platform, each having their own size or dimension. The website must work properly on all platforms like desktop, laptop, tablets and mobile phone.

For designing web pages software like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop is widely used. As Adobe Illustrator is a vector based software it is used to build shapes and arrange texts but then it is taken to Adobe Photoshop for preparing the final layout. It is very easy to crop and edit an image in Adobe Photoshop. Also it is possible to export a file in web format from Adobe Photoshop and is done to take an idea of how it is looking on a web browser.

So coming to conclusion both the software are used at the same time for web designing as both have their own purpose. It must be clear by now that Web Designing is not a different segment but a part of Graphic Designing.

To be a successful web designer one must have the knowledge of Graphic Designing Principles, must be well versed and experienced with Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

web development

Most people get confused between a web designer and web developer, which is way different from each other.

The main difference between a web designer and a web developer is that the former designs the layout of the website using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. It is the web designer who gives a concept and look to a website and how it is going to work. The latter develops the actual website through coding using software like Adobe Dreamweaver and computer languages like css, html, JavaScript, j query, python and more.

The process of getting a website live starts from a web designer and ends at a web developer.

A web designer must have designing knowledge where that is not required for a developer. However if a developer has designing knowledge it will be like icing on the cake.

A web designer must know thoroughly software like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop but a web developer only needs to know basics of Adobe Photoshop, like cropping of images.

A web designer has to be aware about the possibilities of coding and design accordingly. For example using a google font will help in speeding the website and a custom font which is not available in google will make the website slow. A high resolution heavy image will make the website load slowly and thus it is very important to keep the image sharp and clean but low in resolution.

conclusion

Now the difference between Graphic Designing, Web Designing and Web Development must be clear. They are definitely different from each other but they are interrelated to each other.

A web designer can also be a graphic designer or just a web designer but whatever the choice is knowledge of Graphic Designing Principles is a must. It is like salt to food, necessary everywhere.

Neither a web designer nor a web developer can make a website live alone. So when it comes to website both are equally important.

Let me know if this was helpful and if you have any question please put it in the comment box and I will revert back.

For any branding related help please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.zakdesigns.co