Logo Development

Logos and Their Meaning1. Emerges from insight into the essence of an

organization: what it stands for now & in the future.

Logos and Their Meaning2. Grasping the meaning of a logo is rarely immediate. Ex:

American flag.

Designers need to articulate the big idea behind a mark. Then the company needs to seize every opportunity to share larger meaning as a wayof building the culture and the brand.

Logos and Their Meaning3. Meaning needs time to evolve. It usually becomes

amplified over time as the company and its culturebecome stronger.

Ex: Hewlett and Packard Company

The Power of Symbols1. Diagrammatic icons are simple representations

of the structure of the subject matter.

Ex: The Spark logo

The Power of Symbols2. Metaphoric icons are based on conceptual relationships.

The Power of Symbols3. Symbolic icons are abstract images that have no

clear relationship to the subject. Shape signifies

energy, light, etc. It acquires meaning only with its

relationship to Pabst City.

How do we construct meaning?When we deconstruct how memory is made, we

find that there are 4 critical attributes of the process:

1. Shape

2. Color

3. Historical Continuity

4. Learned Response

The sequence of cognitionThe brain acknowledges and remembers shapes first. Visual

images can be recognized directly, while words must be

decoded into meaning.

H&R BLOCK

Shape & ColorColor is the 2nd in the sequence. All our visual recognitions

are based on this. Is something square and blue, etc.?

Implied ShapesLogos do not have to be contained within shapes. The

overall form of a logo should comprise a shape. This is

achieved by letterforms and icon being constrained

within a shape. Alternatively, the letterforms and icon

can create an implied shape.

Can You Recognize the brand?

Gestalt Principlesand Logo Design

The Gestalt School of Psychology

- Was formed in 1912 in Germany

- Investigated how we see and organize visual info into a meaningful whole

- The conviction developed that a wholeis greater than the sum of its parts

Ex #1: WHOLE

Eye seeks a unified whole or gestaltKnowing how the eye seeks a gestalt can help you analyze

and create successful designs.

Ex #2: “Human Flowers” series

Gestalt Principles:

1. Similarity

2. Proximity

3. Continuation

4. Closure

5. Figure/Ground

Similarity- When we see similar things we naturally group

them together- Grouping by similarity occurs when we see

similar shape, size, color, angle or value

ProximityGrouping by similarity in spatial location is called proximity.

The closer the two elements are, the more likely we will

see them as a group.

ContinuationThe viewer’s eye always follows along a line or curve.

Continuation occurs when the eye is carried smoothly into

a line or curve that links adjoining objects.

ClosureFamiliar shapes are more readily seen as complete than

incomplete. When the eye completes a line or curve to

form a familiar shape, closure has occurred.

Figure and GroundThe eye and mind separate an object (figure) from its

surroundings (ground). Often the relationship between figure

and ground is dynamic and ambiguous, offering more than

1 solution to the searching eye.

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