Whether you’re well on the way to getting your business up and running or simply branding your current company, campaign or product, these awesome resources will offer some creative inspiration for your logo design and decisions.
Ease of use and simple searches on Pinterest make it a wonderful place to source a variety of visual inspirations for your logo design. A basic keyword search, like “vintage logos” for example, can throw up multiple pins that can present you with ideas on how to (or how not to) begin making some basic logo choices. The images here can also inspire your logo vision if you’re lacking in ideas or design approaches. Use Pinterest to generate ideas and validate existing ideas.
Stuck on colour? Or think colours really don’t matter much? Colours in your logo are incredibly important. WebpageFX recently found that 85% of consumers cite colour as the primary reason they buy a particular product, and 80% of people believe colour increases brand recognition.
WebpageFX produces a number of interesting and design related infographics about colour, fonts and branding. Check out their page to get an overview of the importance of logo colours, as well as kick-start your education on what different colours can mean and convey to your customers.
Logo of the Day and Brands of the World are both great websites to stay inspired on a regular basis. Both are dedicated logo databases that can fill your mind with imaginative possibilities and give you an overview of what’s on trend in terms of colours, shapes, fonts and general design elements. These sites are perfect for people who are looking to start a business but are still in the planning phase and seeking inspiration.
If you’re sick of sourcing your logo design on the computer, take a look at the world around you. The natural world can be a wonderful source of inspiration for any type of design – from flowers and greenery, to light and water and even animals.
German astronomer and mathematician Michael Maestlin was the first to publish the ‘golden ratio’, a mathematical formula derived from observations in nature. Leonardo da Vinci also used this principle in his famous drawing of The Vitruvian Man and Fibonacci used the principle to create the ‘golden spiral’. In mathematics, two quantities are in the ‘golden ratio’ if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. More simply, when something is in the ‘golden ratio’ its proportions look correct to the human eye — most modern logos use this principle.
Keen to know what’s on the cutting edge of logo creation? The European Design Awards include two categories dedicated to cutting edge logo design – brand logo and company logo. Both are worth a look if you’re after some truly innovative logo concepts. There is plenty of inspiration here so check out these amazing past winners.
Moat is a database of online advertisements designed by famous (and sometimes infamous) brands and companies. While Moat isn’t specifically logo-focused, it allows you to see how successful brands utilise their logos in their advertisements and marketing. It can give you a greater idea of what can work logo-wise for your campaigns.
Everyone recognises the golden arches of McDonald’s, for example, but a quick look on Moat tells you that simplicity is key and that your logo must also be identifiable even when it’s reduced to a tinier version.
The logo journey is a rewarding one, especially when you get to the final product. How you approach your logo and the decisions you make about its concept and design must relate back to your brand, your vision and your purpose.
Dan Ferguson is the CMO at DesignCrowd.com.au, a leading online graphic design marketplace.
