Posted: May 20, 2010 12:58 am
Couple of pointers: firstly,any logo should initially be done entirely in black and white, good logo's are capable of being rendered in a variety of ways, to ensure that they don't become boring, this means they need to be reproducible in a variety of colours, and sizes, and on different backgrounds, so colour shouldn't be a part of the primary design. For example, each sub-forum could have it's own variation of the logo, specific colours have specific associations, so an easy way to achieve a suitable variation for each forum would be to alter the colour. This is not possible if the logo has to be a specific colour.
Secondly, a logo should be an icon, not a picture, barring the words, the logo should be a single simple image, think of the Nike swoosh, the world wildlife foundation panda etc. This simplicity allows the logo to be reproduced at a range of sizes without losing readability. Happily, it also eliminates the need for incredible drawing skills, a stick figure is a far better logo than a realistic figure.
Logotypes, that is the words, should not be in full capitals (apologies to whoever put the current one together
). ALL-CAPS ARE THE VISUAL EQUIVALENT OF BEING SHOUTED AT. It's a subtlety, but logo design is about subtlety. Capitalising the first letter of each word is fine.
Finally, as LIFE mentioned logos need to be reproducible at a range of sizes, so for the final version they should be produced as vector graphics. I'd be happy to finalize the logo for anyone that needs it, but if you want to do your own (and it's better if you do, you're guaranteed to get it the way you want then) you can download inkscape from http://www.inkscape.org/ vectors are small files which can be reproduced at any size with no loss of quality.
Secondly, a logo should be an icon, not a picture, barring the words, the logo should be a single simple image, think of the Nike swoosh, the world wildlife foundation panda etc. This simplicity allows the logo to be reproduced at a range of sizes without losing readability. Happily, it also eliminates the need for incredible drawing skills, a stick figure is a far better logo than a realistic figure.
Logotypes, that is the words, should not be in full capitals (apologies to whoever put the current one together
). ALL-CAPS ARE THE VISUAL EQUIVALENT OF BEING SHOUTED AT. It's a subtlety, but logo design is about subtlety. Capitalising the first letter of each word is fine.I'd advise against "RatSkep.org", for the simple reason that's not the name or address of the site. If you were putting together a logo for addidas and used addi, it wouldn't make a lot of sense, logo's should make finding the site easier, not confuse the issue. Unless LIFE is willing to change the site name and address, stick with rationalskepticism.orgI'm With Stupid wrote:Erm, are you wanting "RatSkep.org," "RationalSkepticism.org" or both versions?
Finally, as LIFE mentioned logos need to be reproducible at a range of sizes, so for the final version they should be produced as vector graphics. I'd be happy to finalize the logo for anyone that needs it, but if you want to do your own (and it's better if you do, you're guaranteed to get it the way you want then) you can download inkscape from http://www.inkscape.org/ vectors are small files which can be reproduced at any size with no loss of quality.