Posted: May 20, 2010 12:37 pm
shh wrote: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.
A coloured gradient that can be changed is always nice in a logo. Something such as:
Could be used as a logo, with the colours changed for different forums. Though I do agree that in principle, it's best to start off with a monotone image. 4 colours max for a logo is generally how I feel - though there are always a few times when it can be permissible to have more, such as the Olympic logo.
shh wrote: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.
Anyone who has Photoshop already can create vectors straight in the program, such as the feathers above, which were drawn in Photoshop and - as such - can be scaled indefinitely, though you have to re-apply the gradient each time, but that's easy because it's a bleedin' gradient. If it's not a vector image, but it's a simple 2 tone (or even 3 tone) image, it can be loaded in Illustrator (which usually comes with Photoshop) and automatically turned into a vector graphic on there.
Other tips for people could be:
Start with a brainstorm of everything you envision when you think of this web site. Tree of life, science, critical thinking, questioning, etc. Then try to think of an object that represents this. It's good to implement this into your work. Example above where shh has obviously equated rational skepticism with asking questions, and has hence put a question-mark into their logo design - a relevant object that immediately sums up the site. Well done, shh.