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MIT3209 Graphics 1
Logo and Letterhead Design Task: Critique
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 1 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Introduction- Company Logo Design
A good company logo is an „identifier‟, that is, it identifies a company clearly,
and gives the company a sense of identity itself. Ideally a company logo
should be instantly recognisable and should separate it from other companies.
Wally Olins describes „purpose and belonging‟ as being the two key facets of
identity. From the point of view of communication materials, the visual style of
a company logo should be representative (the right „look and feel‟) and have
„a consistent quality and character that accurately and honestly reflects the
whole organisation’ (Olins, W p.7). When designing a logo for a company it is
important to denote such qualities as trust, quality, worth and value.
Logos, the brand identity, can be likened to the ‘clothes and make-up of a
brand’; presentation and appearance can be everything, fairly or unfairly.
Some companies may be judged first on their talents by the appearance of
their logo, with the perception that they provide insight on company values
and ideals. New logos for companies can also alert customers that change
has occurred (Penfold, M).
Marketers like recognisable logos that get the attention, represent the
business, and are appealing and positive to customers. Designers similarly
aim to give an insight into the values of a company and its everyday function.
The Graphic Designer David Airey, describes four critical elements to great
logos on his useful website: they must be describable, memorable, effective
without colour and scalable down to 1” size. Less is often more, particularly
when the main uses for the logo are going to be in smaller situations e.g.
Letterheads and Business Cards.
The logo design for this project was for a friend who had started a new
management branch company with three colleagues. The new company is to
bring together their different management skills and services and to run
alongside their existing company Brook Commercial Management Ltd (BCM
Ltd). The new company will act as an endorsed identity (Olins 4:78), with
three existing small companies operating alongside. There is no specific
product as such.
The methods used in this design were extensively based on a structured
approach starting with the formulation of a design brief. The logo ideas were
then further developed using this design brief as the basis, this included
further research and brainstorming; specifically examining company logos in
management, word association, SWOT analysis and sketching of ideas. The
creative process was supplemented by feedback from the client and his
colleagues at regular intervals, by email and phone.
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 2 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Design Brief
Objective: Create a new sister company logo, based on the initials
„ABAQS’ (pronounced ABACUS, a play on words). The change is
required for a new business venture with several partners
Examine existing logo, consider including some of the formats used
such as typographical style and colour (see below).
Produce sketches of ideas, feedback with client by regular email and
phone given distance involved
Company Services: National market, usually sub-contracted by other
companies to oversee specific tasks on existing projects
Company Workload: Meetings, discussions and presentations often
working together with many other companies on larger projects. The
job involves a lot of travel. Microsoft Excel is the bulk of the daily
workload for the numbers and calculations involved. Microsoft Project
(project management) and Visio (structured workflow and organisation
charts) are other important aspects.
Types of Customers: Professional adult business people from small
through to large corporation companies; broad types of companies
Competition: many similar companies, work usually awarded on
grounds of reputation and experience
What should the logo emphasize? Small friendly company, 3 partners
(sometimes) working on projects together under one company name.
Perhaps communicate an aspect of the business management‟s
everyday setting or structure i.e. context
When asked about logos the client liked, he mentioned the Systech
logo http://www.systechgroup.net for its orderly shapes and colours,
though he also mentioned it didn‟t always reproduce well at small
sizes.
(Ref: Shaughnessy, A., 9:135-147; Murphy & Rowe 4:38-50)
A brief SWOT analysis of the company
Strengths: experience, reasonable established customer base, and
existing companies now working together pooling their services
Weaknesses: small companies, inconsistent identity at present
Opportunities: bring together existing experience to work on projects
under a new company name
Threats: deep business recession, many competitors
Intended Use of Logo
Letterhead
Business Card
On company website (under construction, my next task)
Larger logos might be used less frequently in other situations e.g. on a
company brochure cover, or in presentations
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 3 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Existing Logo
The basic shape is a little abstract, though this contrasts with the bold font for
impact. The colour is eye-catching; though overall the logo doesn‟t
communicate anything in particular about the business, outside of the font
choice. The client mentioned it works well when photocopied to black and
white which was important to him.
Although this is a design for a new company logo, the client did request that
the colours and fonts be produced to some degree of harmony to the existing
logo. The existing logo was only available in .jpeg format, the original design
with the fonts and colours used being no longer available. All fonts appeared
sans-serif, the extra-bold „BROOK‟ having no letter-spacing (Fig. 1)
Figure 1 Existing Logo for BCM (Brook Commercial Management)
Brainstorming & Research
From my initial „stream of consciousness‟ I thought of aspects and words
associated with management business e.g. organized, orderliness, structured,
professional, numerical, and conservative were the first to come to mind.
My mood board was more a collection of existing logos used by other
corporate companies, by online Google search for small to medium size
businesses within the field of Commercial Management. The top 20 hits are
illustrated in Figure 2. The types of logos seen were quite diverse, though
there did seem to be a preponderance of symbols used, particularly circles
and squares. The colours used were largely simple colour schemes, with
softer tones. The typography was largely split between serif and sans serif,
though I did feel the bolder sans serif had a more commercial industrial feel,
with more impact. The shapes seemed suitable for the market in this area with
respect to the structure and organisation in this field.
The classes of logo used vary widely using Mollerup‟s logo taxonomy (1997).
Initials were mostly acronym, with some non-acronym initials being employed.
Some logos attempt to be descriptive e.g. Sigma, the sign of which is linked to
the use of Spreadsheet programs in this type of company. Some are
metaphoric e.g. Holyoake which looks like an industrial building. Most of the
logos appear to be largely of the „found‟ type however.
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 4 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Figure 2 Selections of Commercial Management Logos
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 5 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Browsing through standard texts such as „Graphic Design School‟, „The Art of
Looking Sideways‟ and „Trademarks and Logos‟ was useful for generating
ideas as to how to draw and use shapes with text.
Having researched and considered some ideas I then began sketching based
on the idea of structured shapes, some incorporating the company initials and
some without.
Initial 3 Design Concepts Proposed
After discussion with the client, we decided on three basic logo designs to be
presented, based on my thoughts on the above criteria.
Idea1 (Fig 3)
The first idea was based on a pentagon arrangement, intended to emphasize
the five initials (+/- the company abbreviation). The basic outline is illustrated
in Fig. 3.
Figure 3
Idea 2 (Fig 4)
I also experimented with placing letters within the original Brook logo shape
and then placing these within polygons, but this was difficult to reproduce
without having the original font and template available. The design also
started to look cluttered and overcomplicated overall when letters were placed
in such a way. Readability was also poor and the design didn‟t suit all letters.
Experimenting with a circle of letters within 5 coloured shapes was also
looked at, but the results generally appeared ordinary and too informal.
Figure 4- Experimenting with shapes
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 6 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Idea 3 (Fig 5)
The final idea was to use a „counter‟ effect in a 4x4 grid to reflect the large
amount of calculations involved in the commercial management field, and to
reflect the high level of organisational structure in this work. This idea
stemmed from seeing the ∑ sign used in a logo shown earlier (Fig. 2).
Structured circles were arranged in 4 rows to emphasise the present 4
company key services of Interim management, Cost management,
Commercial Management and Dispute Management (Fig. 5). These might be
described as descriptive, figurative marks in the logo taxonomy described by
Pers Mollerrup (1997). However the associations may not necessarily be
apparent to everyone.
Figure 5
A 5x5 grid to line up to ABAQS letters was also looked at, but again started to
look too cluttered and complicated.
The client decided on this third design as he liked the idea of a counters effect
being used. Also the four levels could be aligned to the descriptive text; it was
decided that the management text be included in the logo to preserve correct
alignment and proportions.
Final Technical Design
Designing a 4x4 circle arrangement in this way was intended to conform to
Gestalt Laws of Proximity (circles remain close), Similarity (repeated circle
elements), Good Continuation (common path of units), Symmetry, Closure,
and Common Fate (similar motion direction of units in grid pattern). This
makes the individual circles appear part of the same shape, as a whole or
collective unit (Eysenck & Keane 2:26-30). This idea of harmony was
extended to the management descriptive text by placing the text parallel to the
circles. ABAQS was similarly aligned vertically to the dimensions of the circle
grid, though being 5 letters some of the symmetry effect was lost here.
The next step was to elaborate the circles by adding some depth or
perspective, the aim being to create a more „counter‟ looking effect. This was
achieved using 3 stacked circles with layers in Illustrator CS3 (colour layer on
clear/white on dark grey), and then grouping these for duplication (Figure 6).
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 7 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Figure 6 - Shadow effect in layers
A further effect was looked at to enhance the 3-D effect using a rough pastels
artistic layer in Illustrator. The results looked promising (Figured 7), but the
logo was found to print poorly with an inkjet printer, and when photocopied.
Figure 7 Combined shadow and rough pastel effect
Colours
A professional looking pastel colour range was chosen, starting from the
colour of the Brook logo at the third row (Brook is also the Commercial
Management part of the company). As the original design was unavailable,
the CMYK colour profile of Brook was extrapolated from the jpeg image in
Illustrator.
A subtle colour change blend was investigated, and attempts made to select
colours that would appear different when the image is desaturated. This
occurs commonly with e.g. photocopying letters.
Red and violet hues flow harmoniously from the reddish-brown of the Brook
logo colour, though to get a good grayscale contrast the colours had to fade to
a paler pink or lilac.
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 8 January 2009
Student number 530031371
In terms of psychology, reds are stimulating, intense and attention grabbing,
the most vibrant reds being associated with warning signs in the West. Three
negative associations that came to mind when designing for a management
business was its association with bureaucracy („red tape‟), anger and debt.
Reds are also adversely affected in common forms of colour blindness
(Gordon & Gordon 1:54-7). For these reasons, deeper pastel red-brown
colour ranges were experimented with, as well as purples with its royalty and
nobility associations. A subtle colour range might be considered more
harmonious, particularly compared to the use of contrasting colours (Dabner
2:34-6).
There was some compromise of colours related to the wish to have contrast in
the logo‟s appearance in grayscale. Although CMYK colours were used, the
colours were checked in browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox) to see how
they appeared online, using gif images saved from Illustrator.
Typography
Typography was designed to conform to basic principles of contrast,
repetition, alignment and proximity (Williams, R 1:13). ABAQS text was
produced in extra bold to stand out with the logo, descriptive text was made
smaller. All text was aligned to the logo, vertically and horizontally, with
adjustments in the proximity of the letters to complement the Brook logo.
A sans serif typeface for the logo was used for its simple clarity and
effectiveness in small logos. Their modern look and authority would also seem
suitable for business; sans serif perhaps gives a feel of decisiveness (Dabner
6: 82-3). There is some evidence that sans serif are better for using at small
sizes as regards legibility, and there simplicity means they survive
reproduction and smearing better e.g. photocopying, inkjet printing (Poole, A).
Sans serif fonts are considered the standard for the web for their readability
on-screen (Walsh, J). Type size, amount of leading, weight and x-height
obviously also affect readability and legibility, whichever font is used.
Sans-serif was also being used in the existing company logo effectively,
giving impact to the company name. It was decided to use a similar style of
letters being bunched together in a vertical orientation, combined with the
same serif typeface being used in the descriptive text. Sans serifs used
together are better from the same family e.g. Arial group or Helvetica group
(Williams 10:155).
Experimenting with Arial and other sans serif fonts such as Franklin Gothic,
Lucida and Berlin Sans FB gave reasonable matches but didn‟t appear
accurate (Fig. 8 below). Using Arial revealed a problem with using Q in an
extra bold format, as the descending stroke blended with the main letter body
as the stroke weight was increased (Fig. 7 above).
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 9 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Figure 8 Experimenting with sans serifs in Illustrator
The font used in Brook was eventually found to be the family of Helvetica
fonts (not in my personal font library), which appeared subsequently to have
been used for the corporate management text as well.
Helvetica Black Extended was used for the ABAQS text, a similar effect to
Brook being obtained by decreasing the tracking (space between letters)
negatively. The name appeared a little illegible when closed up vertically to
the same amount as had been used horizontally; therefore the tracking was
adjusted up a little. Overall a similar effect was achieved.
The management text used was Helvetica Neue LT Std (33 Thin Extended),
from the same family of fonts as the logo name. Most of the contrast from
ABAQS was therefore in the weighting of the text, and was in harmony with
the sister company logo again (all capitals).
Testing
Ongoing discussion with client and feedback from his colleagues.
Feedback from clients would also have been useful using
questionnaires e.g. on colour choices, font styles. Data collated in this
manner can be tested for statistical significance if sufficient sampling is
obtained.
Appearance on the web.
Reproduction in laser and inkjet printers, appearance when
photocopied and scanned.
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 10 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Final logo
The final logo has the desired counter effect, with reasonable harmony. There
is some depth but the design has not been made overly elaborate. The main
typography has the desired professional impact and has been made similar to
the sister company logo. Similarly, colours have also been chosen to
complement.
If I had been designing, without trying to match an existing font style, I would
have perhaps used a standard sans serif font e.g. Arial Bold, and would have
increased letter tracking to improve readability.
The design is based on shapes as with many Commercial Management
companies, though the overall design is sufficiently different to be quite
distinguishable from most designs.
One disappointment was that the 3-D effect was not all that pronounced in the
small versions when photocopied or when printed with inkjet printers. The
width is also a little longer than the „Golden Ratio‟ requirement (1.6 vs. 2.3) to
accommodate text.
Summary
Software: Illustrator CS3
Colours:
Purple/Pink Row 1: C19 M79 Y0 K0
RGB: 200,89,161
# C859A1
Purple Row 2: C39 M89 Y26 K3
RGB: 161,63,121
# A13F79
Reddish-Brown Row 3: C27 M90 Y80 K22
RGB: 154,51,51
# 9A3333
Dark Brown Row 4: C39 M93 Y85 K62
RGB: 82,17,16
# 521110
Black text
Fonts:
ABAQS: Helvetica Neue LT Std font, 93 Black Extended font style
Tracking: -229
20.63pt for letterhead, 22.61pt for business card
Management Text: Helvetica Neue LT Std font, 33 Thin Extended font
style
Tracking: +174
8.06pt for letterhead, 8.83pt for business card
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 11 January 2009
Student number 530031371
The logo was made available in the following formats:
6 “ by 3” width for presentations and brochures
4 ½ “ width brochure format without descriptive text
2 ½ “ width for Letterheads
2 “ width for Business Card
.gif (web suitable format), .png (Microsoft Office suitable) and jpeg
Grayscale versions of the above
The Letterhead
The letterhead communicates basic information of the company with the logo
being the most prominent on first glance.
The placement of the logo reflects the design of the clients existing company
letterhead layout, with logo and information aligned top-right. The size of the
logo used was 2 ½ “, larger than many logo sizes, though this design includes
a lot of descriptive text.
Address, Telephone, Mobile, Email and Website address are included below
the logo, with suitable emphasis, colour format and sans serif type.
Margins:
Top 0.5”
Left 1”
Right 1”
Bottom 1”
Gutter 0 (Left)
Business Card
Standard 3 ½ “ by 2” dimensions
Logo and website address (front)
Name and contact details (back)
Web Suitable gif Format
The logo will be used on the website, aligned top-left. Logo are also generally
used as the „Home‟ navigation button on company websites; high-impact
logo‟s are increasingly important for this aspect of design too (Hartshorn, T).
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 12 January 2009
Student number 530031371
References
Airey, David., What Makes A Good Logo Design? Available from:
http://www.davidairey.com/what-makes-a-good-logo [Online: accessed 7/1/09]
Brignall, C. (1978) Type Design - the theory and the practice in Graphics
World Feb pp.20-24
Dabner, D. Graphic Design School Thames and Hudson (2004)
Eysenck, M. (1984) A Handbook of Cognitive Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum
Associate Publishers
Gordon, B., and Gordon, M. (2002) Digital Graphic Design Thames and
Hudson
Hartshorn, T. (2008) Graphics: Create A Striking Logo .NET 171: 74-6 Jan
Murphy, John and Rowe, M. (1988) How to Design Trademarks and Logos.
London: Phaidon
Molllerup, Per. (1997), Marks of Excellence: History and Taxonomy of
Trademarks, Phaidon
Olins, W. (1994) Corporate Identity Thames and Hudson
Penfold, M. (2006) Get Started With Logo Design Computer Arts pp 70-75
Poole, Alex. Which Are More Legible: Serif or Sans Serif Typefaces?
Available from:
http://www.alexpoole.info/academic/literaturereview.html#Morris_2001
[Online: Accessed 9/1/09]
Sagmeister, S (2005) How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your
Soul Laurence King Publishing
Walsh, J. (2007) The Power of Type .NET 162: 39-43
Williams, R. (2004) The Non-Designers Design Book Peachpit Press
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 13 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Bibliography
Airey, David., What Makes A Good Logo Design? Available from:
http://www.davidairey.com/what-makes-a-good-logo [Online: accessed 7/1/09]
Brignall, C. (1978) Type Design - the theory and the practice in Graphics
World Feb pp.20-24
Carter, David (2004) The Little Book of Logo Recipes Harper Design
International
Dabner, D. Graphic Design School Thames and Hudson (2004)
Eysenck, M. (1984) A Handbook of Cognitive Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum
Associate Publishers
Fletcher, Alan (2005) The Art of Looking Sideways Phaidon
Gordon, B., and Gordon, M. (2002) Digital Graphic Design Thames and
Hudson
Hartshorn, T. (2008) Graphics: Create A Striking Logo .NET 171: 74-6 Jan
Murphy, John and Rowe, M. (1988) How to Design Trademarks and Logos.
London: Phaidon
Molllerup, Per. (1997), Marks of Excellence: History and Taxonomy of
Trademarks, Phaidon
Olins, W. (1994) Corporate Identity Thames and Hudson
Olins, W. (2003) Wally Olins On Br@nd Thames and Hudson
Penfold, M. (2006) Get Started With Logo Design Computer Arts pp 70-75
Poole, Alex. Which Are More Legible: Serif or Sans Serif Typefaces?
Available from:
http://www.alexpoole.info/academic/literaturereview.html#Morris_2001
[Online: Accessed 9/1/09]
Sagmeister, S (2005) How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your
Soul Laurence King Publishing
Walsh, J. (2007) The Power of Type .NET 162: 39-43
Wildbur, P., and Burke, M. (1998) Information Graphics, Thames and
Hudson
Williams, R. (2004) The Non-Designers Design Book Peachpit Press
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 14 January 2009
Student number 530031371
Appendix A
Graphics Used
Figure 2
Surveying Limited: Commercial Cost Management
http://www.ccmsurveying.co.uk/aboutUs.html
B Home Commercial Management http://bhomefl.com/id4.html
Hargreaves-Jones Commercial Management http://hargreavesjones.com
Commercial management Solutions http://www.commercialms.com.au
Holyoake Commercial Management http://www.holyoakecm.com.au
Smith-Wagle Commercial Management http://www.smith-wagle.com
Sigma Commercial Management http://www.sigmacml.co.uk
ADD Commercial Management http://www.add123.com.au/Add123.html
NEC Commercial Management http://www.ctori.com/commercial-
management.asp
Jackson Rowe Commercial Management http://www.jackson-
rowe.com/commercial-management/index.html
CGR Commercial Management http://www.cgrcm.com/services.php
Longley Jones Management http://www.longley-jones.com/commercial
MW Sigma http://www.mwsixsigma.com
Stone Management http://www.stonecmc.com
MIT3209: Logo Design Task Critique 15 January 2009
