IMAGE IN DESIGN - an emotional and sensory idea of ​​the purpose, meaning, quality and originality of a work of design art, a category of aesthetic assessment of the results of design creativity.

Design in design differs significantly from a similar concept in other forms of art, since design, on the one hand, is much more closely tied to the pragmatic content of the results of its activities, and on the other hand, it does not outwardly pretend to realize the spiritual goals of artistic creativity. Nevertheless, the expressiveness and significance of artistic expression for a number of reasons elevates it to the rank of conceptually significant cultural phenomena.

The visual system in the house is clearly divided into three groups, reflecting the nature of their presentation to the viewer:

Colorographic (similar in means to painting and drawing in the fine arts);

Volumetric-plastic (similar to sculptural creativity);

Spatial - reproducing the possibilities of the architectural organization of our environment.

According to the complication of the palette of means of each subsequent type of design, the potential for its figurative perception increases.

But regardless of the method of presentation, all designer images have a dual origin:

Provide the consumer with information about the nature of those household or work processes for which their “carriers” are adapted;

They have unrelated visual properties (brightness, plasticity, compositional structure, etc.), which the viewer perceives as an independent aesthetic sign, a “pictorial structure” that lives a life independent of function.

Peculiarities of perception (consumption) largely determine the specific properties of food in food. Among them:

The functional coloring of a specific figurative solution, indicating through the utilitarian tasks of consumption its role in the lifestyle of a given person or segment of society;

The universal recognition of figurative characteristics, caused, on the one hand, by the desire for originality and memorability of their solutions, on the other hand, by the mass circulation of them, which introduces literally all sections of society to the corresponding visual prototypes (Thonet furniture, “Scandinavian” design, etc.) ;

The ownership of the most striking figurative proposals in the design of a specific creative personality, which is revealed through the individual features of the author’s “corporate style” or other features inherent in the works of a particular master or design community (“Brown” style, works by E. Sottsass, F. Hundertwasser and etc.);

Continuous change of private visual characteristics - the dynamics of decorative options, the principles of technological solutions - with the stability of the basic understanding of the functional tasks of this type of design work (for example, the evolution of the forms of household electrical appliances: razors, heaters, etc.);

Fundamental catchiness, brightness of formal solutions, aimed at attracting the attention of the consumer, “advertising” of their appearance, associated with the commercial nature of the distribution of works of design art in society.

In fact, the entire variety of artistic variations of painting in painting can be divided into two streams:

Ordinary works, as a rule, anonymous, interpreting the aesthetics of a design object approximately, at the level of a “generic”, collective image (mass production that has a harmonious “standard” form, but lacks orientation towards an individual vision of this type);

Products, complexes and ensembles are “iconic”, defining the line of development of a particular area of ​​design, approaching the personal feeling of figurative characteristics, their individual interpretation by both the author and the consumer.

These and many other features of figurative solutions (short-term, ephemeral existence of most graphic objects, packaging, dynamic methods of illuminating the urban environment, changing fashions in clothing, etc.) make the category of artistic design a completely independent phenomenon in the general theory of art, requiring developing your own research and conceptual apparatus (compare, for example, the categories of “artistic image” in traditional aesthetics and “artistic image-type” in design).

Working with an image in design has a variety of solutions both in graphics and material. Moreover, graphics can be either man-made or any other (including photography, typography, computer graphics, etc.). When choosing a material, the designer is guided by the design concept. Therefore, both traditional solutions and innovative search solutions are applicable.

Signs and sign systems. Requirements for the structure of the organization of the sign. Types of graphic forms of signs.

The concept of a sign system relates only to the graphic forms of signs and does not affect the area of ​​sign-information functioning of other classes of artificial systems. In theory, a sign was considered from the point of view of the formal structure of its internal organization as a relationship: graphic medium - semantic content. Depending on the nature of this relationship, signs were divided into three types: iconic signs, index signs (also divided into geometric and sculptural) and symbol signs (any sign can have characteristics: static, dynamic, etc.). In practice, the main issues of formal organization, mainly the first two, are worked out, since signs-symbols are designed differently (due to their content complexity and the specifics of design methods for their formation).

The science of SEMIOTICS studies signs and sign systems.

In order for an image to accurately correspond to the concept of iconicity, the structure of its organization must strictly meet four fundamental requirements: autonomy, distinctiveness, memorability and visual activity. If these requirements are described in the language of formal composition, we will obtain the following characteristics.

Autonomy how demarcation, independence, complete independence and visual isolation from the external environment and all sorts of extraneous influences presupposes the compositional closure of the graphic structure of the sign, the “folding” of power lines in the internal space of the image, which is characteristic of the installation principle of compositional organization with a dominant element. The property of autonomy of a sign ensures the constancy of its perception, regardless of the environment in which it may find itself. This refers to both the physical and semantic environment.

The property of autonomy of a sign must be supplemented by a property that is no less essential for its structure and visual functioning distinctiveness, which distinguishes it from other signs and does not give the opportunity to “get lost”, “dissolve” in their totality. This property is ensured due to the internal individualization of the structure of the graphic structure of the sign, endowing it with distinctive features that distinguish it from a number of similar sign forms.

Property memorability characterizes the form of organization of the graphic structure of the sign, the clarity and clarity of its construction due to the extreme generality, orderliness and integrity of the compositional organization of the visual material, conciseness and optimal complexity of its constituent elements.

Visual activity sign form presupposes the subordination of its structure to the laws and principles of human emotional and sensory perception, a heightened reaction to it as an energy-filled stimulus, a kind of signal for the intensive work of the sensory apparatus. The property of visual activity of a sign is realized during its formation using the arsenal of formal compositional expressiveness already familiar to students from previous assignments.

The qualitative specificity of a sign form is the relationship of the sign to other forms of image, its specific differences - this sign in relation to other sign structures, the features of the individual structure - the integrity of the internal morphology of the sign and the productivity of functioning - the activity of visual perception).

25. Iconic sign, index sign and symbol sign. Characteristics and formation of signs. Graphics and font in the sign.

ICONIC SIGN Iconic signs are characterized by such a relationship between the graphic medium and the semantic content when their complete coincidence is observed. In other words, the graphic structure of an iconic sign contains and conveys its own semantic content, and therefore, when perceiving it, no special recoding of the information message conveyed by the sign is required. The graphic medium of iconic signs is always built on the principles of figurativeness and that the terms “iconic” and “pictorial” themselves, in their meaning, indicate two inextricably linked sides of the sign - to be an image as a graphic model of something (iconicity) and to be equal, identical, similar to (iso-) displayed, i.e. figurativeness as similarity in the image of perception. Hence such an essential characteristic of iconic signs as their high degree isomorphism(similar in shape) to the displayed one.

At the same time, this does not mean that the iconic sign, in its information capacity, tends to complete isomorphism with the displayed one, as is observed, for example, in documentary photographs. Although the graphic medium in an iconic sign retains a certain isomorphy with the displayed object, it is not a complete copy of it. It represents a significantly transformed model of an object, which highlights, reveals, and figuratively represents a special aspect of the semantic content of a given object. In this regard, when forming an iconic sign, the problem of establishing a harmonious correspondence between the form of organization of the graphic medium, the semantic content and the initial information redundancy of the displayed object is always acute.

Iconic signs and index signs are the main types of graphic signs in general. In an index sign, the graphic structure of the carrier is in no way related to the semantic content it conveys, i.e. There is not only no similarity between them, but no form of dependence at all. Their relationship is set purely by external artificial means. As a rule, it is established on the basis of a collective agreement of the subjects of the communicative process, it is conventionally established “forcibly”, by an act of will. Direct analogues of index signs are the letters of the alphabet of any modern language.

Since the index sign by its nature carries semantic content that does not belong to its own graphic structure, particularly stringent requirements are imposed on its formation. First of all, this concerns the formal-compositional “purity” of the structure of the graphic structure of the sign, in which there should not be even the slightest signs that can cause any objective associations when it is perceived. This would immediately entail a distortion (even to the point of complete substitution) of its conventionally established semantic content. Therefore, the formation of the graphic structure of an index sign is subject exclusively to the laws of formal composition and those four requirements that serve as system-forming factors in the construction of the sign form as a whole.

The construction of an index sign begins with the search for a basic structural diagram that plays the role of a morphological “framework” of the future sign form. At this stage of work, the leading role is played by the requirements of distinguishability and memorability, which should ensure the proportionality of the elements of the internal structure of the index sign. Further work is being carried out in the direction of filling the internal structure of the sign with properties and signs of autonomy and visual activity. Thus, the graphic carrier of the index sign is consistently performed as a formal compositional embodiment of the measure of iconicity as such, meaningfully specified in the form of four requirements for its visual characteristics.

Index signs have two main types of plastic: geometric And sculptural.

Another creative task is to transfer the figurative-dominant properties of each character to the font group. The main task is to endow each element of the font group with a figurative characteristic corresponding to the graphic style of the generated characters. The transfer of the dominant property of a sign to the elements of a font group (i.e. letters) requires taking into account the specifics of their own structural construction, which sets the criterion for establishing the measure of all their possible transformations. This measure is established in the relationship between the degree of recognition (i.e. preservation) of the principle of structural construction of a letter sign and the introduced figurative characteristic.

Signs-symbols establish a complex and ambiguous connection with the symbolized object. The reading of signs of this kind depends so much on their context that they cannot be considered outside their semantic environment. The symbol is inseparable from its figurative structure and is distinguished by the inexhaustible ambiguity of its content.

Although the word “symbol” comes from the Greek “sign” (symbolon), “identifying mark”, the meaning put into this concept today is much more complex. A correct understanding of a sign-symbol requires immersion of the perceiving consciousness in the context of the culture that gave birth to it. The ability to adequately perceive messages composed in symbolic language presupposes the existence of a convention (agreement) within the culture regarding their meaning. But unlike index signs, the use of which, when the meaning is vague, loses its meaning, symbols are endowed with all the organicity and inexhaustibility of artistic images.

Not every sign can become a symbol. The 19th century linguist Ferdinand de Saussure offered the following example: the scales are a sign containing the idea of ​​balance, but the cart does not, so the scales can be a symbol of justice, but the cart cannot.

The cultural experience of each region develops an intuitive approach to the interpretation of symbols that are significant to it.

One of the most obvious examples: black in European culture is the color of mourning, “dirty deeds” are bad deeds, etc. But in the Chinese tradition, the color of grief and mourning is white, which in our usual ideas has the meaning of purity and innocence , this is the color of a wedding dress.

The unity of the basic set of dominant symbols determines the national and areal boundaries of a culture.

The symbols do not belong to a specific historical section, but permeate this section vertically from the past to the future. In different eras the symbol is realized in variants, but it itself is invariant and recognizable at all times. Through symbols, the mechanism of unity and continuity of culture is realized. A symbol is understood as a sign that denotes such a vast area of ​​meaning that its use includes a certain cultural-semantic register, a large cultural-semantic area. The meaning of a symbol fluctuates between the real and the actual symbolic meaning. It does not denote a specific content, but indicates a semantic field, a certain cultural tradition, an area of ​​​​common memory. Symbols are signals of shared memory.

The symbols differ:

On simple- elementary geometric shapes of a graphic nature; basic color oppositions;

complex- images composed of graphically complex forms.

Simple symbols have a deeply archaic nature, although they always retain their cultural activity. They have a complex multifaceted and multi-valued content. The more universal the created image, the closer simple symbols and their combinations are to it.

The famous scientist and religious thinker Father Pavel Florensky identified eighteen elementary symbols: point, vertical line, inclined line, horizontal line, their intersection, angle, triangle, quadrangle, cross, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, circle (circle), disk ( circle surface), sphere, egg, currency.

Complex symbols have a more defined, fixed, and single-line meaning. The more private, local in nature the created image is, the closer the complex symbols are to it (“laurel wreath”, “Bronze Horseman”, etc.). Sign-symbols also include:

CARE SIGNS-SYMBOLS

(compliance with the rules when using certain non-food products) including international symbols.

HANDLING SIGNS (images indicating how to handle cargo).

Astral symbols used in signs, etc.

UDC 111.08:7.042.2 Lazutina Tatyana Vladimirovna

Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of Humanities, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University

SYMBOLICS OF COLOR IN THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN

Annotation:

The central problem of the article is the consideration of design language as a sociocultural phenomenon, which necessitates the need to identify the specific nature of design language, understood as an artificial language, saturated with various sign formations. It has been proven that signals, signs and their systems, symbols fill the semantic field of the design language. The color symbolism used in design creativity is explored. It is shown that the symbolic nature of the design language realizes the possibility of polyphonizing the artistic image of design art, understood as a universal category of artistic creativity and considered as a way and result of reproducing the realities of life in art.

Keywords:

design, design language, color, art, symbolism, symbolization, culture.

Lazutina Tatiana Vladimirovna

D.Phil. in Philosophy, Professor, Liberal Arts Department, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University

COLOR SYMBOLISM IN DESIGN LANGUAGE

The article focuses on consideration of the language of design as a sociocultural phenomenon, which determines the study of specific nature of the design language interpreted as an artificial language filled with various families of signs. It is proven that signals, signs and their systems, symbols fill a semantic field of the language of design. The color symbolism used in design works is investigated. It is shown that the symbolical nature of the design language fulfills the possibility to bring multidimensional content to an art image of the design art understood as a general category of art creativity and as a way and result of reproduction of life in the art.

design, design language, color, art, symbolism, symbolization, culture.

The symbolism of the design language gives rise to a multiplicity of readings of the meanings of design art, aimed at harmonizing aesthetic and utilitarian principles, which arouses the interest of a wide range of researchers of modern design philosophy. The problem of studying design and its language requires comprehension, since design, through an image system saturated with various symbols, in particular symbols of color, actively influences the formation of ideological attitudes of a person (society), not only reflecting the ongoing changes in the sociocultural sphere, but also cultivating artistic taste and shaping the world of value orientations.

Nowadays, the search for the specifics of design language tools is in the center of interest of domestic researchers (E.G. Berdichevsky, N.P. Beschastnov, M.S. Kukhta, R.M. Lobatskaya, V.A. Lyashenko, M. V. Pankin, G.I. Petrova), using various methods to study and further substantiate the mechanisms of symbol creation: a dialectical way of considering the design language in the unity and diversity of its properties; a comparative historical method that allows us to identify the relationship between dynamics and statics in its development, determined by the change in stylistic techniques of a particular historical era that occurs in design creativity.

The use of a semiotic approach in relation to linguistic means of design seems promising, since it allows us to consider design as a special artificial language where systems of signs (symbols) exist.

The main goal of this article is to identify the specific nature of the design language, which raises the need to analyze the world of symbols used in design activities.

Of particular interest for the study is color symbolization, which is understood as the process of imparting figurative meaning to color phenomena that function in design creativity. It should be noted that color has additional meaning only in the context of a certain symbolic situation. In addition, the higher the culture of perception and the degree of education of the subject of design creativity, the more meanings the designer’s image “acquires.”

CULTURAL SCIENCE

Design as a special activity for the production of cultural objects is aimed at combining practical expediency and aesthetics. In the process of its historical development, design forms a system of artistic means, to which, in the process of their functioning, a symbolic meaning is assigned, that is, design becomes a special language, the elements of which are a point, line, spot, shape and other means of expression.

Thus, the design language is a system of artistic means that has developed in the process of historical development of design, among the expressive (visual) means of which color, understood in this work as a certain property of bodies to evoke a visual sensation in accordance with the spectral composition of the light reflected (emitted) by them, has the following characteristics: color tone, that is, different shades of color; saturation, in other words, the degree of brightness of a color; lightness - the reflective ability of a color surface, plays a leading role in the formation of design images.

Practice shows that, despite the fact that design creativity uses the whole variety of symbolism created as a result of a long process of development of the cultural world, special importance is attached to the symbolism of color in design practice.

In the course of identifying the sociocultural preferences of a culture, modern researchers, in particular G.Yu. Osmankin, point out that “...the synthesis of lines and color... most clearly reflects the artistic process of any work and determines its historical significance in artistic culture.” What is the reason for the situation that has developed in the history of art in general and arts and crafts in particular?

We state the fact that various colors were endowed with symbolic meaning in ancient art (Egypt, India, China and Greece), personifying the natural elements (fire, earth, water and air); often acting as a sign of the creation of all things; expressing primarily the best human qualities, for example, activity, courage, innocence, modesty; acting as a sign of ideal formations, for example, truth, goodness and beauty; personifying wealth and power. Modern research notes that “ancient peoples make an attempt to comprehend the laws of the universe, to find an organizing place in the world,” and in this they are helped by a color system, where “...symbols become a means that allows one to “visualize” and concretize the invisible, the divine.” .

Note that in the art world of the Christian Middle Ages and the subsequent rebellious Renaissance, as a result of a change in the artistic paradigm, color was considered as a manifestation of metaphysical light, which is embodied in nature, which influences the ongoing formation of the color canons of fine art.

The theoretical understanding of color occurs most deeply in the philosophy of the New Age in the works of F. Bacon, J. Locke, T. Hobbes, J. Berkeley, D. Hume, which will manifest itself in the further development of design methodology.

The 19th and 20th centuries were marked by experiments by artists and designers in the field of color perception, which was reflected in the development of the methodology of artistic creativity.

Nowadays, interest in color symbolism is growing due to increasing attention to the semiotic problems of linguistic phenomena. Semiotics as the science of signs and their systems is increasingly showing interest in the phenomena of artistic creativity, and work is also intensifying on the compilation of special dictionaries of signs and symbols used in science and art.

The conducted study of design and its language indicates that the process of symbolization in design creativity is aimed at combining the canon, manifested in the use of specific artistic techniques for constructing a composition, in particular color symbolism, preserving cultural traditions, and the process of modernization, offering the latest methods of working with the material of artistic composition. But it should be remembered that the basic idea in creating works of design creativity is the trinity of beauty, utility and necessity, reflecting the irreconcilable struggle between “old” and “new” in modern art, combining the techniques of innovation and innovation. The dynamics of changes in the design language testify to the replenishment of the system of its expressive elements, but the artist-designer’s loyalty to the principle of symbolism remains unshakable.

Thus, design language is a cultural phenomenon; it represents the product of people's symbolic activity. Artistic images created through the design language contain a special world of signs and symbols. In the design language there is a developed system of symbolic formations, where the symbolism of color plays a special role in shaping the meaning of design creativity. Color symbolism reflects the change in ideological guidelines of a particular historical era, changing the figurative design system.

1. See: Berdichevsky E.G. Innovative jewelry design // Design. Materials. Technology. 2013. No. 13. P. 1-10; Beschastnov N.P. The artistic language of ornament. M., 2010. 335 p. ; Kukhta M.S., Pustozerova O.L. The influence of jewelry design in ethnic style on the choice of materials and technologies // Design. Materials. Technology. 2013. No. 12. P. 1-8; Lobatskaya R.M., Sorokina V.E., Generalchenko P.S. New design solutions for creating jewelry // Ibid. 2012. No. 12. P. 9-30; Lyashenko V.A. Design as a sociocultural phenomenon // Bulletin of OSU. 2008. No. 9 (91). pp. 21-25; Pankina M.V. Evolution of design principles: cultural analysis // Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State Academy of Culture and Arts. 2014. No. 2 (38). pp. 50-55.

2. Osmankina G.Yu. The canon of Egyptian fine art as a synechology of culture // Omsk Scientific Bulletin. 2009. No. 4 (79). pp. 223-226.

3. Shalimova L.A. Sociocultural categories of color symbolism // World of science, culture, education. 2015. No. 1 (50). pp. 385-388.

4. Ibid. P. 386.

5. Kim V.V. Semiotics and scientific knowledge: Philosophical and methodological analysis. Ekaterinburg, 2008. 416 p.

6. Bransky V.P. Art and philosophy: The role of philosophy in the formation and perception of a work of art using the example of the history of painting. Kaliningrad, 1999. 704 p.

7. See: Sheinina E.Ya. Encyclopedia of symbols. Kharkov, 2001; Foley D. Encyclopedia of signs and symbols. M., 1997; Encyclopedia of symbols / comp. V.M. Roshal. M., 2005; Encyclopedia of symbols, signs, emblems / comp. V. Andreeva. M., 2000.

Lecture 1: Feelings. How design affects human feelings. Why does a designer think about the user's feelings first of all? (39:26)

Lecture 2: Structure-chaos. How design became a tool of order in a world of chaos. Perception of structures, impression of chaos. Why does the designer design patterns that indicate that the object belongs to order, logic, and, therefore, is reasonable and close. (42:44)

Lecture 3: Function. Adaptation to the environment, comfort of work and efficiency of results are the main criteria of good design. The designer thinks about how the project will work. Often it is functionality that determines the appearance and attractiveness of a product. (46:59)

Lecture 4: Identity. How design creates connections, how it unites various objects with each other, forms a perceptual identity, so popular in marketing and branding. The designer creates rules, ways to organize identification systems, unity of style, integrity of visual attributes. (39:32)

Lecture 5: Hidden. What does the design hide? What processes and decisions remain beyond consumer attention. How to look at a design, noticing the details that distinguish craftsmanship from artisanal crafts. (1:08:22)

Lecture 6. Exercises. (20:01)

A logo is much more than just words, an icon, a color. A good logo tells a story about your company: who you are, what you do, and what you stand for.

Creating a logo is not an easy task: there are many nuances that need to be taken into account when developing it. Luckily, you don't have to do this alone. With the help of this step-by-step instructions, you can do it easily and simply. But enough words, let's get started!

What is a logo and what is it for?

But before we move directly to the recommendations, we would like to recommend you an online service from Turbologo , which can create a logo for you all in a few minutes. Just enter your company name and the site will create some logos for you!
Now let's move on to the article :)

Every day we constantly come across logos.

For example, the average US resident sees 16,000 advertisements, logos and labels per day. If you look around, you will probably also notice several dozen logos around you.

Why are there so many of them and why do many companies spend thousands, hundreds, or even millions of dollars to create this small element?

What do we, first of all, understand by the word “logo”?

A logo is a symbol or emblem that is used
to identify services, products and the company itself.

How to choose a color for a logo?

Color, color and more color! It's the first touchpoint and the most memorable item, says Leslie Harrington, executive director of The Color Association.

Understanding how color affects human perception is important when creating a quality logo, says Martin Christie of Logo Design London.

Color can help you enhance the right feelings and create a strong emotional connection. Use the infographic (large size) to choose the color you want for your logo.

How to choose the right logo color?

To answer this question, you need to ask yourself 3 questions:

What color highlights your brand's personality?
What colors characterize your products/services?
What color is your competitor using?

The colors are not tied to any specific industry, but certain colors are better suited to some services/products than others.
You should aim to choose a color that will highlight your company's personality. The color should make the right impression on customers who see your logo for the first time.

What to do when you've figured out your competitors' colors?

One option is to use a color opposite to the color of the main competitor's logo. This will help you stand out. But it's worth considering the colors of your industry so that the opposite color matches the industry. For example, the pink color for the logo of a bank or law firm looks inappropriate and ridiculous.

Consider the characteristics of color in different cultures. For example, in the Western world, white is considered the color of purity and peace, and in some Asian countries it is the color of death.

One color or several?

To convey the desired feelings and emotions as much as possible, one color is usually used when creating a logo design. However, there are many successful logos with multiple colors - Google, eBay.

Therefore, you can safely use one color or several. The main thing is that they combine! But, of course, you shouldn’t overdo it and use a large number of colors.

I recommend choosing two primary colors. This makes it easier for your brand to communicate with your customers. Many companies, from sports teams to corporations, have used only two colors for many years.

– Pamela Wilson.

How to choose several colors for a logo?

The easiest way to choose the right colors for your logo is to use color schemes.
There are many online services for finding great color schemes. You can find several in this one.

For example, Adobe Kuler or the Russian-language Colorscheme service.

Designers often use the 60-30-10 formula. It consists of choosing 3 different colors and using them in a ratio of 60%, 30% and 10%. This rule provides an easy way to create a professional color scheme for your brand.

– Jared Christofferson, Yellowhammer

Where can you find logo inspiration?

It is often very difficult to take the first step when we are dealing with something unfamiliar. For example, with the creation of logos. You can spend a day, or even a week, thinking about and making logo drawings, which is very exhausting.

Fortunately, there is a good way to get rid of the stupor as quickly as possible and make the first step less painful. For example, gain inspiration from other logos and designers’ works.
For this we have selected 10 best sites, where you can get ideas for your logo.

Logo Pond

Logo Moose

This site's community has collected the best logos from professional logo designers from all over the world.

Logofi was created to inspire designers and other creative people. On this site you can see the work of not only professional designers, but also ordinary visitors who have uploaded their logo.

Logo Gala

LogoGala is one of the most outstanding resources for finding inspiration. On the website you can select a logo filter by color.

Logospire is a logo gallery. But the main difference between this site and others is that you can see the best designer logos. The site has a rating system and every month a list of the best logos is compiled.

Logo Heroes

Here are the best logos on the internet.

Logo Fury

Another gallery of logos, which is regularly updated with fresh works. The site has a convenient search by tags, so finding a logo on the desired topic is very convenient.

Logo Faves

One of the most popular sites. The site contains logos of many famous designers. There is a tag search to find the logo you need.

Errors when creating a logo

To make a really good logo, you need to avoid certain mistakes.
Below we have collected the most popular of them.

Mistake 1: Using a bitmap

The use of raster images in logos is not recommended because it may cause problems when reproducing the logo. If you enlarge a bitmap image too much, it will appear tiled, making it unusable.

Therefore, standard practice when developing a logo is to use programs that work with vector graphics - Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Vector graphics are made up of dots calculated with mathematical precision, ensuring a consistent visual experience no matter the size of the image.

Basic advantages of using vector graphics when developing a logo design:

1. The logo can be scaled to any size without loss of quality.
2. Subsequent editing of the logo is greatly facilitated.
3. A vector image is easier to adapt to other media than a raster image.

Mistake 2: Following trends

Trends come and go. Eventually they turn into clichés. A well-designed logo should be durable. This can be achieved if you do not rely on newfangled tricks and techniques.

To create a unique identity for your company, it is best to completely ignore logo trends.

Logo Online Pros has a huge section where current logo design trends are updated annually. It is important that you are aware of the latest fads and avoid them at all costs. – Smashingmagazine

Mistake 3: Overcomplexity

An image that contains too much detail will not be perceived well in print or when viewed in a smaller version.
Details of a complex design will be lost, and in some cases it will look messy or, worse, not be perceived correctly.

For example, the fingerprint pattern on the fictional Smashing logo can only be seen upon very close inspection. When you zoom out, details are lost.

Look at the corporate logos of Nike, McDonald's and Apple. Each of these companies has a very simple image that can easily be reproduced in any size.

Mistake 4: Dependence on color effects

Without color, your great logo can lose its identity. Right?

No! This is a very common mistake. Designers can't wait to add a few of their favorite colors, many even rely on it entirely.

Choosing a color should be your last decision, so it's best to start designing in black and white.

Mistake 5: Poor font choice

When it comes to creating a logo, choosing the right font is the most important decision you will make. Due to poor font choice, the logo most often fails (our example shows the infamous Comic Sans).

Choosing the perfect font for your logo is all about matching the font to the style of the image. But there may be tricks here. If the match is too close, the image and font will compete with each other for the viewer's attention. If it’s the other way around, then the viewer won’t understand what to focus on. The main thing is to find the right balance.
The entire brand message will fall flat if the chosen font does not reflect the characteristics of the image.

Mistake 6. Designing a logo for yourself, not for clients

Often, when creating a logo, there is a desire to use your favorite font, color, etc. Do not do that!

Ask yourself, is this font and color really suitable for my business?

For example, that gorgeous modern typography font you love might not be suitable for a serious client like a law firm.

Mistake 7: Typographic chaos

Typography can make or break a logo, so knowing the basics of typography is vital. The logo should remain as simple as possible, but at the same time convey the desired message. To achieve this, you need to consider all typographic aspects of the design.

Don't use too many fonts or weights (two is the maximum). Don't use fonts that are predictable, pretentious, or too thin. Pay close attention to kerning, spacing, and size. Most importantly, make sure you choose the right font(s) for the project.

Mistake 8: Creating a monogram

One of the most common mistakes made by non-professional logo designers is trying to create a monogram from the initial letters of a business name (for example, B&H for Bob's Hardware). Although it looks creative at first glance, it is difficult to be convincing or convey the desired message using company initials. You can certainly try, but don't stop there if there are other logo design options.

Also try not to turn the name of the company into an abbreviation if it has not become commonly used and this does not correspond to the goals set.

HP, FedEx, IBM and GM didn't start out with acronyms; they became such many years after gaining a high-class reputation.

Mistake 9: Using Visual Cliches

A light bulb as a symbol of an idea, a bubble with text - discussion, strokes - dynamism, etc. These are the first ideas that come to mind during brainstorming, and for the same reason they are the first to be abandoned.

How can your design be unique when many other logos have the same idea? Avoid visual clichés and come up with an original idea and design.

Mistake 10. Copying, stealing or borrowing a design

It's sad to have to say this, but this practice is common these days. A logo designer sees an idea he likes, tweaks it a little, changes the colors or words, and makes the idea his own. It's unethical, illegal, stupid and you'll get caught sooner or later.

How to Create a Logo - Step-by-Step Guide

We've already covered almost everything you need to know about creating a logo.

Now all that remains is to sort out the information received.

Take another look at:

Step 1: Create multiple drafts

During the early stages of logo design, you may have several ideas that you want to express in the logo. You shouldn’t neglect them, it’s better to write them down; perhaps some of them will be useful to you when creating the final version of the logo.

Step 2: Sketch your logo design

Sketching is a quick and easy way to get ideas onto paper where you can evaluate them more easily.
Do not erase or throw away sketches. Design is not a linear process. All ideas can be valuable, even if you don't think so right away.


If you don't know how to draw, don't worry. You can try sketching your logo using screenshots. Go to the sites of several online generators, icon galleries, etc. Try to find the right images that you like and save them. You can then use them to create your unique logo.

Step 3: Select Logo Creation Tools

You can create a logo using:

– graphic programs – Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, Photoshop;
– platforms for ordering logos – 99Designs:
– online services and designers – , Turbologo . Very useful service, I recommend it!

If you're comfortable working with graphics programs, don't hesitate to use them to create your logo.
But you should not neglect online services. They can be used to find inspiration or test ideas.

Step 4: Create a Logo

Step 5. Test the logo

Have you created a logo and decided it's perfect? Perhaps this is not the case. It will be more effective to show the logo to colleagues, friends, and some clients and get feedback. Ask them a few questions: what do they think of the logo, do they like it? If the answers suit you, then you did everything right.
However, be careful with reviews from friends and relatives. If they are not professional designers, their advice may not be entirely useful to you or may even be false.

Step 6: Check your logo's scalability

Check the logo image in different versions - in newspaper ads, on a business card, on your website. The logo should look good whether it is reproduced in a large or small format.

Some tips:
– If the logo has a lot of detail or lines that are thin, then the logo may look too fussy at small sizes.
– If a logo is created for a business card or website, then it will usually look awkward at large sizes.
– Use graphics programs such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape, they allow you to check the scalability of your logo.

Step 7: Create Multiple Logo Formats

You may have created your logo in a graphics program like Adobe Illustrator from the beginning. If this is not the case, you need to transfer the logo sketch from paper to electronic form.

Some tips:
– Save the logo not only in .
The latter will allow you to easily scale your logo without losing quality. If you already have a logo in raster format, you can convert it to vector using vectormagic.com.
– Use the logo in PNG, JPEG format for the Internet and in PDF, EPS, SVG for printing.
– Save the logo version in black and white for printing the logo, for example, on bags, pens, stationery.

Step 8: Continue to Get Feedback

Even after you've created a logo, you still need to remain open to feedback. Use various tools such as social media, customer comments, expert opinions to make sure your logo looks perfect.

Step 9. Redesign

Nothing lasts forever, and a logo is no exception. If your logo has ceased to be relevant over time, it is better to redraw it. It is worth making small edits, leaving room for the key idea in the logo, because radical changes are unlikely to be appropriate.

Is your logo really great? [Check list]

And so, you've probably already created a logo. Congratulations!

But is he really good? Will it look great in different sizes? Well, let's check the effectiveness of your logo with our checklist.
Go through each question and answer “yes” or “no.”

1. The logo looks attractive to at least three people
2. The logo looks good in black and white
3. The logo is recognizable in an upside-down position (view)
4. The logo is recognizable if its size is changed
5. No complicated parts
6. The logo is visually balanced – the icon, font, color look harmonious together
7. Do not use too many fonts, colors, effects
8. The logo is noticeable among other logos

As we have already written, it is very important to stand out from other companies, especially competitors.
Collect your competitors' logos and place yours somewhere between them.
Is it noticeable? Noticeable compared to others? If yes, everything is great!

9. The logo is adaptive

Adaptability means that the logo will look great on any object or surface - a T-shirt, website, road sign, etc.

10. The logo is memorable

Show your logo to your friends or anyone and ask them to draw an image of it in a few hours or days. If he can roughly accurately sketch your logo, then everything is fine and your logo will be memorable.

11. Universal logo

The universality of a logo means that it is perceived in the same way by a wide range of people. All people are different and the main thing is that the logo retains a single meaning for all its viewers.

12. The logo is easy to read

Imagine that your logo is placed on a banner, and you are driving a car at a speed of 70-80 km per hour. Could you read the text of your logo? If yes, everything is fine. If not, it might be worth working on the fonts.

13. Do you have vector logo formats?

It is very important to have logo files in vector (AI, EPS, SVG, PDF). This will allow you to print your logo at any scale without losing quality, as well as edit it. For example, make a logo in a different color.

We hope our tips will be useful to you and you will create a great logo!

Hi all!

In anticipation of the imminent release of our new training "40-day identity school" I bring to your attention an article by the author and presenter of the upcoming course.

Alexey Romashin:

I have been working on corporate styles for more than 20 years, I have developed more than a hundred of them, some of which have become “classic”.

My signs and logos have entered various Russian and European annals, but that’s not the point... The point is that in parallel with design work, I teach the basics of graphic design and teach with an emphasis on identity. Why focus on it, and not on typography, a poster, or, say, calligraphy?

For two reasons. The first, mundane one, is the monetization of skills, because identity Today it is the most sought after market specialization in graphic design.

The second reason is deeper. The fact is that the identity contains the main gene of the profession, the skill of extracting a sign-symbol, the ability to translate a message expressed in words, verbally, into figurative language.

Why is this skill so important for the modern designer? But because the mission of a graphic designer, first of all, is “packaging” and transfer of information, not surface decoration.

In general, according to the modern model of the profession, everything produced by a designer is signs, or “visual texts.” The language of the sign is the language of the culture of the post-industrial era, that is, ours. It is used by cinema, theater, literature, and fashion, not to mention disciplines where the task of transmitting information is the main one, say, the Web.

In addition to the fact that a sign is a means of transmitting information, it is also a means of establishing a continuous connection, “connection with the brand”, a means of maintaining continuity of communication between the manufacturer and the consumer, through which the consumer’s involvement in a particular brand, in a particular model is updated consumption. The many signs surrounding us form a new parallel reality - a symbolic sphere called sign sphere.

I will allow myself the cynical thought that in the consumer society in which we live, the average person is the sum of the brands that he likes. And at the top of this whole pyramid of values ​​sticks out a sign, like a star at the top of a Christmas tree.

A little history

The history of the sign is ancient and covered in moss. I won’t tell you the legends about Sumerian cattle breeders who branded their cows with individual marks already in the 4th millennium BC. e. – this has nothing to do with us.

But the fact that already in the 16th century in Europe government agencies began to emerge to register and protect the marks used by various craft guilds is closer to the topic.

Later, during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th-19th centuries, signs began to turn from a simple identifier into carriers of values, primarily corporate ones, that is, they began to turn from just a pointer into a communicative object.

The identity of the 19th century was distinguished by increased decorativeness and symbolism, which was sometimes incomprehensible to the modern viewer. The decorative nature was inherent in it primarily due to the fact that one of their important tasks was to decorate the product on which signs or logos were applied.

The 19th century identity was replete with images
mythological animals - chimeras, griffins, unicorns. Its concentrated symbolism, I think, was primarily due to the fact that the “designers” of that time drew inspiration from heraldry - the science of compiling, describing and deciphering coats of arms.

It is believed that one of the first non-heraldic trademarks was an image of a dog named Nipper listening to a Gramophone phonograph. This fact is accompanied by the following story:

The dog's owner, Marc Barrot, died in 1887 and left the dog to his brothers Francis and Philip. The brothers noticed how carefully Nipper listened to the phonograph. There is a version that he listened to the voice of his deceased master. Touched by this scene, Brother Francis painted a painting, “A Dog Listening to a Phonograph,” and decorated the living room wall with it.

Subsequently, the painting was donated and decorated the office of the Gramophone company. When the need arose for branding products - gramophone records, due to a lack of ideas, it was decided to use this particular image. By the way, it is still used in a highly stylized form to this day.

In the 20s, the rapid growth of industry stimulates the development of identity. For the first time, a sign ceases to perform the function of decorating an object and becomes an element communications. The signs lose their increased decorativeness, become simplified, and begin to gravitate towards a generalized spot solution.

The final formation of identity as a separate design discipline occurred immediately after World War II. Europe developed rapidly, absorbing American investment and rebuilding. The market needed a lot of “fast and inexpensive design.”

An international typographic style known as originating in Switzerland in the 1950s and 60s. was the first to respond to global market demands. The distinctive features of the Swiss school were the minimalism of artistic means, the grid, the use of grotesque fonts, primarily Helvetica, and deep symbolism.

In the 60s and 70s, “splashes of the Swiss school of design began to fly across the Iron Curtain.” Mainly thanks to the monograph by Joseph Müller-Brockmann “Modular systems in graphic design. A manual for graphic artists and typographers", which was smuggled into the USSR and translated into Russian by design enthusiasts.

Since then, the method of Swiss minimalism and the meaningful use of its techniques have become synonymous with excellence in the profession of Soviet and post-Soviet graphic designers.

Take a break from this text for a second, close your eyes and try to remember what the signs you know look like. What did you remember first? Apple, Mercedes, Peugeot, Burberry, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, United Russia, Camel?

Agree, brand images are firmly embedded in our memory, despite the fact that we did not make any effort to remember them. We may not be able to draw them, but we remember them in all the smallest details and even in color.

There is a whole arsenal of professional techniques on how to make the sign “screwed” into our consciousness and remain there for a long time. To achieve the effect of memorability and recognition, professionals use different techniques. meanings. Now a new word has appeared, and not everyone understands it.

“Meaning” is the process of translating relevant information, meaning, into a specific sign form.

I will definitely talk about the methods and algorithms of signification in the following posts, but for now I want to finish with the typology of the sign.

Typology of the sign

Classic or font sign appeared in the mid-19th century in British printing art. The basis of a unique sign was a font. Creating such a sign involves manually drawing individual letters of the original font being created; this technology is still called lettering.

Character sign appeared at the beginning of the 18th century in Holland, when there was a boom in the production of bulbous plants and every farmer marked his products with a picture of the flower in which he specialized.

At the moment, there are 2 types of symbolic signs - these are concrete and abstract types. Symbolic signs can either be based on a real image of someone or something, or they can be completely abstract and not refer to any specific image, object, or living creature.

Based on the degree of abstraction, they are divided into signs of a concrete and abstract type. Example: the Lacoste crocodile is concrete, and the Nike “saber” is abstract.

Synthetic sign appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century in Germany and is associated with the growth in the production of military equipment. It is believed that it was in Germany that they first began to combine letters and symbols in a logo. This is the most common way to form a logo in design practice. The image merges with the logo, forming an inextricable composition with it.

Formation in identity

A sign is first and foremost a form. The form is what we evaluate first; immersion in the content of the sign occurs after some time. From the point of view of shaping and according to the classification of Professor S.I. Serov signs are:

• Planar, not dissected
• Linear equal pressure
• Linear multi-pressure
• Pseudo-volume

Why does a designer need all these sophisticated classifications? Most likely there is no need, however...

Recently, in order to convey information to students in the most digestible form, I made a simple table, where the types of signs were located along the “X” axis - font, symbolic, synthetic, and along the “Y” axis the methods of their formation - planar, linear, pseudo-volume and etc.

So, all the “quality” signs from my collection, collected over the years, belonging to different times and schools, absolutely fit into this table; they could be described by a combination of 3 types and 4 methods of formation.

A certain number of signs that I kept in my “strange” folder, as examples of extravagant postmodern experiments that were subject to analysis and comprehension, were not included in this table, they could not be described through the above characteristics, they fell into the “zone of creative experiment” column.

Upon completion of the procedure, I concluded that, most likely, the “strange” signs from my collection are not signs from a marketing point of view, and with relief I tossed them into the trash as unnecessary.

Please do not suspect me of hypocrisy and lack of tolerance for the new and experimental. Marketing, nothing personal.

I will talk about methods of meaning, the content side of identity, how to decipher a message, how to make a sign “smart” and where to get inspiration and vitality for this in the following posts.

I wish you creative success!