Logo-Designer.me

The first design for this website (Logo-Designer.me) was based on a free WordPress theme called BlogTheme that is available from woothemes.com. While this theme worked really well it was quite basic in comparison to some of the other website themes available at woothemes so I decided to purchase a new theme called Therapy. This site is based around the Therapy theme and I am very pleased with it.

I wanted a design for the site that was easy for visitors to understand and navigate without lots of links and menus scattered all over the place. The Therapy theme provided the perfect foundation for such a website. All I needed to do was make a few changes to the appearance and personalise the settings using the WordPress control panel plus add a few extra plugins and I was good to go.

The website content is still being added on some of the main pages but the site is now about there. I would certainly recommend Woothemes for anybody that uses WordPress as they have loads of different themes available now.

As I am a Logo Designer not a web designer I would really like to hear from any web designers what they think of the site or how they think it could be improved. Thanks very much for reading.

Many logo designers will have a list of books that they would recommend but does a Logo Designer really need to have lots of books about logo design to do what they do?

Design books are often quite pricey due to the expensive full colour quality printing required to present the featured work as professionally as possible, so purchasing a long list of logo design books might leave a designer with very light pockets!

So the question is, will the purchase be good value for money for me? If you intend to read through the book cover to cover and really look at the details of the work presented with the intent of learning something new then a book may well be worth it. If however you would just like to flick through a few pages, put the book on the side to collect a little dust and then put it away in a draw then it may not be such a worthwhile purchase. You will only get something out of a design book if you invest some time and enthusiasm into reading it.

Some designers like to have lots of books so that they can flick through them when they are feeling a little less than inspired and this is certainly useful but I believe that this inspiration is quite costly if that is all the books are used for especially when inspiration can quite easily be found on the internet for free. It could also be considered to be a waste of resources if many of those full colour pages are barely glanced at.

I feel I should say at this point that I am not saying that books on logo design are a waste of money as I have read many excellent books on logo design and have been inspired by the excellent work they feature but I do believe that you will only get your money’s worth if you read through and investigate the details of the content of a book pretty much cover to cover. If you read through a book cover to cover and then later use the book for flick through inspirational purposes then you can be sure that you have done all that you can to make your purchase worthwhile.

So to summarise my approach to purchasing books on logo design is to first read some reviews about the book and then ask myself if I would actually read the book. I believe that books on logo design can be most useful and informative for logo designers and can also help them to develop their own style further as well as to keep a designer informed and aware of the latest popular styles and trends being produced by other designers. There is always more to learn about design and books are full of information that can aid this learning process but it is up to the individual to make this effort to read and investigate the content.

The above is only my opinion on logo design books so I would like to hear from other logo designers what their own feelings are towards design books and the way they should be used. If you have something to say please feel free to submit a comment and thank you for reading.

Why should a Logo Designer Sketch their Ideas?

If you have ever visited a logo designer’s blog you may well see images of initial thoughts for a Logos development in the form of a sketch created by the Logo Designer. I believe that this is really an essential stage in a logos development if you are looking to find the best possible solution you can create for a logo.

It is possible for a logo designer to sit at their computer and just design on screen but really I believe the computer should be seen more as a tool for visually creating existing ideas rather than trying to use the computer to create ideas. Designers that usually skip the sketch pad stage often have very computer based work in that the logos they design are often created using different computer based effects. I believe that this is done as there is less thought behind the concepts and so they have opted for a more visually focused design rather than a design that is based on a most thoughtful concept. If a logo does not have a strong concept behind it the only way to make it appealing is to make it visually attractive but if a logo has a strong concept behind it then it can be appreciated from a different angle in that it can be appreciated for the concept.

I feel I should say that I am not saying every great logo was created in a sketch book first but I believe that most probably were. From experience I have seen a big improvement in my own work due to spending more time using the sketch book and less time clicking away on the computer during the early stages of a logos development.

So why is it that many designers find it more productive for idea generation to use a sketch book? I believe that this is because when people sit staring at a computer screen they develop tunnel vision. The mind stares with a blank focus at the uninspiring screen waiting for the idea to be presented rather than actively and consciously looking for a solution. This is much like when people watch TV, they stare with a blank focus at the screen waiting to be presented with information.

A designer needs to think sideways to develop creative ideas and to actively and consciously search for a solution. A sketch book is less visually stimulating and mesmerizing than an illuminated computer screen so the individual has to bring something to the sketh book to make it appealing.

I am not saying that the computer is not an essential tool when it comes to designing logos in this digital age but if the computer is used more as a tool for expressing your creative ideas that were initially created on paper the results are often greater. These ideas need only be rough sketches as it is the idea that is important and the visual representation of this idea can always be developed further but if you do not have a good concept for a logo in the early stages it is very unlikely that further visual development will enrich the concept. I believe it is best to begin with a solid foundation that you can really build something impressive on.

The above is only my opinion based on my own experience and so I would be very interested to hear from other designers with regards to their approach towards initial idea generation. Thank you for reading.