The first step I need to take on this journey, is to start at the basics. This is not overtly new information to me, but it’s important to take stock and draw lines in the sand so I can get everything in order and have a clear understanding of the research and process structure.
The first port of call is logo categorisation. What are the main types of logos being created today and what are they used for? Are they are any cross overs? Which ones of these do I feel I currently have sufficient skill in as a logo maker? And where are my gaps, so I can focus my research and technique in order to bridge the gap between Illustrator and Graphic Designer?
Types of Logos
The 99 Designs blog entry ‘The 7 Types of Logo (and how to use them) (More,n.d) (which confusingly states it was written 8 months ago whereas the comments section starts 7 years ago), states that there are 7 main types of logos: Lettermarks, Workmarks, Pictorial Marks, Abstract, Mascots, Combinations and Emblems.
Lettermarks are used primarily for brands and companies with abbreviated names; HBO, IMB etc. these are traditionally based on a typeface with an accent or flourish or a new typeface has been created for the brand. Workmarks are in the same line as Lettermarks, but the full name is used; Coca-cola, Google and Visa. Pictorial Marks are icons based on a subject that relates somehow to the brand. Apple’s for example, is an icon of an apple. It is a very flat, simple shape that is easy to recognise. Abstracts vary in complexity but could be described as a Pictorial Mark that isn’t based on primary subject. The Pepsi logo, which is given as an example in the text, is not based on a real world physical object although there may have been in the very early stages of its creation. The audience see that as ‘the Pepsi logo’ not as an icon that Pepsi use to brand themselves. Mascots as based on illustrated characters. Many food and sports brands use these in their logos, allowing for the logo to be broken apart to use the mascot in marketing purposes away from the word mark (Workmark?) whilst retaining the brand identity of the logo. Combination Marks are stated to be ‘A combination mark is a logo comprised of a combined wordmark or Lettermark and a Pictorial Mark, Abstract Mark, or Mascot’. This is a type where I feel there is lots of crossover and creates grey areas between the logo types. Whilst Mascot logos are diffidently their own grouping to logos, no logos come to mind that use the mascot on it’s own without the Lettermark alongside it. This blog entry used three examples where two of them have the Lettermark. The third example; Kool-Aid, isn’t the main brand logo for Kool Aid and so the use of it as a ‘logo’ runs into difficulties. The Emblem as a logo structure is one I find myself using a lot in my practise. Its defining characteristic is that the ‘ingredients’ of the logo are all held within a geometric shape or and icon.
In response to this article I have experimented with my own name to create a categorisation chart:
In ‘Designing with Illustration’ (Heller & Pomeroy, 1990) many branding, logo and packaging ideas are discussed through the medium of illustration. In the text there were a few points that differ from Morr’s blog as described above. The main one, that drew my interest, was Steel Engraving.
This method of creating logos is one that lies well outside my position as a contemporary logo maker. It’s one that I will investigate through experimentation during the course of this project, but at first glance it feels as if it might be too antiquated to be used on modern logos. In the last few years there has been a trend, either loved or hated, in simplifying logos. One assume this is a response to the growing need of every reducing scale a logo need to work at. From advert, to logo, to icon, to favicon. You would be hard pressed to find a steel engraved logo that would work at those scales. The obvious example of this process is the original Apple Logo versus its modern counterpart.
Research
Based on the outcomes of this logo categorisation work, it is clear that the main areas of focus I will be looking into progressing my position as a logo maker are: Pictorial Logos and Mascot Logos. I also feel that engraved logos and abstract logos are within the heading of ‘illustrated logos’ but I feel aren’t as important to my practise as I won’t use them or have sufficient skill in them respectively.
So the next step is to breakdown these two areas into sub-categories. To start that step I need to collect a wide range of examples of these:
Although, as before, there is a lot of crossover with these logos I feel they can be broken down into 4 main groups: Realistic, Icons, Cartoon, Simplified. There are other categories such as 3D or CGI and also photographic, but again, as these aren’t something I would use in my practise, so these aren’t something I will focus my research on.
Realistic mascot design would be personified by the Quaker Oats and Sun Maid logos. The illustrations in these are depicting characters as seen in real life. There’s no heightened or distorted features as they would have in a caricature. As with the steel engraving example above, I don’t feel these would come up regularly in my practise but they are worth looking into nonetheless.
Icons: These haven’t really changed at all during the process of subcategorisation as they are the pictorial logos as discussed in Morr’s 99Designs blog such as Twitter, Apple and John Deere. I feel like these could be produced by creating silhouettes of the subject and creating a fill colour, but again, my view of this may well change as I look into this style of logo.
‘Cartoon’ style mascots appear to be the most prevalent style of mascot production, used across logos such as Michelin, Wendy’s and Steady Movers. There appear to be a wide range in use and methodology in this style of mascot design that can be applied to anthropomorphised mascots such as My Planter’s ‘Mr Peanut’ or exaggerated or dynamic forms of stylised mascots such as the Eagle head present in the Philadelphia Eagles logo. I feel this is going to form a large part of my research and is the area in which I can hopefully create a personalised ‘style’ for this type of logo.
Simplified: this category is present only based on the work of Aaron Draplin as noted in the poster in his logos for the Space Shuttle, Perfect Valley and Oregon State Parks. These logos have taken a scene or and image and almost applied an ‘abstract’ logo approach to them. Tree lines are simple zag-zag forms and water is denoted by identical wave forms. The use of thick lines only allows for a few lines to be present without over crowding, and therefore limits the amount of information one can include in a logo, which actually is useful in logo design as this will allow scale and information delivery that a logo requires.
It is important to note that the KFC logo straddles a couple of categories and design styles. In it’s creation you can see that there was a real world photographic reference point, for which a ‘cartoon’ was produced in a very simple, 3 colour system. This approach could be called ‘Simplified Cartoon’ but would stand as a crossover group and not its own independent grouping.
The sub-categorisation chart of these findings would look like this:
This chart is, at first, very bad logo work! I would not be happy showing any of these to clients. That is due to the fact that it represents the logo types not the logo itself. It is also my version of each of these logos, based on my own merits and where my current skill level is. If they were all of a high standard that didn’t need improving, there wouldn’t be much point undertaking this research project.
So, my next step is to analysis this work - the processes I used, the outgoing, what worked and what I need to work on. My hope is that this will serve as a beginning marker for this journey and at the end of the project I will be able to compare my outcomes to see how much I have developed.