Design Post Update

A Strong, Distinctive Logo will represent your brand as strong and distinctive

Strong Logo, Strong Brand

1. Simplicity Is the Key

Clever design can allow a very simple logo to be effective

Good logo design means that your logo should be kept simple. Too many distractions for the eye and too many things for the eye to focus on will serve to not recognize the logo, not remember it and not let it represent your brand as easily as possible. Try and represent your brand as best you can with a punchy and simple logo. Why is design so difficult when it should be so simple? Your logo should be able to thrive in a variety of different contexts, just like Nike’s logo, through pure simplicity.

If you’re coming up with a logo from scratch or redesigning an outdated but effective one, you should keep it simple and in tune with your brand. Keep things appealing visually, whilst also retaining a clean and simple design. A good design tip is to make sure your logo appears strong in black on a plain white background, or with a duo-tone. As an example, consider the Windows logo - what is it about this logo that retains the brand image over time, even as the logo has undergone several design changes? 

2. Where Will the Logo Go?

Your logo will appear is a wide variety of locations, it's important to have it right

As a part of the design process, one needs to consider just where the logo will go within your brand, and how this will appear among other materials? You may have a logo that would look great on a poster, but wouldn’t work well on a business card, so you’ll want to think it over to visualize where your logo will be. Think about flexibility and where your logo can work, and where it can’t.

Deliveroo recently took major design steps to simplify and more accurately represent their brand story given that most of their users work with smartphones. This is a good example of thinking about where your logo will go - failing to grasp this, as your brand is growing, can lead to difficulties further down the line. Deliveroo may have been thinking about the fact that their logo would have looked good on a delivery motorbike bag; however, most people are seeing it online via their phone and app. 

3. A Design that Lasts Through Time

A logo should not be designed to be trendy, it needs to be timeless

The best thing one can do is try and stick to a design that lasts through time - something iconic and timeless that people can remember forever. A common mistake is that brand's design logos are trendy, but these trends won’t last forever. The best approach is not to go down a trendy feel and look because it won’t work over a long period of time, and we can expect that you’re in it for the long haul. However, you’ll want to pay close attention to the fact that if you choose something too classic and timely, there is a good chance that a lot of other brands have also used a similar design and also it may not fit in with your brand value. Think about your brand and its message more than what the trends of the year are. You will want your logo to shine and engage through every year.

4. But... Update the Design When it Needs to Be

The ford logo has evolved over time, most noticeably twice in 1912 as the initial redesign was not well received.

Your company may change over time and even though you want your logo to be timeless, it won’t last forever. To stay as up to date as possible, whilst also keeping your theme current, one needs to occasionally change their logo to keep up with the times. If your logo has been rather successful in the past, it’s not ideal to significantly change from the design you’ve already been using for a whole, so sometimes just a simple change of type or a slicker icon will make your logo more appropriate for the current times.

A good example of this is with Marriott hotel’s recent shift from an old to a newer look, whilst also refraining from giving into current trends. The logo was redesigned, keeping their giant “M” but also making the other text within colored black as opposed to red. This logo is now a whole lot more modern and wasn’t a great shift from the original, but it certainly packs more of a punch. 

5. Don’t Copy Clichés

All these company logos are too similar for any of them to stand out from the crowd

When designing a logo, one should make a serious effort not to use clip art or copy other people’s work. The final approach to any logo design should be that you don’t copy cliché work and come up with something unique; otherwise, your logo will look like someone else’s and won’t help cement the brand image. You’ll need something that’s instantly recognizable and not confused with someone else’s brand.

Your logo should have some form of original art that tells the audience what the company is and how their ethos shines through. Sure, you can draw inspiration from other logos, but make sure your work is unique and not just a copy of something else.

Definitely, don’t try and emulate commonplace forms of art in your logo such as clipart. This will cause your logo to have an amateur and childish appearance, without being special in any way at all. If you want something that’s memorable, it needs to be special. Your logo will want to make an instant click with whoever is looking at it. Make it stand out from your competitors in an instant – don’t make your audience have to think about how your logo is similar to something else. 

A great menu design can have a huge impact on your restaurants overall image

Important Elements of a Good Menu Design

Location and First Impressions

Images Must Be Real

Typography is Important for Distinguishing Items

Mind the Price Presentation

•        Do not go for the vertical or horizontal price alignment
•     Consider some nontraditional pricing options (for example, instead of two decimal, use one decimal)
•          Choose typography and colors that are more subtle and attract less importance visually
•          Stop ranking the items from low to high or high to low. Mix them up instead.

Interesting Copy Helps Avoid Confusions

‘It is important to use the right tone. This will depend on the type of establishment. For example, you should use a very formal style for an upscale restaurant, while it is acceptable to have some fun with the wording when creating a menu for a less-upscale establishment’

– advices Gregory Mason, content writing expert at an Aussiewriting service.

10 Highly Unusual Menu Designs Worth Considering

1. Toko, Dubai

2. Smith, Toronto

3. El Kapan, Varna

4. The Clifford Pier, Singapore

5. Sano Juice, Barcelona

6. Holly Burger, Spain

7. The Pelican, Singapore

8. Hubbly Bubbly, Orlando

9. Vera, Zaragoza

10. Cellarmaker Brewing Co, San Francisco

11. L'Encant, Spain

12. Maddigan's Freehouse, London

13. RAGU Cafe, Novosibirsk

14. Mr. Brown, Mexico

15. Montero, Mexico

Common Mistakes New Graphic Designers Make - And How To Avoid Them

Too Many Fonts

Always try to use a minimum of 2 fonts and a maximum of 3

Combining and using different types of fonts can be fun for the designer, but if you put yourself in the shoes of the viewers, you will realize that this has no value to them. When a person is reading a paragraph where several fonts constantly change, they will find it difficult to understand what is written.

This can easily tire out the reader and annoy them. In these situations, people will simply turn off the content and go somewhere else. A general rule is to stick to a maximum of three different styles of fonts on a single layout. Still, this is only if you really have the need for emphasizing three different things.

Have a look at FreeDesignStuff.net for a review of the best websites to get free fonts for your design projects.

Solution:

Stick to the basic rule of  always try to use a minimum of 2 fonts and a maximum of 3. You can also get help pairing fonts at websites such as fontpair.co or typ.io

Solution:

It's obvious really isn't it, you need to make or take your own images. Or at least edit them to suit.

No White Space

White space is important in graphic design - maybe not this much though!

Proximity is an essential design principle. All of the elements that you have in your layout should be grouped with visual logic. This is how people will better understand the information displayed and make the connection between different items in front of them.

One of the biggest mistakes is to splatter content everywhere around a page and make the whole design look cluttered. This way, you won’t be able to communicate information properly. 

Solution:

Don’t be scared to leave white space around your elements and give them more room to be recognized and acknowledged. People tend to scan images and text first before deciding whether or not to focus on it for longer so by giving the important elements of a design some space they can help draw a viewer in for a further look.

Design Overkill

Solution:

Try to set out specific guidelines at the outset of the project with your client to help keep you in line. Even if the client gives you free reign over "artistic styling" it is still important to do what's best for them. 

Conclusion