Beginner logo study for a magazine, please feel free to critique and let me know if you see any potential!
Posted Aug 27, 2019, 4:56 AM UTC
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If this is for a artists magazine then I would say the first and fifteenth have the most potential. Just maybe think about possibly emphasizing more on individual creativity and how that applies to the lettering and font.
Great stuff mate
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Thank you so much! I appreciate it!
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I think you have good style but the design itself could be worked on. It's very all over the place and not very focused. You mention it's for a magazine about artists but some of them look more cold, calculated, and some are even computer/robotic, like the second, third, and forth design, and don't really give off the artistic creative vibe.
The other designs are closer to the theme but that last one makes me think of microbiology like the name itself.
In all the visuals aren't bad but I would really focus on what the purpose and theme of the design is supposed to be.
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Thanks for your input! I'm very new to design and last night I just tried to get as many ideas out as possible and see if reddit could help me pick out what I should start refining. Thanks for helping!
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First off, define a problem the logo needs to solve. And then design in such way that you are solving the problem visually. Logo needs to communicate the solution to the unique problem. That being said, working on actual designs like this is great from a technical learning standpoint. But if you really want to LEARN about DESIGN - read design books. After that, you wont need to make 10 iterations of the logo, you will need 1 or 2, coz the problem will be solved instantly. Good luck!
Regarding your work here, I can see the logo is not solving a communication problem, you just trying to make it look someway - thats why you have so many different styles and solutions going on. First define what you need to do in your head, and then sketch & design. Actual designing is less than 50% of work needed to make a great logo.
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Do you have any recommendations on design books? I’m learning too, and been creeping this sub to read feedback and learn more! :)
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Firstly, u/bog_otac has given you among the best advice I've seen on this sub.
But if you really want to LEARN about DESIGN - read design books. After that, you wont need to make 10 iterations of the logo, you will need 1 or 2, coz the problem will be solved instantly.
I'd also recommend:
- Looking at magazines that accomplish the "creative and fun feel" you're after and just copying them (e.g. https://www.stackmagazines.com/ has a bunch of arty magazines).
- Rather than designing the logo in isolation, design it on a mockup of a front cover. It'll help you and everyone else (including us) see what works and what doesn't rather than having to guess.
- Numbering your designs so when you post them here, people can say, "I like no. 14".
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I think you meant to reply to u/bot_otac. I am not OP though, just a lurker wanting to learn more design stuff :)
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Thanks for all of the great advice!
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Bob Gill is a God of design. You can't really miss with any of his books.
"Damn good advice..." from George Louis was also a life changing book for me as a designer. It made me look at creative work as a powerful tool to convey your message to the masses and influence their perception on an issue, not just something pretty you press on a packaging to sell more products. Spoiler alert: book isn't really about design per se :D
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Thanks for your input! You have a ton of great advice and I will take all of it under consideration. Thanks for taking the time to teach!
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The presentation here is really hard to digest. Everything is so close to each other and has no room to breathe. When I'm giving a client a proof, I make a big grid of squares or rectangles at least 2 times as wide as the logo and center every concept in one of those boundary boxes. Organization and presentation are super important when showing a client or room full of design dummies your designs.
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Thanks for your input! I will definitely focus on presentation in the future. In this submission I simply made idea after idea until I felt I had exhausted it, then lined them all up to show reddit. But that's no excuse and I thank you again for the great advice!
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Try this: before you show them, cull as many as you can. Get it down to 3 or 5. Of the designs that are similar, combine to make 1 that is most interesting. (Dont combine every element -- that's overkill).
Then show those few. It's easier to evaluate 3 or 5 than a long string of them.
Also, think about what the company or project is, what it does -- not just what the name word means. So microbe is science and biology-related, not artist, not music. Get rid of any logo idea that says science and not artist.
The name is confusing, so you need to make the letter style tell more than just the name. You want people to understand, when they look at it, what the company is or does, or what's important to it. If the name were more telling, the logo wouldn't have to work as hard.
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Thanks for the advice!
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I suggest you get rid of the color variations until you have a clear idea of what you want to convey. Also, you can change the color with each number. I like 15-16, the ones with different fonts, is this aim for teenagers, kids, amateur artist? Try using your logo in a cover. No. 2 is nice if you're talking about digital art.
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Thanks for your input!
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First one is great , could work abit on that to reach something more vibrant , maybe change some colors?
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Thanks for your input! I will work with different colors in the future. For this exercise I wanted to stick to color theory where purples and magentas represent creativity and artistic values.
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I like the simple black ones the best. I think in my humble opinon Readablity first reconizablity second. Style is king but thats a given. Less is more, espcially when youre doing branding. Its good to try to go crazy though, maybe pull elements from the wacky ones you made and tone them down and make them work more nuancely
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Thanks for your input!
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You’re welcome!
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Whay kind of magazine is it ? For what geneder or age or who are you tryna appeal to?
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Not sure, maybe ages 20-45? Anyone demographic that lives in the small publication area and is interested in the creative or art scene in the town.
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Yea those logos are way to kiddy.
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These are all great but I enjoyed 1,4,5,11, and 15 the most
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Thanks for your input!
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Thanks for your input! I appreciate it!
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Logos need to be simple - that's why they're logos. Imagine you need to have it stitched onto hats or shirts. The logo needs to be simple enough to survive a downgrade in resolution.
Many of these are too complex to be turned into black and white: gradations, tiny lines, outlines. Also, a lot of them, say for example the last few, don't look like they're for a professional event. The one I think works the best is the sixth one, but perhaps tighten the tracking.
PS: By the way, every other artist at the event will be envious because you got to do the logo.
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Thanks for your input! I will take all of this into consideration going forward!
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In my personal process, and you may already be doing this, I try to make the fonts/logos in black and white first, then add color. Then after adding color, I simplify as much as possible. Others have given a lot of advice on process already, but this may help even just a little...
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Thanks for your input! I appreciate it!
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I personnaly think the 15th font is great, the title has to attract the eye and since it's for a magazine showing art, this font can show diversity the magazine could give (don't know if I'm clear sorry ^^'). Also, why not trying to play with the title's meaning? Since it says "micro" you can play with it for example by having "micro" smaller than "bio" :) also that's a reaaly nice choice of colors! catchy
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Thanks for your input!
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I really like the first one, it has that organic feeling and it's playful, idk if that's a custom font but it is so cool
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This seems like you're presenting everything you've made every idea you've had about this logo. A lot of your work as a designer is to filter out the variations you don't like. Choose 3 or 4 max to present as options, and make sure you like them all, as the client will undoubtedly pick your least favourite.
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Thank you for the incite! I will think about that going forward.
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For some reason, I'm really digging those blue/pink faded logos under the light blue one.
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Thank you!
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I really like the 7th one and some of the skull ones, definitely a lot of creative typography!
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Thanks for your input! I appreciate it!
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First one looks cool!
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Thanks for your input!
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#4 looks amazing!
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Thanks!
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This concept is for a (potential) local magazine featuring artists and creators in the area. The palette sticks with magenta, cyan and violet in hopes of expressing a creative and fun feel. I am not a professional designer, I make pizza and learn to design on my off days. If you have constructive criticism I will happily take it.
I like the second font and the very last one. You can maybe keep playing with the colours in each issue of the magazine instead of fixing colours.
What I have to ask is if the magazine really has to be called microbio? I looked at the logo and was certain it was a microbiology magazine. One thinks science with a name like 'microbio', not artists or creators.
Thanks for your input! I like the idea of changing colors with each issue, I also wanted to follow color theory since I've recently learned about that, but real magazines change the logo color to correspond with the cover image so I'll play with that. Microbio is the Spanish word for microbe, I am in an area where most people speak English and Spanish and Microbio is supposed to convey that the focus of the magazine was the tiny art show happening in a random studio this weekend, or a new bands first show or the story of a local creator who not many people know about. In other words, focusing in on the tiny unseen aspects of the local art scene or putting them under a microscope. Lol, now that I've typed all of this it I do realize that the concept needs to be more simple. Thanks again!
It is simple: zooming in/focusing on unseen art. I like the idea.
It's funny because I am a designer and I am learning to make pizza :p
That's great! Good luck!
If you need any tips design wise, hit me up via PM. I will probably ask for some tips on pizza making :p
Thanks! That sounds fair!
Wish it was feasible for them to rotate or cycle through the logos because I think a lot of these are great.
Could even play off the theme of "evolving" for microbio.
Great work nonetheless, fav is the 1st option.
Number 15 for sure. The mix of type and the screen printed/hand rendered look does a great job of communicating that this for creators and artists.
I would maybe take a stab at it with typeface that has a good mix of weights (thin to thick strokes) and styles. (Condensed to wide).
A personal favorite I’d suggest for this logo is Knockout but, that might be hard to find. Google fonts that you could try: Roboto and Barlow. They both have 10+ styles and a condensed version of the typeface. I like your mix of type though! I guess I am thinking of a Paula Scher Public poster type vibe that might appeal more to digital artist / designers.
Thanks for your input! I'll look into that!
As a slight aside, when showing so many designs I find it helps to add numbers or letters to make identifying individual designs quicker when it's not in person.
I also quite like the first one, though it's a tad slow to parse.
Thanks for your input!