• 10Sep
    All You Need to Know About Logos (and then some)

    Design Matters-LOGOS BOOKThe Essential Book for Brand Building

    As an online logo design firm executive, I’m well aware of the challenges of trying to describe 1) what a logo is 2) what a good logo looks like and 3) why they are important (but not TOO important). Capsule, a high level branding and consulting company, tackles this task valiantly in their book, Design Matters// LOGOS.

    Aside from the fact that the book is on fantastic paper (kind of smells nice too), and has a cool cover, it’s also an easy read and can be scanned easily and tackled in short chapters (which I had to do… as a parent of two kids under the age of 4). Design Matters starts off right where you’d expect them to, providing solid definitions of “What is a Logo” and “Why are they created”. Design Matters understands that newbies and executives alike have to be educated and reminded of the importance a logo has on a company. The descriptions are written with solid case studies (good ol’ Nike and Fed Ex) along with visual examples that help get their point across.

    One concern I had before reading the book was wondering how can be written about logos without providing picture after picture, and case study after case study. Design Matters does a nice job covering the planning, strategy, development and implementation of a company’s brand. I’m not so sure if all of this would apply to the local hardware store (or any other shoestring start-up firm, for that matter) who has limited resources but wants a custom logo. A major mistake by small companies is to over think their logo and lose focus on their business. Design Matters addresses this issue stating that a logo should, “…boost consumer perception. What a logo cannot do is make the company great.” Exactly.

    As Design Matters moves in to the planning phase, they cover the deeper portions of a creative brief (target audience, timing, objectives) quite well. The length of time they gave for a logo design (6 to 18 months) is WAY too long (unless you are AT&T or the US Army, which- you probably aren’t). Realistically, 1 to 6 months is probably a reasonable time to set aside for logo design. Additionally, the ‘design brief’ insight was cut a bit short and seemed to miss some obvious questions such as asking what colors and styles are liked/disliked, and adjectives that describe the business. Aside from this, Design Matters provided excellent insight on how to inspire a design, as well as tips on color usage (use 1 primary color- and my favorite- keep it simple!).
    Design Matters covers other topics such as establishing brand architecture, competitive comparison, technical considerations, and budgeting and timelines. I think that the book could have gone a little deeper in some areas such as research (what’s a reasonable sample size?) and legal protection (Where should someone go? What should someone expect to pay?)- but the fact this was covered puts it ahead of most design books.

    The back third of the book jumps in to case studies and designs, which provides fantastic visuals. After all, a picture (or logo) speaks a thousand words. I am curious as to what the criteria was for picking the logos in their logo gallery and how many logos they went through before settling on these 192 logos.

    I think this is an excellent overview for serious branders. It dedicates a significant amount of time to research, planning, preparation and testing which moves this beyond the typical logo design book with lots of nice photos. In the 2nd edition, I’d like to see some more detail in areas that can help the design professionals take their design business to the next level (a blue print for logo designing), and possibly a section that caters to small businesses and providing designs for small business.

    You can purchase Design Matters for under $16 (a steal) at Amazon.

    About the Reviewer: J. Witte is the Vice President of Operations at an online logo design company, www.LogoDesignGuru.com, which has designed over 7,000 logos.

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