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Logo Design - Technical Information & Format Guides.
 In this regularly updated area, we'll feature everything you'll need to know about the technical end of the logo design process, how to use your new logo file formats effectively, and a series of logo design tutorials.
Our articles are featured in a logical progression, starting with the reasons you require a logo, to things you should look for in a design firm, followed by a detailed explanation of logo design file formats and reproduction terms you'll be dealing with throughout the process. In subsequent updates, we'll be adding design tips, do's and don'ts, as well as what to do with your nifty new logo design once completed. We'll also fill you in on the sometimes confusing principles of Copyright and Trademarks so that you can protect your new identity. For information on logo design formats and other self-help material, you can also visit our logo design articles section.
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Logo File Formats
Our famous File Format Survival Guide. When you begin the logo design process, you're going to hear a lot of technical jargon. .EPS, .JPG, .GIF and .BMPS. May be a little intimidating to someone not familiar with 'shop talk' so here's a practical guide to your logo design file formats. |
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Vector File Logo Formats
Vector based images SHOULD be the starting point of any logo design process. Vector formats are incredibly small, scalable and editable images that allow designers unlimited freedom when it comes to logo design and illustration. With it, the ski's the limit. Without it, you're pretty well sunk. |
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Pixel Based Logo Formats
That sparkly new logo, featuring lens flares, chromed effects, drop shadows and textured type may be just spiffy. You'll need these formats for your web site. But did you know that as a PIXEL based image its uses are severely limited? Here's why. |
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Changing Logo Formats
Stuck with an incorrect format of your logo? A rough, blurry, design that you can't use anywhere? No problem! We'll repair that old logo, clean it up, and get you up and running with a sparkly new version with our special touch. An in-depth explanation of file format conversion and our unique logo repair service. |
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Spot Color Logos
Spot color reproduction boasts exacting color standards and matching. It's generally a more economical and predictable approach to it's full color cousin. using a spot color logo has some technical restraints and requirements, but nothing that's unmanageable. |
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Four Color Process Logos
When it comes to small business staples like business cards and letterheads, four color process is becoming increasingly more common. And while not as exacting as using the Pantone Matching System & spot color, 4/C process offers a excellent, if sometomes pricy, method of building your brand. |
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 The Logo that's not quite The Logo Factory...
Throughout our technical features section, you'll notice a few characters that 'walk' you through the concepts being discussed. You may also notice we use a logo design that's not 'quite' The Logo Factory in our illustrations. For starters it's red, black and orange, and is actually a logo for a company called 'The Logo Design Factory' (as opposed to just The Logo Factory). A small detail to be sure, but one that there's a humorous story behind.
When we launched the original version of The Logo Factory more that ten years ago - read a little about our history here - we decided that we'd feature a bunch of how-to's and technical papers that would be of assistance to designers and clients alike. Loaded with nifty illustrations and diagrams using a make believe company logo. As luck would have it, these pages were also effective for Search Engine relevance, so our library of articles became fairly well traveled. So far, so good.
Problem was, other logo design web site owners saw that these articles were helpful in getting site  traffic, so these pages were copied by dozens of other web sites throughout the world. Our nifty diagrams too. That wasn't too cool, as our illustrations were now being featured everywhere and had lost their effectiveness and originality.
Rather than firing up the legal department, we decided to recreate the illustrations, using one of our logos as the basis for the case studies and illustrations. We used a domain that we owned and came up with an alternative version of our logo that would work in terms of illustrating the various concepts involved. We even developed trademark characters to use as guides. We figured that nobody would be daft enough to rip off illustrations featuring a real logo and especially a real logo that also advertised their competition (ie: us). Ditto for the characters.
 Did it work? Nope. The new illustrations were copied almost as fast as we put them on our web site. Only this time we didn't mind, as anyone using the diagrams was actually advertising us. Just like it should be. How frequent is this type of plagiarism? Pretty frequent - check out our Copycats feature for more. And The Logo Design Factory? Worry not - that's us... |
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Copyright Notices
All articles, features, illustrations and graphics contained in the Library area of The Logo Factory site are Copyright 2001 - 2005 The Logo Factory Inc and/or Steve Douglas. Pixel and Vector characters are trademarks of The Logo Factory Inc. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without prior, written permission. More logo design information here. For more industry and studio news, ramblings, opinion and tips, see our Studio Blog. Updated (almost) daily.
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Some of the information presented here may be too technical for the average client, especially if you just want to order a logo and be done with. In practical terms, what does it all mean? With all the logos featured in our graphic design portfolios, we've included a series of 'chiclets' that will reveal certain aspects of the logo presented. Each logo is 'tagged' as being either spot color or 4 color process. The chiclets also outline the logotype of each example. See our design glossary for more details on terms you might hear when developing your new brand.
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| A world class logo for your company! Click here for our logo design pricing and package details. |
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| Download the latest edition of Logopalooza - our Free Logo Design Book. Dozens of logo examples, case studies and design information. See what The Logo Factory can create for you! |
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| Read The Logo Factor, our Studio Blog, for more technical design information and features. Tips and how-tos for designers and potential clients alike.
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