Comments on: Why you shouldn’t use a photograph in your logo

By: Christian

Christian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:45:20 +0000

I think using photo-realistic images for logo’s are “okay” under certain circumstances. But as pinkraygunguy says, make sure it works in black and white first!

The apple logo is one of my favorite examples of this. The logo itself works strong as a solid black image, and when the designers feel like sprucing it up, they add a titanium, aqua, or reflective look to it. This also goes for motor companies such as ford and chevrolet.

Same thing with the iTunes logo. When they want it in one color, they add the music symbol and the outline of disc. We still recognize it as the iTunes logo.

By: Rita | Creative Graphic Design

Rita | Creative Graphic Design — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:58:29 +0000

Point taken. Using realistic images for logos brings a lot of complications in the long run so it pays to be simple both design and in colors in creating logos.

By: Steve Douglas

Steve Douglas — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:40:45 +0000

Absolutely. An article on embroidery for logos would be fantastic!

By: Susan Beane

Susan Beane — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:45:20 +0000

I am a commercial embroiderer and I don’t know why embroidery isn’t just included on the list along with business cards and letterhead. If a company is not including embroidered garments, hats, gifts, etc. in their marketing plan for now or the future, they are forgetting a valuable part of the marketing plan. Maybe designers don’t understand what makes a good design for embroidery…Think I should write an article on it?

By: Steve Douglas

Steve Douglas — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:20:13 +0000

Good point. Most logo design projects that a designer will face (unless they’re in-house for a large agency) will be of the lower profile variety. Logos for this kind of project need to be more utilitarian in scope.

By: pinkraygunguy

pinkraygunguy — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:43:56 +0000

The granite monolith is an extreme example of something I’ve LONG told my clients. Bringing it more down to earth/everyday, simple applications, like embroidered polo shirts for the staff, really bring out the difficutly of using overly complex/detailed/photographic logos.

My standard for any logo designed is if it doesn’t work in black and white, then it won’t work in color (think yellow page ads and other one-color applications).

Too bad most designers aren’t taught these basic production requirements while they’re still in school. Of course, no designer in school ever imagines that they’ll be working on anything less high-profile than a CD cover, a Fortune 500 annual report, or a series of high-end, conceptual posters for Madison Ave.