Irregular Magazine Re-Design

What is a logo

A logo is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordmark.

A logo identifies a company or product via the use of a mark, flag, symbol or signature. A logo does not sell the company, directly nor rarely does it describe a business. Logo’s derive their meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolises, not the other way around – logos are there to identity, not to explain. In a nutshell, what a logo means is more important than what it looks like. 

An effective logo is (in no order)

• Simple
• Memorable
• Timeless
• Versatile
• Appropriate

A simple logo design will allow for instant recognition and allows the logo to be versatile & memorable. A good example of this are the Golden Arches of McDonalds logo. It should also be memorable, and this is achieved by having a simple, yet, appropriate logo. It should also be timeless, will that logo be effective in 10 years’ time, or will it have dated. Coke A Cola is a good example of a timeless logo, first designed in the 1880’s it hasn’t changed much since then, it should be versatile and be able to work across various platforms and media. It should be able to work in colour and Black/White. It should be also recognisable in any scale. Finally, does the logo fit the brand/company or product, is it appropriate. For instance, you wouldn’t design a logo for a law firm using a font that very a very childish look, such as comic sans. You’d use a font that has a more mature, sophisticated and upstanding feel.

I’ve no intention of changing the logo for the magazine at this stage, we’re quite happy with the logo and brand image. I’ve added this post as its quite an important aspect of designing a magazine.

I’ve also included some examples of logos I’ve designed over the years.