Mark Design

Mark DesignMark DesignCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

What is a Mark?:

Marks are visual images used to identify a company, organization, person or event.

Mark designs typically fall into one of the following categories:

- Word Marks- Letter Marks- Symbol Marks- Logo Marks

Types of mark designs:

Word Mark Primary element of the design is the name of

the business. Conveys the name of the business through

the style of the font, colours or embellishments. Fonts are chosen and stylized to suit the type

of business.

Examples of Word Marks:

Types of mark designs:

Letter Mark: Letters form name in typeUsed to quickly identify a company,

often to shorten nameAdvantages: letterforms are readable;

short, recognizable nameDisadvantages: more costly to promote,

heavy visual competition (letters)

Examples of Letter Marks:

Types of mark designs:

Symbol MarkMarks without typeAdvantages: unique, simple, compact,

quick impactDisadvantages: costly to explain and

promote, confusion with other symbols

Examples of Symbol Marks:

Types of mark designs:

Logo MarkSymbol and words used together Advantages: unique, easy recognitionDisadvantages: can be very complex, hard

to update, challenge when resizingThe symbol reflects something about the

personality of the business.This type of mark design is most widely

used.

Examples of Logo Marks:

Examples of Logo Marks:

Elements of Logo Design

CAPTURE PERSONALITY Logo should clearly

express a company’s identity.

Should tell people who they are, what they do, how they work and how they want to be seen by the rest of the world.

Elements of Logo Design

SIMPLICITY People are drawn to

clean, uncluttered logos because they can easily recognize it at a glance.

Busy, crowded logos with intricate details or elaborate pictures are distracting.

Elements of Logo Design

PROPORTIONALITY A logo should function as

one complete unit. Width shouldn’t be much

greater than the height.

Logos that are too tall are hard to read when reduced or enlarged.

The design should work well on any sized media – from business card to billboard.

Elements of Logo Design

COLOUR PALETTE 80% of the world’s most

recognizable logos use either 1 or 2 colours.

Use 1 to 3 colours to keep things simple

More than three colours is distracting to the eye and less memorable.

Colour should express personality of company.

Look at your industry to see trends (i.e. blue is common for tech. companies)

Elements of Logo Design

FONTS Choose a font that suits the

personality of your business.

Sans Serif fonts Clean and easy-to-read Two-thirds of most logos

use sans serif fonts

FranklinTahomaCentury

Elements of Logo Design

FONTS Serif fonts

More serious looking fonts Used more for a traditional or classic design

Times

Goudy Georgia

Elements of Logo Design

ORIGINALITY Distinguish your company from

its competitors. Should be unique,

one-of-a-kind. Should be “ownable” – you want

to be able to trademark the logo design.

Elements of Logo Design

PRACTICAL, USEABLE, ADAPTABLE

Too many colours will cost you a fortune every time you need to print business cards or letterhead.

Should be able to easily convert to black and white.

Should be created in vector format so you can resize when needed without loss of image quality.

Elements of Logo Design

PRACTICAL, USEABLE, ADAPTABLE

These “photo” logos will cause problems when scaling to a larger size than the original file.

Will become pixelated and lose quality when scaled larger.

Where to start?

Browse the Internet to find some companies in the same industry.

Look at their logos and determine what you like or don’t like about them.

Decide how the name will appear in the design. All capitals? e.g. ALICE’S Coffee Pot Abbreviated? e.g. ACP Unusual spelling? e.g. Alice’s Koffee Pot