Logo/Intro Design Ideas

Zerb Games

Member
Oi m8s, I've been working on branding as of recent as I plan to release an Alpha Trailer for my game soon here. I'm looking to keep the same two colors red, and purple because of what they symbolize to me but I want to make it look a lot better.



First off I'm trying to make my logo a little more geometrically pleasing. I want to try to use some chromatic shading which if you don't know is just going a little "left" of the current hue and making it slightly darker when toning, vise versa for highlighting.

Another thing I'm looking to do is make a cool intro logo thing like you see in the beginning of most games. Where's there's like flashing lights, or smoke, or some sort of lens flare fade in.

Other than that I really don't know what to do. Plus I little to no experience in video logo intro type design.

So any advice/help you could give me is very appreciated. I hope to see from the brilliant and creative minds of the GMC.
 

Phil Strahl

Member
In your current logo, I can see you're going for that geometric approach. For a more pleasing result, try to keep the thickness of each element exactly the same, e.g. I see that in the lower right part it really comes off as a bit chunky. Then, don't go too wild on different slants, unless you're intending some "perspective" distortion (that's the green lines in my notes). Apart from the 90° angles you have three different kind of slants, which makes it seem a little confusing at first sight. Balances geometric shapes are all about adhering to ratios, just make a rectangle and use is at the basis for all measurements in your logo. E.g. its thickness defines the width of all strokes, half of its size is the radius of the dot, etc.

Before worrying about color, be sure that your logo works as silhouette, also on smaller sizes. Especially the down stroke on the top left may be a little too short and will make the upper bar seem like it's a little thicker on the left at smaller sizes. Usually, less shading is more. If you decide on the The One Red and The One Purple, note their respective RGB values down so you always stay consistent on all channels, e.g. also on colored elements on your website, etc.

When you're happy with your logo, only then you should start thinking about putting it into a nice animation that supports the meaning and the shape of it. All the best! :)
 

Attachments

Genetix

Member
The 3d lighting on a flat surface looks a little off. I'd either make it flat with less lighting (maybe even just 2-3 shades of each color) or give it a bit of a bevel or edge.
 

Zerb Games

Member
@Phil Strahl
Thanks man, the input was incredibly appreciated. I'll look into this and make sure to shoot the topic your way when I've made some improvements. I have gimp, and I'm used to Photoshop so I'll definitely have to figure some tricks requiring angles out. Thanks again.
 

Phil Strahl

Member
I am answering Zerbgames' private message here publicly because for posterity reasons this hopefully helps not just them but everybody looking into the topic :)


Vanishing Point

A "vanishing point" in drawing/construction is the point where all parallel lines meet, giving a 2D-image a sense of 3D perspective, e.g. like this

Since your logo already looks somewhat "in perspective" I thought you might want to emphasize it, so that it appears as if viewed from some angle. I can see you already adjusted some slants to meet the vanishing point -- but not all of them, which make your current draft still seem a bit confusing. Here is a pic where I drew the correct perspective lines meeting at the vanishing point in green, the ones that don't match are red.

I adjusted the lines on the lower shape to match up and that's the result:

As it is apparent now, the top shape looks strangely out of place. That's the one downside of drawing with a vanishing point is, is that you have to go all in.

So if perspective doesn't suit your vision, opt for straight lines and as as little different angles as you can.


The importance of limitations

The more you constrain yourself, the more harmonic the result will be. E.g. allow yourself only one thickness, one angle (e.g. 45°) and so on. Print designers usually create a "design raster" of a page first, something that limits where they allow themselves to place stuff on a page. When looking at the result e.g. in a magazine, you won't see the rules or the grid governing its design but you feel that everything's working together and looks like a pleasing whole.

The same should apply to any kind of design work: Limit yourself, make up some gird, some rules, some aspects you try adhering to. I do this with a pencil on grid paper because its much easier to see what's working without spending much longer on a computer.

So for your logo, I tried myself coming up with some rules and that's the result. It's just my interpretation and far from perfect, and I urge you to play yourself with the rules and how to work with them to arrive at something you like.


There were my rules:
  • Only horizontal lines and 45° slants are allowed
  • Each element has to have the same thickness
  • The space between the elements should be the same as their thickness (or multiples thereof)
Here's my grid with a 2:1 ratio superimposed, so it's plain how everything follows the rules.

While this seems rather strict and limiting, it's exactly what makes everything "belong together" and creates a harmonic result, esp. when you are after geometric stuff. What's also interesting is the fact that no matter how tight the rules are, there's still enough leeway for creativity.

The Story

Finally, there's one very important aspect, which I never really addressed directly: What's the story behind your logo? A good logo usually is more than just a bunch of letters combined, they often offer another layer of meaning symbolizing what the company/service is about.

E.g. the Amazon logo shows an arrow, symbolizing something like "from us to you", but it's also a smile, each Amazon parcel smiles!


One of my all-time favorite logos is of post-production company "The Mill":

At first glance it's just a couple of horizontal bars, following a very restrictive design rule-set. But it's still able to express two things: It looks a stylized mill or factory, with the two bard to the right as "chimneys", and it's also the letters "mill": Starting from the left, the first three bars are a lower-case M, the fourth is a lower-case i without the dot, the chimneys are two lower-case Ls. Genius! :)

This one's also nice:

Looking straight at it, you only see two tees (= the wooden thingies you stick in the grass to put you golf ball on) so that says "golf" fair enough. But then again, what are the three vertical lines underneath? You already saw it, didn't you: The negative space between the tees creates the shape of a rocket, the vertical lines help this by indicating speed or its exhaust.

Negative space is pretty popular in logo-design, actually. Ever noticed that in the FedEx logo, the negative space between the E and the X are an arrow pointing from left to right?

Neat!

So I hope this helps any interested in designing something memorable and great looking :)

Hope that was helpful and all the best!
 

Zerb Games

Member
I am answering Zerbgames' private message here publicly because for posterity reasons this hopefully helps not just them but everybody looking into the topic :)


Vanishing Point

A "vanishing point" in drawing/construction is the point where all parallel lines meet, giving a 2D-image a sense of 3D perspective, e.g. like this

Since your logo already looks somewhat "in perspective" I thought you might want to emphasize it, so that it appears as if viewed from some angle. I can see you already adjusted some slants to meet the vanishing point -- but not all of them, which make your current draft still seem a bit confusing. Here is a pic where I drew the correct perspective lines meeting at the vanishing point in green, the ones that don't match are red.

I adjusted the lines on the lower shape to match up and that's the result:

As it is apparent now, the top shape looks strangely out of place. That's the one downside of drawing with a vanishing point is, is that you have to go all in.

So if perspective doesn't suit your vision, opt for straight lines and as as little different angles as you can.


The importance of limitations

The more you constrain yourself, the more harmonic the result will be. E.g. allow yourself only one thickness, one angle (e.g. 45°) and so on. Print designers usually create a "design raster" of a page first, something that limits where they allow themselves to place stuff on a page. When looking at the result e.g. in a magazine, you won't see the rules or the grid governing its design but you feel that everything's working together and looks like a pleasing whole.

The same should apply to any kind of design work: Limit yourself, make up some gird, some rules, some aspects you try adhering to. I do this with a pencil on grid paper because its much easier to see what's working without spending much longer on a computer.

So for your logo, I tried myself coming up with some rules and that's the result. It's just my interpretation and far from perfect, and I urge you to play yourself with the rules and how to work with them to arrive at something you like.


There were my rules:
  • Only horizontal lines and 45° slants are allowed
  • Each element has to have the same thickness
  • The space between the elements should be the same as their thickness (or multiples thereof)
Here's my grid with a 2:1 ratio superimposed, so it's plain how everything follows the rules.

While this seems rather strict and limiting, it's exactly what makes everything "belong together" and creates a harmonic result, esp. when you are after geometric stuff. What's also interesting is the fact that no matter how tight the rules are, there's still enough leeway for creativity.

The Story

Finally, there's one very important aspect, which I never really addressed directly: What's the story behind your logo? A good logo usually is more than just a bunch of letters combined, they often offer another layer of meaning symbolizing what the company/service is about.

E.g. the Amazon logo shows an arrow, symbolizing something like "from us to you", but it's also a smile, each Amazon parcel smiles!


One of my all-time favorite logos is of post-production company "The Mill":

At first glance it's just a couple of horizontal bars, following a very restrictive design rule-set. But it's still able to express two things: It looks a stylized mill or factory, with the two bard to the right as "chimneys", and it's also the letters "mill": Starting from the left, the first three bars are a lower-case M, the fourth is a lower-case i without the dot, the chimneys are two lower-case Ls. Genius! :)

This one's also nice:

Looking straight at it, you only see two tees (= the wooden thingies you stick in the grass to put you golf ball on) so that says "golf" fair enough. But then again, what are the three vertical lines underneath? You already saw it, didn't you: The negative space between the tees creates the shape of a rocket, the vertical lines help this by indicating speed or its exhaust.

Negative space is pretty popular in logo-design, actually. Ever noticed that in the FedEx logo, the negative space between the E and the X are an arrow pointing from left to right?

Neat!

So I hope this helps any interested in designing something memorable and great looking :)

Hope that was helpful and all the best!
It was incredibly helpful, I'll right a more elaborate response in a moment. I have stuff to do..
 

Zerb Games

Member
I am answering Zerbgames' private message here publicly because for posterity reasons this hopefully helps not just them but everybody looking into the topic :)


Vanishing Point

A "vanishing point" in drawing/construction is the point where all parallel lines meet, giving a 2D-image a sense of 3D perspective, e.g. like this

Since your logo already looks somewhat "in perspective" I thought you might want to emphasize it, so that it appears as if viewed from some angle. I can see you already adjusted some slants to meet the vanishing point -- but not all of them, which make your current draft still seem a bit confusing. Here is a pic where I drew the correct perspective lines meeting at the vanishing point in green, the ones that don't match are red.

I adjusted the lines on the lower shape to match up and that's the result:

As it is apparent now, the top shape looks strangely out of place. That's the one downside of drawing with a vanishing point is, is that you have to go all in.

So if perspective doesn't suit your vision, opt for straight lines and as as little different angles as you can.


The importance of limitations

The more you constrain yourself, the more harmonic the result will be. E.g. allow yourself only one thickness, one angle (e.g. 45°) and so on. Print designers usually create a "design raster" of a page first, something that limits where they allow themselves to place stuff on a page. When looking at the result e.g. in a magazine, you won't see the rules or the grid governing its design but you feel that everything's working together and looks like a pleasing whole.

The same should apply to any kind of design work: Limit yourself, make up some gird, some rules, some aspects you try adhering to. I do this with a pencil on grid paper because its much easier to see what's working without spending much longer on a computer.

So for your logo, I tried myself coming up with some rules and that's the result. It's just my interpretation and far from perfect, and I urge you to play yourself with the rules and how to work with them to arrive at something you like.


There were my rules:
  • Only horizontal lines and 45° slants are allowed
  • Each element has to have the same thickness
  • The space between the elements should be the same as their thickness (or multiples thereof)
Here's my grid with a 2:1 ratio superimposed, so it's plain how everything follows the rules.

While this seems rather strict and limiting, it's exactly what makes everything "belong together" and creates a harmonic result, esp. when you are after geometric stuff. What's also interesting is the fact that no matter how tight the rules are, there's still enough leeway for creativity.

The Story

Finally, there's one very important aspect, which I never really addressed directly: What's the story behind your logo? A good logo usually is more than just a bunch of letters combined, they often offer another layer of meaning symbolizing what the company/service is about.

E.g. the Amazon logo shows an arrow, symbolizing something like "from us to you", but it's also a smile, each Amazon parcel smiles!


One of my all-time favorite logos is of post-production company "The Mill":

At first glance it's just a couple of horizontal bars, following a very restrictive design rule-set. But it's still able to express two things: It looks a stylized mill or factory, with the two bard to the right as "chimneys", and it's also the letters "mill": Starting from the left, the first three bars are a lower-case M, the fourth is a lower-case i without the dot, the chimneys are two lower-case Ls. Genius! :)

This one's also nice:

Looking straight at it, you only see two tees (= the wooden thingies you stick in the grass to put you golf ball on) so that says "golf" fair enough. But then again, what are the three vertical lines underneath? You already saw it, didn't you: The negative space between the tees creates the shape of a rocket, the vertical lines help this by indicating speed or its exhaust.

Negative space is pretty popular in logo-design, actually. Ever noticed that in the FedEx logo, the negative space between the E and the X are an arrow pointing from left to right?

Neat!

So I hope this helps any interested in designing something memorable and great looking :)

Vanishing Point Response

Hope that was helpful and all the best!
Ok so I thank you for your incredibly comprehensive reply. I understand what a vanishing point is I just didn't know why you would be using it, I guess the lighting presents it as 3d but I was going for more of a sticker look. I draw in my free time especially 3d, so I know what a vanishing point is. Thank you for elaborating on the use of it. It actually was helpful and if I ever so feel, which I probably will soon here in my future projects I will definitely use your rough sketch of the vanishing point, as a reference point.

The importance of limitations


Believe it or not I had some limitations. If you didn't know in my newest sketch up I stuck to only 90 degree angles, 45 degree angles, and 22.5 degree angles. There's meaning behind my logo, and I plan to add more. I'll break it down. So if you couldn't tell, and you being a fellow logo enthusiast I think you could but my logo is a ZG. It stands for Zerb Games, Z.E.R.B. is an acronym for ZeRoyalBros which was an old friend group I had, and still have just not as the ZeRoyalBros. It's still my brand though. Purple stands for royalty hence the Royal in ZeRoyalBros, the red stands for strength, and blood based off the lore behind our group in games we played. Minecraft to name one. The Dot used to be a star but I find the Dot as a cool symbol because I use it tp stand for Multiplication in mathematics. I will definitely thank of more limitations probably dealing with the thickness.

All the logos in your post are very sexy. I really enjoy them, and I didn't know FedEx had an arrow in it, now I can't unsee it. I will definitely work on it more and get back with you. Thank you so much for being so generous in offering your advice it helps me out greatly.
 
Last edited:

Zerb Games

Member
upload_2016-7-16_8-1-22.png

You know what would be cool? If I had this in blender.... I'm working on a mockup where a light spins around a scene with a guy moving through an obstacle course and then it slows down as he out runs enemies or something. Then stops forming the shadow.
 

Phil Strahl

Member
View attachment 1202

You know what would be cool? If I had this in blender.... I'm working on a mockup where a light spins around a scene with a guy moving through an obstacle course and then it slows down as he out runs enemies or something. Then stops forming the shadow.
Wow that's a great idea! Will probably take a lot of nudging around until it's just perfect but it has a lot of potential!
 
Top