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Contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity

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What does the 6 stand for in j6 design? Answer: the 6 fundamental principles of design which are: balance, proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast and space. Lets look at what each does.

The elements and principles of design are the building blocks. The elements of design are the things that make up a design. The Principles of design are what we do to those elements. How we apply the principles of design determines how successful the design is.

The elements of design

LINE - The linear marks made with a pen or brush or the edge created when two shapes meet.

SHAPE - A shape is a self contained defined area of geometric (squares and circles), or organic (free formed shapes or natural shapes). A positive shape automatically creates a negative shape.

DIRECTION - All lines have direction - Horizontal, Vertical or Oblique. Horizontal suggests calmness, stability and tranquillity. Vertical gives a feeling of balance, formality and alertness. Oblique suggests movement and action

SIZE - Size is simply the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that of another.

TEXTURE - Texture is the surface quality of a shape - rough, smooth, soft hard glossy etc.

COLOUR - Colour is light reflected off objects. Color has three main characteristics: hue or its name (red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).

The principles of design

1. BALANCE - Balance in design is similar to balance in physics. A large shape close to the center can be balanced by a small shape close to the edge. Balance provides stability and structure to a design. It's the weight distributed in the design by the placement of your elements.

2. PROXIMITY - Proximity creates relationship between elements. It provides a focal point. Proximity doesn't mean that elements have to be placed together, it means they should be visually connected in someway.

3. ALIGNMENT - Allows us to create order and organisation. Aligning elements allows them to create a visual connection with each other.

4. REPETITION - Repetition strengthens a design by tying together individual elements. It helps to create association and consistency. Repetition can create rhythm (a feeling of organized movement).

5. CONTRAST - Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements (opposite colours on the colour wheel, or value light / dark, or direction - horizontal / vertical). Contrast allows us to emphasize or highlight key elements in your design.

6. SPACE - Space in art refers to the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within elements. Both positive and negative space are important factors to be considered in every design.

Watch this video to see it in action:

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The elements and principles of design are the building blocks. The elements of design are the things that make up a design. The Principles of design are what we do to those elements. How we apply the principles of design determines how successful the design is.

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An extended list of design principles.

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Lines can channel ideas. Some lines can evoke neatness or oder. Some lines evoke emotion such as excitement or tension. Lines can also lead your eye to certain elements in your design, or put...

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Logo Design Process

Good logos convey the core tenets of an organization and what that organization does. Professional logo designers will perform industry and client research, brainstorm ideas, and create sketches with their client while following principles of good logo design.

Even though they're often just small images, logos carry a whole lot of meaning -- and designing one comes with a whole lot of responsibility, too. Logos are usually the most recognizable representation of a company or organization. And with more information available to the average consumer today, logos also have to quickly and effectively communicate on behalf of their brand.

To tackle such a complex challenge, many brands choose to hire outside help. But for those of us who are brand new to the logo design process, working with freelancers to design a logo can be a challenge in itself.

We thought it'd be interesting to talk to a few of these designers who know what it's like to create logos from scratch. From the concept stage to the final product, what goes into designing a logo? How are designers able to capture an organization's mission and personality into a single, simple image, especially when they aren't a part of the organization themselves? Read on to find out.

What's in a Logo?

When a designer first takes on a new logo project, he spends a lot of time trying to understand both the organization and its audience. We'll get to the process of learning what a logo needs to "say" later, but first, let's talk about what makes a great logo in the first place.

Most logo designers follow some iteration of these principles of great logo design:

Simplicity: Is the design simple and clean enough to be flexible and easily recognizable? Is it not too busy, distracting, or confusing?

Memorability: Is it quickly recognizable? Will people only have to spend a second or two thinking about it to get it?

Timelessness: Will it still be a great logo in 10, 20, or even 50 years?

Versatility: Does it scale to different sizes without losing quality? Will it work across various media and within different contexts?

Appropriateness: Does it resonate with the desired audience?

Graphic Designer Tyler Littwin, who creates logos for HubSpot and other organizations, says these five principles are great for keeping designers from going too crazy when designing a new logo.

"Designers have a tendency to get excited about the prospect of designing stuff that looks cool and uses cool, new styles," Tyler told me. "But when you're designing a logo, you're ultimately solving for a problem. You're trying to convey something simply that gets across the core tenets of an organization and what that organization does. Keeping these five things in mind prevents you from getting carried away with the flash of what you're doing. It keeps you honest."

Before we get to the design process, let's dissect two examples of great logos.

Example 1: Evernote

Evernote's logo is a great example of a logo that follows all five of these principles. It's an elephant, which is a reference to the well-known saying, "An elephant never forgets." The elephant's folded ear cleverly resembles the popular document icon.

Image Credit: Graham Smith

Not only is the logo simple, memorable, and appropriate for its audience, its physical and digital attributes work perfectly across different media variations and usages. "There is not one application I have seen where the logo fails to fit perfectly, all the way from the 16px favicon, the browser extension icons in both colour and mono, the iOS icons, Macintosh dock icon, and so on," writes Graham Smith, a freelance designer of logos and brand identities. Plus, elephants will never go out of style.

But it took six weeks of concepting to come up with the simple elephant logo. Here are other initial ideas that were produced before the elephant was chosen.

Image Credit: Graham Smith

Once the elephant was chosen, it went through another series of iterations before the final design was chosen. The whole process took six weeks, and it's become one of the most compelling logos today.

Example 2: Icon Snowskates

On a smaller scale, we have Icon Snowskates, a small snow skateboard company operated by a son and his father in Massachusetts. (Full disclosure: The son in this father-son duo happens to be Matt Plays, who also works on video and design projects at HubSpot.) Seven years ago, he set out to create a logo for his young company that had to look good on a website, but that could also work when stretched across a 33-inch, snowboard-like base.

"I was inspired by brands like Element Skateboards and Plan B Skateboards whose logos are geometric and fare well on boards and on the web," Matt told me. "I chose to use a tightly tracked Century Gothic for the type, and paired it with a slightly abstract, inverse water droplet logo mark." Here's the iteration that appears on the website:

Why the water droplet? "While rain and other precipitation usually means bad news for snowboarding, that's not the case for snow-skateboarding," says Matt. In other words, the water droplet is exactly what differentiates his snow-skateboarding company from snowboarding companies that have a similar vibe and audience.

Plus, the tightly tracked type and geometric logo work well at different sizes and in various applications -- especially the bottom of a snowskate. "It holds up when screen-printed, die-cut, or simply saved for web, all of which are crucial for our brand," says Matt. Here it is on the bottom of a snowskate:

The folks at both Evernote and Icon were able to come up with logos that keep the cornerstones of logo design top-of-mind. Now, let's delve a little more into the design process itself.

Designing a Logo: The Process

While the design process can vary from designer to designer, Tyler Littwin shared his process with me. Here's how he does it.

Step 1: Research the field/industry.

Before a designer like Tyler even thinks about putting pen to paper, he has to do his research. "Researching the field or industry helps designers get a sense of the environment the logo's going to live in," said Tyler. This is especially true for designers who haven't done prior work in that field or industry. "You need to know the trends and what's appropriate."

The appropriate look and feel of a real estate logo, for example, is going to be different than those of a restaurant or band logo. "You've got to see what's out there," he says. "Which conventions are worth keeping? From there, you can start thinking about how to differentiate the new logo will from the tons of pre-existing ones."

How different the new logo will be from the others depends on the context. In some cases, the logo shouldn't be radically different because you don't want to put people off. For example, in the health services industry, customers are looking for a certain level of comfort and familiarity; but in the concert industry, you might want to go with something more innovative and crazy. It varies wildly from field to field.

Step 2: Get to know the client.

Once the designer has a solid, objective understanding of the field or industry, it's time to get the best possible understand of what the client does and who their target audience is.

There are two parts of this step, says Tyler. First, there's the information you're trying to glean from them: what they do, what they think about themselves, and who they sell to. Then, there's the translation process. "If your client is a construction company but they talk a lot about how they're really family-based, the challenge is translating that ephemeral idea into something concrete. How do you capture the essence of that company?"

When this part of the process is done right, it involves a lot of back and forth, asking questions, and pushing the client to articulate and deeply explain their value proposition. For newer companies, these discussions can actually be really eye opening. "A lot of companies aren't aware of how they're different -- especially smaller companies. These logo design discussions can even help them think more about what differentiates themselves from their competitors."

Step 3: Sketch, present, and iterate on initial ideas.

"I usually try to present the client with between two and three possibilities," says Tyler. "Any more than that and you might find yourself doing revisions on all of your ideas, which sets you up with a lot more work and them up with a much higher bill."

For example, when Tyler designed the logo for Inbound Marketing Week 2015, here are the initial ideas and explorations he presented:

Step 4: Revise.

Sometimes, this step is only one little tweak. Other times, it's a series of longer revisions. Tyler says he usually specifies in the original contract how many revisions he's willing to do, which forces the client to be more thoughtful about each revision request. "Sometimes, clients ask you to start over from scratch," he says. "You can avoid this by doing your due diligence when creating the original contract."

Here is the final revision for Inbound Marketing Week's logo, along with secondary versions used on the website, lanyards, signs, and other various paraphernalia.

Step 5: Organize the final deliverable.

Once the logo's finished, Tyler will sort out with his client which file formats and other iterations they need that the logo might live on. For example, Icon needed their logo to fit on the bottom of a snowskate. A restaurant might need menus, signage, and t-shirts designed.

Designing a logo from scratch is a difficult creative process that takes a lot of research, knowledge of a business and its audience, and a deep consideration for the principles of logo design. But if you partner with the right designers and have a solid process in place, you should end up with something your company loves (and people can understand).

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How to Create a Logo: Designers Give a Look Inside Their Process

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Good logos convey the core tenets of an organization and what that organization does. Professional logo designers will perform industry and client research, brainstorm ideas, and create sketches with their client while following principles of good logo design.

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The logo design process can be hard to define outright: every graphic designer has their own approach to logo development. For some, it's methodical and disciplined-60 minutes of concept development followed by 90 minutes of execution, all while listening to their favorite album to boost creativity. For others, it's watching reruns of Will & Grace until they find inspiration from the commercial breaks.

We're not here to judge-if it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid. But we are here to outline a general logo design process that you can use as a starting point. We'll show you how to combine research and analysis with creative ingenuity to create an outstanding logo design. Below are the 7 basic steps to logo development, complete with examples that show the process in action.

What are the 7 steps to design a logo?
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Step 1. Evaluate the brand
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Your first step in the logo design process is to understand what the brand embodies and what the business's goals are. This is known as the Client Discovery phase. There's no one-size-fits-all for logo design-a logo is only as good as its representation of a business, so it won't be effective unless you first know what kind of impression the brand is aiming for.

A lot of the information you'll need should be in the design brief. But there are always clients who can't articulate what they want or don't know themselves, and it is up to the designer to draw this information out. And even in the case of the most detailed, well-composed briefs, designers should probe deeper-explore how the client really feels about their business and the awesome work that they do in words that go beyond the official corporate statement. Every bit of insight you can get into the company and the people that comprise it will contribute to the success of your design in the long run.

Here are just a few general questions you can start with to kick off your client research:

Why are you getting a logo design? What problem are you trying to solve?

If your brand were a person, what adjectives would you use to describe it? (clever, prudent, etc.)

What is your brand voice? (eloquent & formal, jokey with slang, etc.)

Which beliefs and values are important to your brand?

What is your unique value proposition? What does your company offer that your competitors don't?

How do you want your customers to describe your brand to their friends?

The first step in the 99designs logo design process is defining the attributes of your brand, based on an interactive sliding scale.

Of course, these aren't exactly design questions-this belongs more to the field of branding. But considering that logos are one of your strongest vehicles for branding, asking these questions is a necessary first step.

Evaluating a brand is one of the first steps in the 99designs logo design process. We ask clients to define their attributes in some core areas so that designers have a good idea of the brand identity before they even start. Even taking just 5 minutes to consider where a brand falls on these metrics can help you formulate more complex brand inquiries later on.

At the end of this step, you should have your own well-informed take on the brand (supported by plenty of notes). From here, you can start brainstorming to distill this information into key words and phrases. One popular brainstorming technique is mind mapping, in which designers take their overall brand impressions and expand them into related ideas. Save your favorites-these will support your logo concepts later. But your research isn't done yet!

Step 2. Research the industry
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No brand exists in a vacuum. Every company has to contend with the standards of their industry, even if they are doing everything to stand out.

So the next step in the logo design process is to research what kind of logos competitors and industry leaders have. This is referred to as the Industry Discovery phase, and it can mean the difference between a logo that is generic and one that is too far out of left field.

From other logos in your industry you can glean:

what logo techniques work for your industry, i.e., brand colors or particular shapes

what logo techniques are overused, to the extent that they lose personality

what logo techniques are ignored, which might inspire ways to stand out

what kind of customers dominate your industry (or which customers your rivals prefer to target)

With the blue tones and the geometric influences, the Parabola logo, designed by goopanic, fits in with others of the tech industry while still managing to be in a league of its own.

Start off by doing competitor research to identify the kinds of trends that are popular in the industry. Look for ways that your design can still be recognizable while standing out.

For example, most logos in the tech industry use the color blue. With this information, you can either (1.) also use blue because the data suggests it works best, or (2.) use another color in order to stand out from the sea of blue logos. There's no right or wrong answer, it depends on how much of a priority standing out is to your branding strategy. But either way, you won't even know there's a choice to make unless you research other logos in your industry first.

Step 3. Make a list of where the logo will be used
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Just like the brand strategy, the physical or digital space the logo will occupy should also inform your design choices. Research where the logo will be used-this is known as the Application Discovery phase. Although you may not yet have a complete list, the earlier you can predict how your logo will be used, the better for logo development. Where you need your logo might determine the color model, the shape or even design software used.

For example, if you want your logo on large billboards, you can design more detailed, larger-scale logos. If it's going to be situated in the corner of a mobile app, you should opt for simplicity and smaller scales. If social media will play a heavy role, the logo should sit comfortably in both circular and square avatars and be adaptable to larger cover images. If you want to stand out in video or digital platforms, you can even have an eye-catching animated logo. More often than not, a designer will want to plan for all of these scenarios.

These are some common use cases for logo design:

Website icons

Signs and banners

Product packaging

Advertisements

Social media profiles and banners

Business cards

Company letterheads (invoices, internal documents)

Email marketing campaigns

Marketing swag (pens, shirts, mugs, etc.)

You also have to consider the logo's shape and how it fits its surroundings. Some spots require a wide, rectangular logo, like letterheads; others require something small and discreet, like a watermark on shareable content. Luckily, you can have several different versions in your stable.

Considering the popularity of responsive logos, you don't have to limit yourself to one standard design. Plus, you always have the best logo for any situation. The trick is to make sure that these different versions of your logo all feel like the same logo. It helps to plan ahead and design these variations all at the same time, rather than designing the main logo and adapting it to different situations as they come up. If an adaptable logo appeals to you, aim for four variations at first, escalating the logo in both size and complexity.

Step 4. Sketch a variety of logo concepts
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If you already have some logo ideas, you might be tempted to jump ahead into logo design software. But before you start zeroing in on your final design, take some time to sketch plenty of ideas. Sketching is cheap, easy and fast, but most importantly, it's an effective brainstorming tool.

Atlassian's logo redesign involved pages of sketches.

Sketch out a bunch of different logo ideas to see how they look outside your head. For one thing, the act of sketching alone can get the creative juices flowing. But more to the point, sketching a wide variety of concepts lets you see what works and what doesn't. You'll start to notice certain threads or themes you like, and you can mix and match different elements until you settle on the perfect one.

Even if you're almost certain you have an idea you like, sketch other ideas. You might surprise yourself with something you like better, and if nothing else, this will give you some backups in case the client ends up not liking the direction of your initial concept.

Once you've settled on your preferred concept, try sketching some variations on it, adding or removing elements, changing minor details, and beginning typography explorations.

Step 5. Create digital drafts in vector software
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By now, you should have a messy smorgasbord of logo sketches as well as a better sense of what you want the final logo to look like. Of those sketches, take around 3 of your best ones and recreate them in your design software. This is where your final logo really starts taking shape.

For a comprehensive step-by-step guide, take a look at this article on making a logo in Illustrator.

Now you can make all those crucial design decisions you couldn't in the sketch phase. In your digital draft, you can experiment with logo colors as well as typography.

In case you're a business owner trying to make your own logo, this step of the logo design process does require technical knowledge of design software. But you can always use a user-friendly DIY editor. Although these don't have the features or complexity to create a substantial logo, they do have the bare minimum of what you need.

You can also hire a freelancer or commission a design contest if you prefer to outsource this to step to someone with more expertise. Working with a professional will pretty much guarantee a great result. If you want to learn more about the pros and cons, check out this comparison of the best ways to get a logo.

Once you have a solid draft, go the extra mile to create a presentation to showcase your logo. This involves presenting the flat logo along with any variations, an overlay with brand imagery, and mockups of the logo out in the real world. The goal is to communicate your vision of the brand with a persuasive, knockout logo presentation.

Step 6. Refine your logo design with feedback
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Here's something you don't need to be a designer to appreciate: everyone's a critic! No matter how perfect you think your logo design is, chances are someone, somewhere, is going to request changes.

That's not always a bad thing. When you work on the same image for hours or days (or weeks, or months), you tend to mistake the forest for the trees. A fresh set of eyes on the final product can reveal some room for improvement you hadn't noticed before.

You want to encourage criticism on your logo design and show it to a variety of people. Show your clients or co-workers first and foremost, but don't stop there! Show your significant other, your friends, your neighbors, your Uber driver. New, fresh ideas come from the unlikeliest of sources, and at the very least you can gauge people's reactions to the logo to make sure it's having its desired effect.

Getting feedback on your design is the easy part. The real challenge lies in interpreting and acting on client feedback. Ask follow-up questions and use your best judgment to decide what feedback is most valuable. Your logo's job is to represent a brand, and the question you should ask yourself is whether the feedback is helping the logo do that better. If not, you may need to politely articulate the reasoning behind your design choices. At the same time, you don't want to be so stubborn or precious over your logo that you are unwilling to see potential flaws.

Step 7. Prepare and deliver the final logo files
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With your logo finalized, it's time to deliver your final files! You should determine what design files your client needs at the start of the process (in case they have any special requirements). But in general, it is best to include:

Layered source vector files, such as AI

Layered EPS/PDF files (for clients using different vector programs)

High resolution raster files for web, including PNGs with transparent backgrounds

Be sure to include basic variations of the logo, such as full color, black, white and monochrome.

If you are using a standard font (as opposed to custom lettering), you should also outline the text. Otherwise, the font will change on computers that do not have it installed.

You should also inform the client of any fonts used in the logo in case they will need them for future branding projects (be advised that most font licenses require the client to purchase it themselves).

This is all information that is great to include in a brand style guide. Not only does this ensure that your logo will be used correctly long after you are gone, it makes a great parting gift for the client and increases their confidence in the brand vision you've crafted for them.

Smart logo development brings brands to life
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You could say that great design takes talent, but you can never know for sure what that means or whether you have it. What you can say for sure is that great logos do not happen by accident. They are the result of critical thinking, interrogating, collaborating, exploring, failing and starting again.

Each detail of your logo-colors, fonts, sizes, shapes and more-can affect the kind of impression it makes on customers. Although at the end of the day your logo may not resonate with every single viewer, a robust logo design process is your best opportunity to bring your brand vision to life.
This article was originally written by Peter Vukovic and published in 2012. The current version has been updated with new information and examples.
Want to learn more about logo design? Check out our article on how to design a logo.

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Logo design process: how professionals do it -

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The professional logo design process consists of seven distinct steps. Follow these to create a unique, memorable logo that will make a brand stand out. Here, we guide you through the 7 steps to design a logo, complete with examples showing the design process in action.

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Design techniques course for an effective logo.

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This course deconstructs popular logos to explain why and how each logo works, and offers a methodical approach to creating a logo in Illustrator and Photoshop.

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Lidwell, W., 2003. Universal Principles of Design. Rockport Publishers.

Airey, A., Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities, 2nd Edition. Peachpit Press.

Bateman, B., 2014. Symbol (Mini). Laurence King Publishing.

Partnership, P., 2010. Pentagram Marks: 400 Symbols and Logotypes. Laurence King Pub.