Today, with the rapid development of science and technology, the role of printing, photography, design and image transmission is becoming more and more important. The development of this non-verbal transmission has a competitive power to compete with verbal transmission. Logo is one of the unique transmission methods.

When people see smoke rising, they think of fire below. Smoke is a natural sign of fire. In an era when communications were underdeveloped, people used smoke (wolf smoke) as a special means to transmit information related to the meaning of fire (such as emergency, emergencies, alarms, etc.). This artificial "smoke" is both a signal and a sign. It rises high, spreads slowly, has a vivid image, and has distinctive features that people can see quickly from a long distance. The speed and effect of this non-verbal transmission were beyond the reach of verbal and written transmission at that time. Today, although the means of language and text transmission have been very developed, intuitive transmission methods such as signs, which are clear to the public at a glance, have quick effects, and are not bound by the languages ????of different ethnic groups and countries, are more suitable for the needs of the ever-accelerating pace of life. The special function is still irreplaceable by any transmission method.

A sign is a mark that indicates the characteristics of something. It uses simple, obvious and easily identifiable objects, graphics or text symbols as intuitive language. In addition to marking something and replacing something, it also has the function of expressing meaning, emotion and instructing actions.

Logo, as a special way of intuitive connection between human beings, is not only ubiquitous in social activities and production activities, but also serves the fundamental interests of the country, social groups and even individuals. It is increasingly showing its extremely important and unique functions. For example, the national flag and national emblem, as symbols of a country's image, have special meanings that are difficult to express accurately in any language or text. Public place signs, traffic signs, safety signs, operation signs, etc., have an intuitive and quick effect in guiding people to carry out orderly and normal activities and ensuring the safety of life and property. Special signs such as trademarks, store logos, and factory logos have great practical value and legal protection for developing the economy, creating economic benefits, and safeguarding the rights and interests of enterprises and consumers. Various major domestic and foreign events, conferences, sports games, postal transportation, finance and trade, institutions, groups and even individuals (stamps, signatures), etc. almost all have signs that indicate their own characteristics. These signs play a role in communication, exchange and publicity from various angles. , promote the progress of social economy, politics, science and technology, and culture, and protect their respective rights and interests. As international exchanges become more and more frequent, the characteristics of logos, such as being intuitive, vivid, and not subject to language and text barriers, are extremely conducive to international communication and application. Therefore, international logos have been rapidly promoted and developed, becoming one of the most effective means of visual transmission. , becoming an intuitive communication tool for human beings.

The origin of the logo can be traced back to the "totem" of ancient times. At that time, each clan and tribe chose an animal or natural object that it believed had a special mysterious relationship with itself as a special mark of the clan or tribe (called a totem). For example, the Nuwa clan uses snakes as their totems, Xia Yu's ancestors use the yellow bear as their totems, and some use the sun, moon, and crow as their totems. At first, people carved totems on the caves where they lived and on working tools. Later, they became symbols of war and sacrifice, and became clan flags and emblems. After the country was born, it evolved into the national flag and national emblem.

In production, labor and social life, ancient people continued to create and widely use various types of marks, such as road signs, village signs, and tablets, in order to facilitate contact, indicate meaning, and distinguish the types, characteristics, and attributions of things. , seals and coats of arms, etc. Broadly speaking, these are signs. Most of the vessels with logo patterns found in ancient Egyptian tombs were the maker's logo and name, which were later changed into patterns. In ancient Greece, signs were widely used. Stonemason's symbols such as crescent wheels, grape leaves, and similar simple designs have been found carved on ancient buildings in Rome and Pompeii, as well as in Palestine. If you have your own workshop or shop, it will be accompanied by signs such as signboards and camouflage. Paper produced in the Tang Dynasty already had dark markings in it. By the Song Dynasty, the use of trademarks had become quite common. For example, the Liujia Needle Shop in Jinan, which specialized in manufacturing fine needles at that time, printed a rabbit image and a trademark with the words "Recognize the white rabbit in front of the door as a mark" on the product packaging. The armor worn by European medieval soldiers had invisible marks on their head coverings to identify their affiliations, and noble families also had family emblems.

By this century, public logos and international logos began to spread around the world.

With the rapid development of social economy, politics, science and technology, and culture, up to now, carefully designed signs that are highly practical and artistic have been widely used in all fields of society, playing a huge role in the development and progress of human society. role and impact. It is a historical necessity that a new science - "symbolism" came into being.

1. Functionality

The essence of a logo lies in its functionality. Although artistically designed logos have ornamental value, the logo is not primarily for viewing, but for practicality. Logos are an indispensable intuitive tool for people to carry out production activities and social activities.

There are flags for human use, such as public place signs, traffic signs, safety signs, operation signs, etc.; there are flags and emblems for countries, regions, cities, nations, and families. and other signs; some are used exclusively for social groups, enterprises, benevolence, and activities, such as emblems, monograms, factory logos, social logos, etc.; there are trademarks dedicated for certain commodities; there are also trademarks dedicated for collective or personal belongings. For example, stamps, signatures, monograms, signatures, brands, etc., all have unique and irreplaceable functions. Signs with legal effect have a special mission to safeguard rights and interests.

2. Recognition

The most prominent feature of logos is that each has a unique appearance and is easy to identify. It is a logo that shows the characteristics of things and marks the different meanings, distinctions and attributions between things. Main functions. Various signs are directly related to the fundamental interests of the country, groups and even individuals, and must not be similar or confused with each other to avoid misunderstandings. Therefore, the logo must be distinctive, recognizable at a glance, and unforgettable.

3. Salience

Significance is another important feature of signs. Except for invisible signs, most signs are set up to attract people's attention. Therefore, strong and eye-catching colors and concise and clear graphics are the common characteristics of logos.

4. Diversity

There are many types of signs and a wide range of uses. Regardless of their application types, composition forms, and expression methods, they are extremely diverse.

The application forms are not only flat (almost any flat surface can be used), but also three-dimensional (such as reliefs, garden sculptures, arbitrary three-dimensional objects, or special styles of packaging, containers, etc.) logo, etc.).

The form of its composition includes direct use of objects, some composed of text symbols, some composed of concrete images, images or abstract graphics, and some composed of colors. Most logos are composed of a combination of several basic forms.

As far as the means of expression are concerned, its richness and diversity are almost difficult to summarize, and with the development of science and technology, culture, and art, there is always innovation.

5. Artistry

All designed unnatural signs have a certain degree of artistry. It meets both practical requirements and aesthetic principles, and gives people a sense of beauty, which is the basic requirement for its artistry. Generally speaking, artistic logos are more attractive and infective, giving people a strong and deep impression.

The high degree of artistry in logos is the need of the times and the progress of civilization. It is the embodiment of people's increasingly higher cultural literacy and the needs of their aesthetic psychology.

6. Accuracy

No matter what the logo is supposed to explain or indicate, whether it is a moral or a symbol, its meaning must be accurate. First of all, it must be easy to understand and conform to people's cognitive psychology and cognitive abilities. Secondly, it must be accurate to avoid unexpected interpretations or misunderstandings, and special attention should be paid to taboos. It allows people to understand clearly and accurately in a very short time. This is the advantage of logos over language and faster than language.

7. Persistence

Different from advertisements or other promotional materials, logos generally have long-term use value and cannot be easily changed.

Logo design is not only the design of practical objects, but also a graphic art design. It has similarities with other means of graphic art expression, but also has its own artistic rules. It must embody the aforementioned characteristics in order to better perform its functions.

Because the requirements for its conciseness, generalization, and professionalism are very strict, that is, to be successful to the point where it is almost impossible to find a better alternative, it is much more difficult than any other graphic art design. .

1. The design should be carried out with a detailed understanding of the purpose of use, scope of application, relevant laws and other relevant circumstances of the design object, and a deep understanding of its functional requirements.

2. The design must fully consider the feasibility of its implementation, and adopt corresponding design methods according to its application type, materials and production conditions.

At the same time, the visual effects when used in other visual communication methods (such as printing, advertising, images, etc.) or when zooming in or out should also be taken into consideration.

3. The design must conform to the intuitive acceptance ability, aesthetic consciousness, social psychology and taboos of the target.

4. The idea must be carefully promoted and naughty, and strive to be profound, clever, novel, unique, accurate in meaning, and able to withstand the test of time.

5. The composition should be concise, beautiful, and adaptable to the shape of the object it is used for.

6. Graphics and symbols should be concise and summarized, but also should be artistic.

7. Colors should be simple, strong and eye-catching.

8. Follow the laws of logo art, creatively explore appropriate artistic expression forms and techniques, and refine a precise artistic language so that the designed logo has a high overall aesthetic feeling and obtains better visual effects. This is logo design Criteria for artistic pursuit.

In addition to the general design art rules (such as decorative beauty, orderly beauty, etc.), logo art also has unique artistic rules.

1. Symbolic beauty

Logo art is a graphic design art with unique symbolic art characteristics. It takes the forms, symbols (including words), colors, etc. derived from nature, society, and people's concepts, and refines and processes them through art to structure them into graphic symbols with complete artistic quality, thus distinguishing them from decorative pictures and other arts. design.

To a certain extent, graphical symbols have the simplicity, aggregation and abstraction of text symbols, and sometimes they even directly use ready-made text symbols, but they are completely different from text symbols. It is embodied in the form of graphics (ready-made text symbols must be transformed graphically), and is a symbol with more distinctive image, artistry and awareness.

Symbolic beauty is the most important artistic rule in logo design. Logo art is the art of graphic symbols.

2. Characteristic beauty

Characteristic beauty is also a unique artistic feature of logo art.

What logo graphics embody is not the individual characteristics (personality) of individual things, but the essential characteristics (unity) of similar things as a whole, or category characteristics. Through the artistic strengthening and exaggeration of these characteristics, the most conscious artistic effect is obtained. This is completely different from other plastic arts that achieve touching artistic effects through flesh-and-blood personality portrayals.

However, its expression of the sexual characteristics of things is not uniform and conceptual. The same sexual characteristics can and must have different personality and beauty in different designs, thus each is unique. Artistic charm.

3. Concise beauty

Compact composition and concise graphics are the structural beauty principles that logo art must follow. Logos are not only used alone, but are often used in various documents, promotional materials, advertisements, images and other visual communication materials. A logo with concise beauty can show its independent and complete symbolic beauty in any visual communication (no matter how big or small it is).

Ten goals for logo design creativity

1. Simple and vivid image;

2. Strong sense of visual form and high artistry;

3. Easy to recognize and remember;

4. Highly generalizable;

5. In line with industry characteristics;

6. Modern;< /p>

7. In line with the trend of the times;

8. Futuristic;

9. Highly reliable;

10. Amazing Produce a feeling of kindness and kindness.

Logo design process

1. Research and analysis

A logo is not just a combination of graphics or text, it is based on the company’s structure and industry category. , business philosophy, and fully consider the objects that the logo comes into contact with and the application environment, and formulate standard visual symbols for enterprises. Before designing, you must first have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the company, including business strategy, market analysis, and the basic wishes of the top leaders of the company. These are important basis for logo design and development. Understanding competitors is also an important step. The important role of logos, namely identification, is based on a full grasp of the competitive environment.

2. Element mining

Element mining is to further prepare for the design and development work.

Based on the analysis of the survey results, Youyi Design will refine the structural type and color orientation of the logo, list the spirit and characteristics that the logo should embody, explore relevant graphic elements, and find out the direction of logo design so that the design work is targeted. It is not a purposeless combination of text and graphics.

3. Design and development

With a comprehensive understanding of the enterprise and a full grasp of design elements, design and development work can be carried out from different angles and directions. Through the designer's understanding of the logo, they give full play to their imagination and use different expression methods to integrate design elements into the design. The logo must have profound meaning, obvious features, grand shape, stable structure, and color matching that is suitable for the enterprise, and avoid becoming cliché. or popularization. Different logos will reflect different emphasis or appearance. After discussion, analysis or modification, a logo suitable for the enterprise will be found.

4. Logo modification

The logo determined in the proposal stage may not be perfect in details. After standard drawing, size correction, black and white application, line application, etc. of the logo, it will be different. The modification of the form of expression makes the use of the logo more standardized. At the same time, the characteristics and structure of the logo will not be lost when used in different environments, achieving unified, orderly, and standardized communication.

Modern logo design creativity

The Chinese word for the logo is "Symbol", which means symbol or mark. It is also the same word as "symbol". Therefore, logo design is a mark or mark that indicates a certain meaning. Its means of expression is to use graphics and text to form concrete and visible symbolic visual symbols, and to convey the content, information, and concepts in this visual symbol to influence the viewer's attitude, opinion, and emotion, thereby establishing a brand. , image purpose.

A logo is a symbol, and of course the symbol strives to be concise. But simplicity without losing meaning and beauty is the essence of logo design. Logo is a general term that covers all aspects of society, including government agencies, schools, academic groups, industrial and commercial enterprises, cultural and sports activities, etc. It ranges from the national emblem of the country to the small personal mark. In modern society, logos and symbols have greatly expanded their application scope, especially in business competition. The logo itself is a symbol of credibility and quality, and it itself is value.

The highest level of a logo is to use shape as a medium, and then transcend the body into the spiritual realm. It can accept multiple ideas, events, and traditions, and can withstand the test of time, generating a spiritual power like faith. . The development of modern science and technology has greatly improved design methods, enriched design forms, and broadened the scope of logo design creativity. Looking at today's logo design forms, there are many exciting forms and a wider range of applications. Especially in terms of printing and reproduction technology, designers of modern logos do not have to worry too much about restrictions. Logo is closely related to human social life and plays an important role in modern design. With the expansion of its application scope, logo design has become an independent discipline that has its own system and is developing towards diversification.

From the meaning of Chinese characters, the basic meaning of "biao" is standard and mark, and the basic meaning of "zhi" is not to forget and to remember. The most original basic meaning and most basic function of a logo is to make people remember its basic meaning through the mark. Therefore, how to enhance the visual characteristics of the logo and enhance the visual impact in order to enhance the public’s memory is the primary function of the logo.

Therefore, logos are good at using their shapes, colors, and light materials in numerous visual backgrounds to first attract people's attention and create a profound visual impression. But from the perspective of visual design, the purpose of design is to create a visual impact and leave a good visual impression on people. Because people are happy to accept things they are interested in, but inhibit and reject the visual nerves they are not interested in. This conscious choice of information acceptance by the human eye is due to physiological and psychological needs. This visual physiological phenomenon is called visual beneficial information selection. Therefore, a design that only pursues visual impact without pursuing beauty in the shape, color, and texture of the logo is also an immature design.

The recognition of the meaning of information is a prerequisite for visual acceptance. Logos and symbols composed of visual elements are visual language. If the information conveyed is unclear and cannot be understood, such visual communication design will not achieve its purpose and lose the meaning of existence. This is why all international occasions and public places use graphic signs and graphic symbols that are easy to understand and simple to understand.

In modern society, a logo is a symbol that converts the conveyed content into a graphic language, uses shape and color to express ideas and abstract concepts, and represents the nature and essential characteristics of something. A trademark refers to a special symbol that distinguishes goods and reflects the spirit of the goods. "Symbols" use the properties of analogy and association to assign and classify the properties of something to some representative accessories.

Logo design uses the symbolic function of visual symbols to convey the information of the enterprise or product with its simple, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-recognize characteristics. It embodies the personality of the enterprise and spreads the culture of the enterprise through visual symbols, thereby It becomes a rich metaphorical world.

Logos also have a direct impact on people's hearts visually. The concept and form of the logo will affect people's understanding of what they represent, especially in commercial activities, and for enterprises. and the quality of product logo impression, which leads to people's evaluation of its quality and value.

In short, a logo is a mass communication symbol that expresses a certain meaning and conveys a clear and specific message through various concise images.