IlikeLogos.com Blog

Logo designs are powerful tools of expression.  Creating brand awareness relies on how much of an impact these logotypes might have.

Yet, somewhere along the line, people completely forgot some basics about colors and ignored whatever technology and designers achieved in the last years.  It’s amazing to see how… um… liberal the use of colors became.  While some results are interesting, most of them look flimsy and amateur-like.  There’s got to be a method to this madness.

So here we’ll briefly discuss color, so we all can catch up.

1. Color is an optic illusion.

Yes.  Color, by itself, doesn’t exist.  It’s not a thing, only illusion.  It’s the result of the reflection of light towards a surface and, to make things more complicated, this light might have colors of its own.  In that order of ideas, there are two kinds of color (at least, design wise):

• Pigment color:  The color of a substance that reflects light.  If we combine the three primary colors (that is, the ones that cannot be obtained by any combination of pigments) on equal proportion, we will obtain black.  In the case of printed material, we obtain white by the absence of color on a surface
• Light color:  The color of light itself, created by the wave frequency of the emitting source.  The sum of its primary colors creates white.  Black is the absence of light and, in the case of electronic material, it is obtained thanks to mechanical features of the screen.

Why is this important?  Because, design wise, you have to think that the colors won’t look the same when printed or in a screen.  The main goal is to find equivalence and a means of translation that doesn’t look too opaque in paper or awfully bright in the screen.

2. Colors have an effect on people.

It’s been proven that colors have an effect on people’s minds.  We get a feeling from them and we create associations based on those feelings.  They are one of the most basic languages and using them wisely creates attractive images and an emotional response (which leads to a logical one.

3.  Colors can be combined within a logo (but you have to know them)

Contrasts make designs outstand from the background.  Usually having two shades of primary colors within the same design creates a big contrast.  Sometimes, using an extra color for emphasis creates smoother designs.  You always have to bear in mind that these colors must be able to be reproduced in different media.

A brief introduction to colors.  Before you start thinking of the colors you like, think of the ones that will definitely make a statement about your logo company and products.

The Holidays are soon to come:  Which is going to be this Holiday’s color?