I simply love logo design… it is a passion of mine, and with each new logo I create, I love it even more. Over the last several months I have created many logos for Montana businesses. Some of them are for actual customers, some of them are for friends/family, a few of them are just exercises in design and I also have a number of them available for sale as well. I wanted to post and share these designs for the sake of discussion, and to provide inspiration for myself and the valued readers of this blog.

This post is just a recent sampling of my professional logo design portfolio. You can view a great selection of logos I have designed by visiting the following sites:

LogoPond: http://logopond.com/members/profile/showcase/18675

Brandstack: http://brandstack.com/users/profile/SuperDave4eva

LogoGala: http://www.logogala.com/designer/details/david-howlett/

Creattica: http://creattica.com/creatives/david-howlett-manifest-creative/1598

As you read you will notice that several of these logos are available for purchase. If you are interested in purchasing one of these logos, please let me know and we’ll work something out. So without further ado, I happily present to you this latest batch of logos… enjoy!

Decipher Translation Services

This logo was made for a company that specializes in translating foreign languages. The mark was designed to be an interwoven ‘D’ that resembled a Celtic knot and specific attention was paid to the overall flow of the typeface.

CoreGroup (for sale)

I designed this logo after a similar concept got turned down, but I really liked how the ‘c’ and ‘g’ fit together… so I decided to stick with it. I’m glad I stuck with it too… because this is one of my most popular logos at LogoPond and Brandstack. This is a great general purpose logo, and could be used well for a number of different industries. This professional brand is currently for sale and if you’re interested in it, please mention you saw it on this blog… and I’ll be happy to knock a few bucks off of it.

TakeVacation.biz

This logo was designed for a friend of mine for his travel business. He needed a logo that instantly portrayed “tropical vacation”, and palm trees fit the bill perfectly. Check out the logo in use on his website, and while your at it plan a trip… a tropical vacation is just what you need!

One Step Up

I created this logo for a preschool that helps children with physical disabilities and/or other special needs adjust and integrate into the regular school system. This was a fun logo to design, and everyone involved was very happy with the finished result. You can see the logo in use at the One Step Up website.

RaceKart (for sale)

This is a mock-logo that I designed as a fun side project for an area of interest that I have… go kart racing. This logo is currently for sale, and would be perfect for a racing kart manufacturer, race track, racing club or a myriad of other uses in the go kart racing scene.

Chasin’ Tail

This logo is proudly displayed on a fishing boat and was designed as a gift for a good friend of mine. This is a custom vector illustration of a fly fishing lure that ended up looking amazingly realistic. It looks great on the back of his boat, and he gets a lot of comments from his friends and fishing buddies!

Tight Line Adventures

Speaking of fishing, check out this custom logo that I created for a professional guide and outfitter based in Dillon, Montana. This logo is one of my personal favorites, and features a bunch of custom designed illustrative elements. The client actually gave me one of the best testimonials I have ever received – “The logo looks really great, and everyone I show it too just raves about it. I love it and after looking at tons of other fishing logos…this one kicks the crap out of all of them. You did an excellent job and I’m very excited to market my business with this logo!” – Justin Hartman

Fire Bird

This is another logo that I designed on a whim. Ok, I’ll admit it… I have a thing for tribal flames. One day I was wondering how the phoenix would look all done in tribal flames, so I went to work and this is the result. I think it looks pretty cool as a logo, and my friends think the illustration would make for a bad-ass tattoo!

Common Ground

A friend of ours runs a landscaping and grounds maintenance company and wanted some tweaking done to his original logo that my business partner Philip created for him years ago. We came up with this simple brand that was very close to the original, but more elegant and refined to help reflect how his company has grown and matured.

Super 8 Hotel

As a logo designer, sometimes you simply have to have a little fun… that was my motivation for designing this logo. I think this really puts the “Super” into this logo for a well known chain of hotels. I had a lot of fun designing this, and who knows… maybe someday a head honcho at Super 8 will see it and chuckle!

Snow (for sale)

On a particularly snowy day in Bozeman, I got the inspiration for this playful logo. I really like the use of snow to create the white space that makes this logo work. This “cool” logo is for sale, and could work well for a number of different industries… especially here in Montana.

Suncrave (for sale)

Well you can’t have a logo featuring snow, without also designing one for summer… so here you go! This is a mock logo that would be great for a clothing company specializing in beach wear! Admittedly, this one could use some work and probably seems a bit unfinished… something I’ll work next time I’m feeling sunny!

Red Rise (for sale)

Here is another logo featuring the sun, but in this instance it happens to be the rising sun of Japan. This logo is very modern and precise, perfect for a technology company or an entertainment studio. It is also up for grabs and awaiting a buyer.

JR’s Truck Repair

JR is a great local mechanic who needed a nice logo to help grow his new business. Although he has some of the best rates in town (call him at 406-595-0415), he needed a logo that had a very professional appearance and also depicted his mechanical ability. He loved the results!

Dance of Love (for sale)

This is a fine example of how a simple idea can turn into a really cool illustration. I wanted to make a heart out of the negative space between two dancers, something I think I executed very well. I do have some beef with this logo though… as it has been for sale for quite a while now!

Green Tree Service (for sale)

Here is another logo designed just for the fun of it. I love the way the leaves are made from the negative space in the lettering. The typeface was also completely custom created for a look you won’t find anywhere else. This one is also for sale, and ready just in time for the summer season!

Which logo is your favorite?

Well that is all I have for now. Please leave me your comments below and be sure to share these logos with your friends if you enjoyed them. Also if you are in the market for award-winning graphic design, please contact me so we can get to work setting up your FREE consultation.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed the post!

Cheers!

Throughout time as craftsmen and skilled artisans made or sold their respective goods or services, it has been customary for the trades-person to either sign or brand their work. As time went on and competition between similar products or services became more fierce, the need to separate oneself from competitors became increasingly important. It became apparent that establishing a unique look to a name or brand provided a means for consumers to quickly identify with a particular supplier, and thus pick it out from it’s competitors. This “look” or “brand” is now commonly referred to as one of the most important four letter words in business lingo… the logo.

Author’s note: This article is part of the “Making a Name For Yourself” series.

So here we sit in the 21st century, and as far as the logo is concerned not that much has changed. Modern businesses still have the need to brand their products and services, and it all begins with the design of an effective logo. These days we very seldom see a brand that has actually been burned or stamped into a product. However, it is still quite difficult to look around and not see some sort of logo somewhere.

Today major corporations are known to spend millions of dollars establishing their logo and building brand awareness as a major part of their corporate identity. These logo things are everywhere; on our clothes, on our vehicles, on signs and billboards and even in our bathrooms and showers! They appear in all shapes, sizes and colors… you can’t avoid them, and there is seemingly no escape from them.

This onslaught is perhaps the best reminder that any business; be it small or large, must have an eye catching and easily recognizable logo. A strong and recognizeable business image is more important now than ever before. In fact, with the average American viewing more than 3,000 advertising messages per day, having a distinguishable logo is one of the most critical investments any business will make.

With all of the importance bestowed upon the humble logo, we decided that it would be a good idea to break down the key elements that together create a great logo. We will also outline some of the common mistakes and pitfalls when designing one.

Start with a Sketch

Grab a pencil, some paper, and a large eraser and then go to work! Sketching your ideas out on paper will help you visualize the logo and take the concept from an idea into a shape. It will inspire and provide you an excellent opportunity to brainstorm. It also helps to provide direction for your graphic designer and will help to weed out ideas that are less desirable.

When you’ve got a good sketch, or least a good idea, then it is time to go digital and see your logo really take form!

Print vs. Web

In today’s marketplace, a logo must be easily recognized on various forms of print materials, as well as on a TV or computer screen. The general rule is to design the logo for print applications first, and then to adapt the print logo to meet the needs of multimedia. This is particularly important, because what may look great on the web can often get muddied and difficult to discern when printed out.

Keep it Simple

Think about some of the most popular logos throughout history. What is a common tie they all share? The answer is simplicity… and it’s a beautiful thing. Often when designing logos, designers get carried away with intricate designs that look stunning when viewed at five or more inches wide and with the millions of colors that today’s computer monitors are capable of displaying. Generally, this leads to problems down the road.

What really needs to be taken into consideration is how that logo will look when it is forced to change and adhere to certain reproduction standards. Does the logo degrade if it is shrunk down considerably? Is the logo still effective when reduced to black and white or gray scale coloring? If the main focus of a logo cannot be recognized at less than an inch wide, or if the brand is indiscernible when it’s colors are converted, then it is rendered essentially useless to your business.

Size Does Matter

A great logo should be easily recognized whether it is printed extremely small – like perhaps on the body of ballpoint pen, or excessively large – like on a billboard or semi-truck trailer. The success of any logo can be greatly attributed to it’s ability to be scalable to nearly any size, thus enabling it to be adjusted to fit to a wide variety of applications. If the logo’s design limits how small or large it can be, that in turn retards the logo’s ability to be effective over a broad range of possible mediums.

Size, as it refers to resolution, is also very critical when it comes to logo design. Usually the size of a logo’s resolution is measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch). When using a logo on printed materials the printer will generally insist that your logo be a minimum of 300 DPI to ensure a high quality print. On the other hand, the same logo can be used on the web with just 72 DPI; which is fine for viewing on a monitor, but is far from ideal for high quality printing. Click here for more information concerning DPI.

Proper File Formatting

Even a well designed logo is useless if it can’t be used, displayed, stored, transferred and edited. This is why all logos should be either designed as, or converted into vector format. Even logos that are hand drawn should be scanned and converted to vector format before the logo is actually considered complete. There are several distinct advantages of doing this, such as the logo being scalable, movable and editable without losing the quality of the image.

Essentially there are two choices of formatting. The optimal choice in logo design being vector graphics and the latter being raster graphics. This article is not the place to outline the properties and advantages of either format, but such information is readily available.

When saving the logo, remember to save it as several different file types. Be sure to properly edit and save as an EPS, PDF, TIFF, JPEG and GIF. This will ensure that the logo can be used across a wide variety of platforms and programs. For more information on various graphic file formats click here.

What’s Your Type?

Some of most common and respected logos are simply unique or distinct typefaces with slight graphic alterations. Most logo designs begin life as a particular font or typeface, and this is where a majority of designers derive their creativity from.

When a suitable typeface is found, then it is a matter of seeing how the spacing and arrangements of letters come into play. Sometimes certain letters in a logo may be rotated or skewed to produce a desired effect, or perhaps a single letter or series of letters might be typed in a contrasting color.

When choosing a typeface, keep in mind that certain fonts can give off a softer, more feminine feel; while others offer a sharper, more masculine tone. When used effectively, the good use of typography can work wonders in creating a custom logo. A truly exceptional logo begins conveying a sense of what a company or product is, even prior to the product actually being experienced!

Icons are Ideal

Although many popular logos don’t employ any graphic or icon, there are an equal or possibly even greater number of logos that do. Using a distinctive graphic element or symbol can sometimes be more recognizable than the accompanying letters that make up the logo. Examples of these powerful elements are the Macintosh Apple, the Nike “Swoosh” and the Chevrolet Bow-tie.

If using a icon or graphic as part of a logo, the graphic should also somehow tie into to the product it is being used to represent. This is not necessarily true in all cases, but as a general rule it is a good idea. After all, even though the proprietor of a cat litter company may be head over heels in love with an icon of a dog… it just doesn’t make sense to include that dog icon as part of the cat litter logo!

Just as with all the other elements we’ve described in this logo development article, it is all about simplicity. The most popular and time-tested logos in the world have the simplest and most easily recognizable shapes… do you really think this is a mere coincidence?

Color Is Key

The use of color in a logo can be profound, yet can be wasted if the logo can’t be identified when converted to black and white or even gray scale. When designing with multiple colors it is important to realize the usefulness of contrast and the impacts it can have on the overall design. Having good contrast also helps when the logo must be reproduced without the use of color.

When using colors, it is helpful to be at least somewhat educated in color theory as well. This is important because certain colors evoke subliminal feelings, emotions and meanings in some consumers. It should be noted that some businesses pay special attention to the importance of color, and have extremely rigid specifications on just what color a particular logo can be.

Again we emphasize the importance of keeping the use of color simple as well. At the very most, a logo’s color palette should be kept to five colors or less.

Timeless Beauty

For any logo to defy Father Time, some forethought must go into it at the very beginning. As with anything else, it is entirely possible for a logo to go out of style. It is extremely important to avoid getting caught up in trendy fonts or overly stylistic design. Think long-term and ask the following questions: Is the logo you have today going to be effective ten or even twenty years from now? Will your logo require massive revisions or possibly even an entire redesign to stay in-line with the times? Can you afford to revise all your marketing materials if your logo goes out of style?

Test & Roll-Out

When you think you’ve got your logo complete, think again. Make sure you show it to friends, family, co-workers, and complete strangers. Ask for open and honest feedback, and use that feedback to make adjustments. When it comes to making those changes, remember to use the collective response of your entire study group and to not make severe adjustments based solely on the opinions of one or two individuals. Also, try to not let your feelings get involved, in other words don’t let pride get in the way.

After all the changes have been made and the logo is finalized it is time do one last thing… celebrate! Take some pride in your achievement and put your new logo on everything! I suggest that you write a press release and send it to all the local publications. If it is applicable get some vehicle decals made, or perhaps even order some stickers and pass them out. After all, you have a brand new exciting logo to show off to the world… so get started!

Other posts in the “Making a Name For Yourself” series:
• Logo Development and Strategy
• Business Card Basics
• Letterhead & Envelopes
• Brand Building for Beginners

In the field of graphic design, identity is a term that often gets thrown around loosely, and as designers we assume that everyone just automatically knows what we are talking about. Well as I recently found out, that is sometimes not the case. Let me explain…

The other day I was in the middle of exchanging business cards with a prospective client. After inspecting my bright orange card for awhile, she looked at me inquisitively and asked, “Your card lists one of your services as Business Identity. What is Business Identity… and just how does it relate to my business?”

Well that question got me thinking, and so over the next few weeks Manifest Creative will be diving into the subject of identity, the many facets that can help define it relating to business in the modern marketplace. In this series we will inspect the many pieces and parts that collectively make up the identity of a business or entity. Let’s begin…

If you were to go to dictionary.com you would find the first definition of the word identity to be exactly as follows:

i·den·ti·ty –noun, plural -ties.

1. the state or fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions: The identity of the fingerprints on the gun with those on file provided evidence that he was the killer.

Now that is all good and proper, but for the everyday person I find the above definition lacking, perhaps even a bit vague. To sum it up in laymen’s terms, identity is simply the defining characteristics by which something or someone is recognized.

When it comes to establishing a Business Identity, these defining characteristics can be made up of any number of things including custom logos or symbols, the use of a particular typeface, a specific color scheme, a radio jingle, a recognizable voice, or even the recognition a mascot or celebrity can provide.

As graphic designers, we use the term identity to pertain to specific materials that help a business make a great first impression – and better yet, a memorable one. A basic identity package usually includes developing a logo design and then applying the logo to custom business cards, letterhead and envelopes… these are the staple materials for nearly every business.

One of the key factors in establishing an identity is continuity throughout all marketing materials. In other words, making sure that all your visual materials share a similar look and feel. This in turn is one of the first steps of branding, and the foundation of how you market your business.

That is all for this installment of the Business Identity blog… In upcoming installments we will continue our in-depth look at identity, and dissect each of the individual parts of an identity package. Check back soon as we investigate each part and share the features, options and advantages of them in detail.