Designing a Logo–Step 4: Logo Design in Black and White

The first step of designing a logo was research.

The second step was word associations to brainstorm ideas.

The third step is thumbnail sketches.

This next step is selecting which of the thumbnails to present to the client. I thought it best to present a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5.

Once the choices are made, it's time to recreate those ideas as vector art. It's best to make logos in a vector program so that they will be resolution independent and can be easily resized for a variety of purposes.

This was a particular challenge for me because Adobe Illustrator is NOT one of my stronger programs! 

LOL!

So I had to learn really quick if I wanted to accurately translate my sketch vision to a digital format. Any time I hit a wall trying to create what I envision, a quick search online for a tutorial helps.

Also, it is important to design—whether it's a painting, illustration or logo—in black and white BEFORE designing in color. First, it's likely that the logo will end up being photocopied in black and white so it's important that it works that way. Second, if it works in black and white, it'll work in color.

These are the final designs in black and white that I presented to the client:

This step also involves selecting a typestyle:

In the next step of this series, I'll share the feedback that I got from the client and the changes made to the original designs.

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Return to Drawing Drills

Concept artist Peter Han demonstrates drawing drills on a YouTube video.

Synchronicity has struck again!

While watching these Stan Prokopenko interviews with accomplished artists at Comic Con in San Diego, I was struck by how several of them said that the most basic of drawing drills should be done regularly, regardless of your experience and current skill level.

The drills they're talking about are the same drills I have done on and off over the last couple of years but always abandoned because I didn't see much use in them.

But hearing MULTIPLE artists say that these drills are essential to improving drawing skills, I dove back into them. I'm now doing a combination of Scott Robertson drills, Peter Han drills and Irshad Karim drills.

For the copying drills, I recommend drawing the original lines in pencil and using a black or other colored pen to draw over the line. With the difference in color between the graphite and the pen, it's easier to see your drawn line. For the other exercises, I use templates that I created templates and print when needed.

Here are the drills I try to do regularly:

1.  Straight lines, maintaining the same length and the same space between them (Oops, I didn't save an example of this!)

2. Draw over short, medium and long straight lines, three times each line:

I fit the draw-over-straight-lines drill on the same page as the short- and medium-draw-over-arcs drill.

3. Draw over short, medium and long arcs, three times each arc:

These are the long arcs.

4. Draw over short, medium and long wavy lines, three times each line:

5. Draw lines through a single point:

6. Draw lines from one point to another:

7. Draw curved lines through multiple points:

8. Draw ellipses then add the minor axis. For all of the ellipse drills, I use a set of 10°–80° ellipse templates to check my work. The correct lines are in red:

9. Draw ellipses around a minor axis:

10. Draw ellipses inside a box focusing on making each of its quadrants equal:

11. Draw ellipses between parallel lines:

12. Draw boxes at different angles. THIS exercise is extremely difficult, forcing you to imagine a box at a variety of angles in your head:

I recommend doing these drills regularly. They've helped me with my anatomy studies especially when I want to draw over lines accurately. And I'm confident that these mechanical drawing skills will be useful once I delve further into other types of drawing.

Tell me if you've tried these drills or if you have other or better drills!
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642 Things to Draw—#004: A skunk

From the book "642 Things to Draw:"

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Anatomy Practice Drawings—Sept. 2018

For these drawings, I was focused on understanding the forms and positions of the spine, ribcage, pelvis and shoulder girdle.

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BRIC Community Media TV & Film Pitch Series—Practice Your Pitch!

The panelists (counterclockwise l. to r.): Dui Jarrod, Skye MacLeod, Craig T. Williams, Squeaky Moore and Michael Pinckney, 

Per BRIC's website: "BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. We present and incubate work by artists and media-makers who reflect the diversity that surrounds us. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year."

"BRIC's two Community Media TV Networks—Brooklyn Free Speech and BRIC TV—come together to bring you a unique opportunity; the BRIC Community Media TV & Film Pitch Series. Now in its third year, the series was created with one goal in mind— to turn media dreamers into media makers."

I jumped at this opportunity to be a spectator at the "Communicating Your TV and Film Ideas" pitch presentation practice before a panel of professionals. The panel was thoughtful and respectful with its feedback and I picked up a lot of helpful hints.

Here's what I learned about pitching:

1. Edit your pitch (for this presentation, the time limit was 3 minutes)


2. Be certain and definitive about your choices


3. The protagonist and antagonist must have names


4. Choose a genre


5. Know the characters and their situations


6. Choose a title


7. Need to lead with a story and character NOT an issue. Explain the world/location.


8. Explain to the pitch audience what they can expect to see moment to moment


9. Know the target audience


10. Be enthusiastic and confident in your presentation


11. Take the pitch audience on a journey with you


12. Pitch with positivity


13. Need to communicate the protagonist's wants and everything about the character including their conflicts


14. Don't apologize, qualify nor explain. Just start the pitch.


15. The protagonist needs traits that conflict with their goal


16. Know who is in the world you created and why should anyone watch


17. Memorize the pitch so the audience can feel it


18. Can't pitch a comedy without making the panel laugh


19. Suggest how episodes play out


20. The pitch should be a story


21. Bring the panel along slowly e.g. "This happens in the pilot. This happens mid-season then this happens at the end of season one."


22. The panel needs to know what they're getting with your project


23. All descriptions in the pitch should be associated with the protagonist's journey 

I'll be attending the next pitch presentation on October 19. It has a different panel and I'm looking forward to picking up even more tips that I'lll share with you. And I hope to be present for the final presentation to the BRIC TV executives on November 14.

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642 Things to Draw—#003: An anchor

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NY Comic Book & Graphic Novel Creators Meetup Presents: Ivan Cohen

I had the pleasure of attending the NY Comic Book & Graphic Novel Creators Meetup "Ivan Cohen Talks About EVERYTHING!"

Ivan Cohen is a writer, editor, and entertainment executive who has worked for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Disney among others.

Here are my takeaways:

1. If you're entering a position at a company, it's best to follow someone who was bad at that job. This makes it easier for you to perform better than your incompetent predecessor.


2. The time it takes for bad work to be made is the same as that for good work


3. Humility is good—to a point—and it's important to be nice to EVERYONE you encounter


4. Don't talk continuity with the professional comic creators because you'll come off as a "fanboy"


5. When considering what to charge for your freelance work, never undervalue your time. Price yourself fairly.


6. It's hard to make a living doing just one thing in this industry


7. Before you pitch an idea, make sure you can answer this question: "Why is this project creatively valid?"


8. It's helpful to already have a following if you want your project to be made by a major company

I'll continue to share helpful tidbits from the Meetups I attend.

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Michael Mentler—Figure Drawing in the Renaissance Tradition Lesson One

Here are what I think are the key takeaways from Michael Mentler's Figure Drawing in the Renaissance Tradition Lesson One.

This first lesson is a general introduction to the overall course.

 [NOTE—Since this is a paid course, I don't want to show screenshots nor give away for free too much of Mentler's course]:

1. LIFE
   • L=Language. visual and verbal
   • I=Intent (imitation, intellect, interpretation, intuition, imagination/invention)
   • F=Form. sphere, cone, cylinder, cube
   • E=Expression/Empathy. Combining the 5 levels of intent—seeing, knowing, selecting, feeling, creating
2. The visual language of drawing uses Points, Lines, Planes, Forms, Images and Compositions. Points exist in nature, lines do not. Line is only the edge of a plane. Plane is the edge of a form. A point is a line on end; as the point turns it reveals the length of the line. Forms create images.


3. Use mass conceptions (forms) to understand the sections of the body.


4. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!


5. Don't entirely erase a line that's a "mistake" to ensure that you don't re-draw the same mistake.


6. It's important to walk around the model to see it 360° to fully understand its dimensionality. 

In a future post, I'll share my key takeaways from Mentler's Lesson Two.

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Designing a Logo–Step 3: Thumbnail Sketches/Brainstorming

The first step of designing a logo was research.

The second step was word associations to brainstorm ideas.

The third step is thumbnail sketches.

Before doing these sketches, I looked up "logo design." I came across this list which was incredibly helpful in guiding my process:

1. Do not use more than three colors.
2. Get rid of everything that is not absolutely necessary.
3. Type must be easy enough for your grandma to read.
4. The logo must be recognizable.
5. Create a unique shape or layout for the logo.
6. Completely ignore what your parents and/or spouse think about the design.
7. Confirm that the logo looks appealing to more than just three (3) individuals.
8. Do not combine elements from popular logos and claim it as original work.
9. Do not use clipart under any circumstances.
10. The logo should look good in black and white.
11. Make sure that the logo is recognizable when inverted.
12. Make sure that the logo is recognizable when resized.
13. If the logo contains an icon or symbol, as well as text, place each so that they complement one another.
14. Avoid recent logo design trends. Instead, make the logo look timeless.
15. Do not use special effects (including, but not limited to: gradients, drop shadows, reflections, and light bursts).
16. Fit the logo into a square layout if possible, avoid obscure layouts.
17. Avoid intricate details.
18. Consider the different places and ways that the logo will be presented.
19. Invoke feelings of being bold and confident, never dull and weak.
20. Realize that you will not create a perfect logo.
21. Use sharp lines for sharp businesses, smooth lines for smooth businesses.
22. The logo must have some connection to what it is representing.
23. A photo does not make a logo.
24. You must surprise customers with presentation.
25. Do not use more than two fonts.
26. Each element of the logo needs to be aligned. Left, center, right, top, or bottom.
27. The logo should look solid, with no trailing elements.
28. Know who is going to be looking at the logo before you think of ideas for it.
29. Always choose function over innovation.
30. If the brand name is memorable, the brand name should be the logo.
31. The logo should be recognizable when mirrored.
32. Even large companies need small logos.
33. Everyone should like the logo design, not just the business that will use it.
34. Create variations. The more variations, the more likely you are to get it right.
35. The logo must look consistent across multiple platforms.
36. The logo must be easy to describe.
37. Do not use taglines in the logo.
38. Sketch out ideas using paper and pencil before working on a computer.
39. Keep the design simple.
40. Do not use any “swoosh” or “globe”symbols.
41. The logo should not be distracting.
42. It should be honest in its representation.
43. The logo should be balanced visually.
44. Avoid bright, neon colors and dark, dull colors.
45. The logo must not break any of the above rules.

I kept this list in mind as I did these thumbnails and brainstorm sketches:

Generating the sketches was the longest and most difficult part of the process. This was the time to put every idea I had down on paper to analyze it and see if it worked. I kept pushing myself to come up with as many ideas as possible and variations on the variations.

After 5 days of spilling out ideas, I determined that I couldn't think of anything else and was beginning to repeat myself. I also know that usually my best ideas are the ones that come out earlier rather than later. I know that I get worse as time goes on, not better.

After taking a 24 hour break from the thumbnails, I returned to them with fresh eyes to pick the best of the bunch to present to the client.

In part 4 of this series, I'll show you the ideas I presented to the client.

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