This video from the excellent IceFlowStudios youtube page shows how to use Photoshop to sharpen images the correct way. The UnSharp mask is not very well known, yet it provides greater control and, when used with a mask, is completely unobtrusive to the original file layer.

When designing something yourself, you have to keep in mind HOW the design is going to be used. In the case of logos, they will be used in just about every promotion you will ever run or participate in. They need to work in a massive variety of situations and should always reflect positively upon that which they represent.  It’s all well and good to create a logo yourself, but you always need to think ahead, and aim for something which conveys a positive and professional image.

Not everyone is willing to pay for design services, and many people and companies go down the D.I.Y path. This blog post is going to focus on a few key areas to ensure better results for anyone choosing to design themselves a logo.

The most common things that people get wrong are poor colour selection and poor layout of elements and text. Getting these things in order can vastly improve a logo, which in turn, vastly improves the image of that which it represents!

Here is an example I whipped up, showing some of the common ideas used by D.I.Y designers:

Bright, saturated colours, colour gradients, full colour images, all wrapped up in a neat little oval!

The person who creates such a logo is probably very happy, and quite chuffed at their handy work. However, the biggest problem with such examples, is that the person designing the logo has rarely, if ever, designed something. They get a bit carried away with everything, which leads to something which is very bright, but is exceedingly unprofessional in appearance!

The first step to fixing this logo is dropping all the unnecessary hoo-ha. Stripping it right back to its basics. We’re going to build it again using nothing but simple and easily executed ideas, while using some restraint in its creation:

Obviously at this point it doesn’t look very nice, but you can see how  it already looks much cleaner without the gradient and 3D text.

The next thing I altered was the typeface (font). Fonts can change the entire look and feel of your designs. Logos often benefit from a typeface with some ‘flare’. Just don’t choose something TOO outrageous! Remember, you always want a professional appearance from your finished product.

Much better!

Now we can start focusing on altering the rest of the design. The colour and layout are key here, so the text is getting a colour change and the wrench image is being adjusted to better fit our text.

One of the things I mentioned at the start was that full colour image. Logos need to be as simple as possible- They absolutely shouldn’t contain photographs!
We do want to use the image of a plumbers wrench however. The solution is to either draw up a wrench with a computer program, or to source an existing drawing.

I’ve drawn a nice and simple wrench, and that allows me to colour it however I’d like- We can do away with that bright red and black. This helps immensely in changing the overall feel of the logo, and certainly makes it look much more professional! Colour is extremely important, especially in logo design. Don’t go for the fully saturated Red, Yellow, Blue etc. They may be bright, but bright doesn’t mean they look good!

At this point I decided to think about things a little differently. The result we have is far better than the original, but without much more work it can become something that will prove to be far more usable…

As you can see, I’ve taken the text and the image and I’ve joined them to create one image. The result is something which is far more useful in branding situations. While it might not be the best logo in the world, its to a standard that most people should be able to acheive, and it is far superior to that which we started with.

This image would look far more professional when placed on a business card, letterhead or even on the side of a work vehicle… it can be used in a variety of situations while conveying a professional image that clients will be more inclined to utilise.

When designing something yourself, you have to keep in mind HOW the design is going to be used. In the case of logos, they will be used in just about every promotion you will ever run or participate in. They need to work in a massive variety of situations and should always reflect positively upon that which they represent.  Its all well and good to create a logo yourself, but you always need to think ahead, and aim for something which conveys a positive and above all else, a professional image.

The best rule of thumb for anyone designing a logo for themselves is to peep it SIMPLE.

Use some restraint and think ahead, to HOW the logo will be used and WHERE it will appear.

Welcome to Chewydesign.com.au!

Before anything else is said, I must thank Paul Kim. Because without him, you wouldn’t be reading this!
He’s put his own personal time and effort in to Chewy Design’s needs and helped bring our ideas into reality. Not only is he excellent at what he does, he’s also a great person to know. He really is an all round good guy and we appreciate his brilliant efforts and his friendship! You can of course find him in our recommended list under our “connect” page!

At present there is not a great deal of content here on the site, but keep returning to find new works, information and of course, blogs. Along with our design works, we will also be updating this blog with Chewy Design news, design pointers, tutorials, and other things of interest!

I shall finish off this blog post with a sneak peak at our new flyer which will be getting printed next week!
Printed on 150gsm 100% recycled stock, this flyer will be 2 sided and standard DL size.

So keep on checking in to chewydesign.com.au for new updates, fresh news and perhaps even a few tutorials! These are very exciting times for us, and we hope you’ll follow us as things progress and grow!