Graphic Design

Introduction to
Adobe Illustrator
& logo design
Summary Notes
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Contents

3 Mac or Windows?

The types of logos

7 Logo creation

9 The Design Cycle

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Mac or Windows?
Some students have asked me whether they should buy a new computer to be able to do this course, so I will be
answering the question of which operating system is best for graphic design?

My honest opinion: the one you have access to. Both Mac and Windows are powerful machines and all Adobe
programs you will learn in this course are compatible with both. Mac and Windows work almost the same way with
only minor differences which I will be sure to inform you of when doing demos

One thing is for sure, you need a computer in order to be a designer.

The Types of Logos

Today we will look at the design cycle, we will look at effective logo designs and I will also introduce the amazingly
powerful Adobe Illustrator to you!

So, what exactly is a logo? We can define it as a graphical symbol that identifies a company’s products, services and
values. A logo’s core idea is to convey what a company stands for as simplistic as possible. Logo’s originates form the
pictographs our ancestors made in the prehistoric times. We can also say that your signature is your own personal
logo.

We have a variety of logo’s and to create a logo, you simply apply the elements and principles learned in lesson 2.

The types of logos are:

1) Symbol or Icon
These logos consist purely out of an icon that resembles the company or brand. Examples include the Nike
logo, Apple, Shell and Mercedes Benz. The symbol or icon represents the company in a bold, abstract manner.
They normally convey a symbolic meaning behind the company’s values and products, or services offered.
Global companies with icons started out with a combination mark and would drop the wording when the
company have achieved global recognition. If you intend for your company to be globally recognised, this is a
great concept. Icons are tricky when it comes to small, new companies since the symbolic meaning can be
quite abstract, so hence a combination mark would be better.
A characteristic of a symbol is that they are normally very simplistic with only one image and very few colours.

Figure 1: The Nike logo as an example of a symbol or icon

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Companies with symbols or icons can even change the appearance of the logo by adding texture and values to
make it seem three dimensional or slightly different without distorting the basic shape of the logo.

Figure 2: The Audi logo with added value and texture to make it seem three dimensional.

2) Wordmark
We also get a Wordmark which is simply the company name. Wordmarks are quite difficult in that they must
be unique. You can’t just use any font on your computer and type a business name. A truly successful
wordmark is always unique. Familiar wordmarks include the Google logo, Disney and Coca-Cola (which were
converted into typefaces afterwards), Facebook, and Nescafé.

Wordmarks are typeface-based logos that spell out the company’s name. The use of a typeface is thus very
important when it comes to wordmarks as it not only needs to encapsulate the values of the company but
should also be unique.

When creating a wordmark, designers tend to either come up with a new typeface or adjust and existing
typeface to make it unique. Small elements can also be added to make the wordmark stand out and add
symbolic meaning.

Figure 3: The Google logo as an example of a wordmark

3) Letter mark
A letter mark is like a wordmark in that it consists out of type but usually the initials of a company or brand’s
first letter. Letter marks are useful for companies with difficult names or that might be pronounced wrong.
Think about the HP logo. Do you know what HP stands for? It stands for Hewlett-Packard and these words are
a combination of its inventors’ surnames

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Figure 3: The HP logo as an example of a letter mark

Other famous letter marks include H&M, EA (Electronic Arts), P&G (Procter & Gamble), IBM (which were
designed by famous late graphic designer, Paul Rand and stands for International Business Machines) as well
as Coco Chanel.

4) Combination Mark
We then get a combination mark, which is a combination of a word or letter mark as well as an icon. These
include the Unilever logo, Adidas, Lacoste, Burger king and BP. The logos are dual functional meaning that
you can use either the word or icon on its own and still be able to identify the brand.

Figure 4: The Unilever logo as an example of a combination mark

A combination mark normally combines an icon and wordmark (or any other logo elements) and allows the
company flexibility in the sense that they can either use the wordmark or icon. This is a versatile choice as you
can use both the wordmark and icon or either and both should be recognisable. The wordmark and icon can
overlap or stand next to each other and thus allows for great versatility.

5) Emblem
Our last type of logo is called an emblem. Emblems are the exception in that they contain a lot of detail. They
normally have the company’s name in a detailed enclosure or shield. The norm usually is that a logo needs to
be as simplistic as possible, but emblems mostly ignore this rule, but if applied successfully, they can be
unique and sophisticated. Examples are the Starbucks logo, Harley Davidson, most universities and college’s
logos as well as Porsche.

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Figure 5: The Bentley logo as an example of an emblem

Emblems are usually found in the form of a crest with a combination of letters or words and icons. Since
emblems consist out of so many elements, this type of logo must be researched even more when it comes to
legibility, especially when viewed really small. Emblems however add a sense of quality, reliability and
longevity to a brand and are traditional in appearance. This type of logo is normally found in formal
institutions or organisations like governmental institutions, schools, sport teams and even vehicles.

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Logo creation
Recapping on our logo exercise you received in lesson 2. You pretended to have a friend named Fred who wants to open a
coffee shop. Fred obviously does not have the capital to pay for a professional designer with years of experience and asked
you to help him out. In return, he will give you a voucher to spend at his coffee shop as soon as it opens. You agree to this
because you simply love coffee and at least you will be “famous” because your designs will be displayed for everyone to
see! To top it off, you get exposure as well - this might even open doors for your design career!

What is the first thing that you think Fred will need? Yes, a logo. Fred has not come up with a name yet, and simply would
like you to provide him with logo ideas first.

You can think of a couple of ideas and simply want to start creating! I would like you to write down words, draw concepts
and identify colours that come to mind when you think about a logo for Fred’s coffee shop. Please don’t be pedantic about
your drawings or creative ability - this is not what the exercise is about. We simply want to generate ideas now. Please
keep these ideas as we will use them for our next lesson.

I would like you to go back to the concepts you created. I forgot to mention that one of my other skills that you are not
aware of is that I am a mind reader. I would like you to look at the concepts and ideas you created for this coffee shop
logo...your initial thought for this logo was a cup of coffee, perhaps with some steam or aroma or even some coffee beans,
right? What about colours? I can bet you brown or perhaps a cream, black or white was one of the colours you thought
about.

Why not combine these ideas?! I mean, that is going to be an amazing looking logo! It does the job in communicating its
intent, just like we have learnt.

Figure 6: Potential logo concept number 1 for Fred’s new coffee shop

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Figure 7: Potential logo concept number 2 for Fred’s new coffee shop

How close was I in visualising your logo? Did your logo contain any of these elements?
The reason why I knew this, is the fact that these are the first elements that most people will think of when they come up
with the design for a coffee shop logo. I’m obviously not a mind reader. There is not necessarily something wrong with a
coffee cup logo, it’s just very generic and not unique. Therefore, the design cycle is so important. By the way, if you did
come up with something else, good for you! Please search for the term “coffee shop logo” in your search engine and see
what type of logos are shown.

Simply coming up with a great design concept doesn’t just happen. Think about the Starbucks logo. It is a coffee
company, right? Did you realise that their logo is of a mermaid? What does that have to do with coffee? This doesn’t make
any sense?!

Figure 8: Starbucks logo featuring a Siren (mermaid)

To truly understand the meaning behind the Starbucks logo, we need to dig into some history - this is where your research
step comes in. The mermaid on Starbucks’ logo is a representation of a historic sea creature called a Siren or mermaid.

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She is the epitome of seduction and the founders wanted to proclaim that their coffee is seductive, or rather
enticing. Starbucks originally opened its doors in Seattle in 1971 and due to Seattle’s location and connection with sea
fare, they decided to use a nautical figure and thus came across the Siren.

Figure 9: The evolution of the Starbucks logo

The Design Cycle

Having said all this, to be able to create a truly effective logo, or any design for that matter, you will need to have certain
steps in place. These steps are known as the design cycle. Let’s get right into the steps for the design cycle. They include
briefing, research & brainstorming, thumbnails, production and present. We will look at these steps in more detail. Along
the way, I am also going to give you some great advice from a designer’s perspective, so be sure to make notes!

Figure 10: Steps of the design cycle

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1. Briefing
When it comes to the first step, called briefing, resist the urge to just start designing before properly consulting your
client. Yes, design is fun, but sometimes being over excited will cost you a lot of unnecessary time and money. You
won’t jump into a pool before properly learning how to swim, so why do the same with design?

Starting out as a designer you will need some experience first before you feel worthy of charging people. You might
have even considered doing things for free for a friend or family member - I would suggest to use your discretion but
still be really careful of doing things for free - at some stage, you will get individuals who would think you will always
be there to help them out for free. You are probably doing this course in order to gain skills so you can generate in
income. You won’t ask your dentist friend to give you a free check-up, so why design for free? You might consider a
trade, like we did with Fred, but please be careful as it is sometimes difficult for others to put value to you work.
Alternatively, and this is a process that I would like to follow is show your friend or family member your normal price
and then tell them that you will give them a discount. Doing it this way, your friend will still feel that they can tell you
when they’re not happy without feeling guilty and they will also respect your business ethic.

The client brief is a questionnaire you provide your client with to consult their design wants and needs. As a bonus, I
have added a general questionnaire in the starter pack for you to make use of. You will however need to adapt it
depending on the design task at hand.

The basic topics that need to be addressed are company background and objectives, the company needs with
regards to designs, any design concepts or ideas they prefer, competitors and target market, delivery date and time
as well as the budget.

Figure 11: Client brief

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1.1. Company background & objectives

Start off by getting all the necessary company details and make sure you know who you will need to correspond with.
If you’re working on branding for a company (which would most likely be the case), you will need to know who it is
for. Get some information on what the company does as well as its values and objectives. If it is an already existing
company, you will most likely get some background on the internet, whether it be a website, on a social media
platform or even a directory.

1.2. Design needs

Next you will need to determine the design requirements. What will the company need from you as a professional
designer? This will also help you in determining your timeframe at a later stage in the briefing process.

1.3. Ideas & Inspiration

To get some insight as to what the company prefers when it comes to designs, ask them what type of designs they
like. In some instances, you will get that the company would tell you to use your creative insight. From a designer’s
perspective, I really prefer this as it not only shows that the client trusts you, but it also gives you creative
freedom. Either way, you will need to know how to handle the situation whether they know what they want or leave
it all up to you. The more you get to work with clients, the easier the process becomes.

1.4. Competition

In the next question of the briefing step, you need to determine who the company’s competition is. You need to steer
clear of creating similar designs as your client’s competition.

1.5. Target Market

You will also need to determine your client’s target market - sometimes this question might have been answered in
the objective phase already. If it is older people, then consider a more traditional design approach. Younger people
on the other hand would be open to a more contemporary approach.

1.6. Due date

The due date can be tricky, as it is also dependent on feedback from the client - make sure that you state this in your
briefing with the client! You are just as dependent on them as they are on you.

If I can give you one tip from my experience it would be to add a day or two to your due date. Say you are designing a
logo for a company. Generally, it takes you 2 or 3 days to come up with a clever logo concept. Instead of saying that it
will take you 3 days, rather prepare your client to wait a week. The reason I say this is the fact that life happens and
that you are also probably going to work on other design projects as well. If there are no external factors that
influence your due date, then this is a bonus! Give the client their design in advance, as it will show that you value
them and went over and above to accommodate them.

Don’t be scared to add more time to do an excellent job - people really don’t mind if you take a day or two longer
(unless they really are in a hurry).

If it does happen that the client is in a hurry, don’t fear charging a rush fee on top of your normal fee - this is, if you
can do the job in such a short time. Everything comes at a price, so don’t be scared thinking you will chase a potential
customer away. I can guarantee you that if they really are in a hurry, they will probably not have time to shop around
between various designers.

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1.7. Budget

The client won’t necessarily have a set budget and you will need to provide them with a price. I would suggest
creating a basic price list before meeting the client as it makes things more official and people will not try and
negotiate on your price as easily.

I would now guess that your next question would be: but how much do I charge? Well, it obviously depends on your
skill and experience, but I will give you a break down as to how I determine my price and worth.

Considering all the expenses that you need to cover, ranging from monthly subscriptions for design programs, to
rent, internet, the list goes on. You need to make a living.

A lot of designers and craftsmen tend to charge by the hour. I would have to disagree with this, as there are so many
other factors to consider. I personally would rather create a day rate considering that most things take
approximately a day to make. If you have a project that takes you two days to make, well, then simply charge two
days’ rate.

Next, determine how much you feel you are worth. It would be wise to do some research and the internet is a handy
tool to see what other designers charge in your area.

Once you have established what you feel worth, be sure that it covers your expenses as well!
The more experience you gain, the more you can ask.

2. Research & brainstorming

1. Research & brainstorming

You will start off by doing some research on your client by using the information gathered in step 1 above. You
will also look at various design concepts you might want to use as inspiration. Don’t put too much pressure on
yourself to come up with a brand-new idea that has never been thought of as it is virtually almost impossible. We
will always be inspired by something, just don’t copy it verbatim and rather make it more personalised.

Once you have gathered enough research and inspiration, you can start to conceptualise ideas. I normally have a
small booklet at hand where I doodle all my ideas, kind of the same way you did when coming up with a logo for
our friend Fred’s coffee shop. Don’t move on over to the computer just yet, unless you’re a digital doodler. I
however find it easier to start on a piece of paper and just go wild.

2. Thumbnails

There is a difference between doodling and actual thumbnails. Doodling as mentioned, falls under the
brainstorming phase and this is simply a phase where you can let your imagination be free. Thumbnails happen
right after the doodling phase. This is a more refined way of compiling your ideas and coming up with a final hand
drawn concept before moving onto the digital phase.

3. Production

We finally reach the second last phase and only now do you begin to work on your computer. This is when you
take your thumbnail ideas and digitise them. Most often than not, you will even still have changes being applied
to your designs, so don’t sweat it. This is totally normal, and I often do it as well.

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4. Present

This is when you are confident with your artwork and thus will now present it to your client. When presenting
your artwork, try and make it as appealing as possible. We can do this by using mock-ups to showcase our
artwork. We will get into this at a later stage but basically a mock-up is a file you can either create yourself or
download and present your artwork on it. It can be in the form of a business card or window branding. It helps
your client to visualise the potential your concept has and can also help your work look a lot more professional
than simply sending the artwork as is.

Right after the presenting phase, be prepared to go back to the research and brainstorming phase as your client
might want some changes made - this is a normal process for the design cycle to follow and if you have a good
understanding with your client, it should not happen too many times.

Meet your client at a place where you are comfortable. This will help you to feel more confident and at ease. You
don’t need a space or studio at home, you can simply meet them at your favourite coffee shop.

Adobe Illustrator

As the name implies, Adobe Illustrator is a digital illustration program mostly used for branding and
typography. This is the program designers use to create logos, business cards, letterheads, brochures, posters,
banners...the list goes on. We use Illustrator most of the times, so it is a good starting point for anyone wanting to
become a graphic designer. I will familiarise you with Illustrator, so it might be a good idea to get a pen and paper
ready now as I will teach you some awesome shortcuts as well.

(Please follow the lesson to see this demo)

This is what the result looks like. As you can identify, we have a combination mark here where either the name
can be used or simply the F with the crown, which identifies as a letter mark. What I would like you to do is to
come up with your own coffee shop logo.

Figure 12: New logo created for Fred’s coffee shop making use of Adobe Illustrator. The mock-up on the right has been
designed using resources from Freepik.com

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I would like you to utilise the skills you learned in Illustrator so far and create yet another logo for a coffee shop.
You don’t need to use the name Fred and can use any name you want to. If you get stuck on the name part, you
can simply use your own name and see how you can use that creatively.

If you would like, share your logo on social media with the #shawlogodesign.

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