Designing with Shapes

Name: Designing with Shapes
Author: Joseph Tury

Learn what role shapes play in logo creation

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 5 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

In this lesson, you will learn about things to consider when designing the overall shape of your logo. Take a look at some common logo shapes. Circular, elliptical, square, and rectangular. You could argue that the majority of logos fit into these general shapes or could fit into them. ABC and BMW have logo type contained in circular shapes. Ford and Hyundai have more elliptical shaped logos. Domino's, Pizza, and Xbox have used square logos and BIC and Cartoon Network have logos that are more horizontal rectangles. Remember, the shape of the logo isn't necessarily good nor bad, but there are things to consider when designing the overall shape. Number one being, where will the logo be used, and is it workable in every intended media? Perhaps you want to use it everywhere, but there will always be limitations in certain media formats. Let's take the BMW logo for example. I will copy the design and paste it into a 3.5 by 2 inch business card template. Notice this appears large on screen. Think about the size of a business card. Here the logo fits well on the card, but as a whole will only fit about a third of the area. Is it necessary to fill the whole card? No, but keep it in mind, as is, it cannot do so. Now take a look at how it could work on clothing, such as a hoodie. Here you can see the front and back mock-up of a hoodie. I will paste a design and enlarge it roughly to what a typical design would look like. Notice how much of the surface area you can fill. And on the back of the clothing, it could be expanded even further and again fill a large area. Compared to the available space of the rectangular business card, the clothing design is much more conducive for the circular shape. I'll go back to the shape examples, and this time I will copy one of the square designs. If you think about it, a square only takes up slightly more space than a circular design. If I paste the Xbox logo onto the business card and expand it as large as possible, you can see how it fits slightly more than the circular design. As a matter of fact, it doesn't look bad at all, but there still remains a bit of wasted space. And again, it doesn't necessarily have to use the entire card space, but the opportunity to do so doesn't exist. And how does it work on the clothing design? Ignore, if you will, the color choices as I am only using this as an example. For the front, it could easily fill the entire chest area if desired. And much like the circular design, fits a large portion of the backside. Going back to the shape sample, this time I will copy one of the horizontal rectangular logos. And I will first paste it into the business card template. When expanded, the BIC logo takes up the vast majority of the available space, making it more versatile for the business card layout. It could either be smaller or fill the space depending on how the owner would like it presented. It looks fairly fantastic when using as much available space as possible. Very natural looking. Now I will cut and paste it into the clothing template. Much like the circular and square logos on the business card, The rectangular logo looks fine on the hoodie but notice how much less versatility this rectangular shape has on the front. And the backside is not much different. If you wanted to fill up more of the material, additional holes are available.

Intermediate Provider : Joseph Tury 5 Lessons · 25m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

When looking at the thousands of logos that have been created over the years, one thing that may pop out is the variety of shapes that a logo can take. Many logos can be divided into shape categories, while some are unique and complex in overall appearance. Major factors to consider in research and development include where the logo will be used and what attributes it must have in order to work in the media it’s intended for.

In these lessons, we’ll go over what to consider regarding the shape of your logo. Popular logos often involve rectangular or circular designs, and each type has its pros and cons. While neither style is better or worse than the other, we’ll go over some real-world examples and what considerations went into the overall shape of their design. These lessons finish up by exploring complex shape designs and choices in combining type with shapes.

What You'll Learn

Recognize the pros and cons of rectangular and circular logo shapes
Combine shapes to create more complex logo designs
Apply different methods of combining text and shapes in a logo
Evaluate logo shape considerations based on where the logo will be used and the attributes it needs
Analyze real-world examples of rectangular and circular logo designs

Key Takeaways

Many logos can be divided into shape categories, while some are unique and complex in overall appearance.
Major factors in logo research and development include where the logo will be used and what attributes it must have to work in its intended media.
Popular logos often involve rectangular or circular designs, and each type has its own pros and cons.
Neither rectangular nor circular logo styles is inherently better or worse than the other.
The course covers complex shape designs and the choices involved in combining type with shapes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn to recognize the pros and cons of rectangular and circular logo shapes, combine shapes for more complex logo designs, and understand the different methods of combining text and shapes.

What topics does this course cover?

It covers logo shape considerations, designing a rectangular logo, creating a circular logo, combining shapes for complex designs, and type and shape considerations.

Does the course use real examples?

Yes, it goes over real-world examples of rectangular and circular logos and the considerations that went into the overall shape of their design.

What skills does this course help build?

It builds skills in brand design, graphic design, icon design, logo design, type design, and visual design.

Does this course explain how to combine text with shapes?

Yes, the lessons finish by exploring complex shape designs and the different methods of combining type with shapes.