Especially when I don’t possess an ounce of graphic design ability…
Fairly straightforward needs, I think. I’m starting an ezine type site, which will be called Peek. It will be entertainment-focused, with an emphasis on behind-the-scenes information. The only thing that springs to mind at the moment is using the word “peek” (probably in lower case letters) with the Es made to look like eyes. Seems a little cheesy though.
At any rate, I want it to look “fun” without being juvenile. My main demographic will probably be the late-teen to 30 something crowd, so something hip but slightly elegant looking is my aim. I just have no idea how to go about designing this.
Purple works well for elegance - it shows loyalty, and a lighter shade is appealing to younger people. Blue also shows elegance and professionalism, but the shade of blue used in the ‘eek!’ and ‘frown’ smileys here on the board are used often on the net in logos for newer, hip companies like LiveJournal.
As for the logoshape, I’d recommend finding a royalty-free font to use that looks a little more edgy. I like the dropshadow, but the 3D effect looks corny. Sans-serif fonts read better on computer screens and look younger.
What kushniel said, but I’ll throw in that pretty much any of those layer effects in Photoshop need to be used sparingly and with clear intent when they’re used. Just throwing effects onto type usually looks amateurish.
Also, you may want to do your logo in a program like Illustrator. The vector based artwork never looses quality when resized and adjusted, even when blown up huge. It looks a lot better in print, as well. I realize this is a web-based 'zine for now, but you never know if you’ll want to get business cards, stationary, or a poster done.
If all else fails, higher a graphic designer to do one for ya for $100. A logo is hugely important to any website that wants to be worth anything… its worth doing right.
Doesn’t matter at that size. The “sans-serif” for computers rule is meant for small text, where the serifs interfere with the pixel pattern to make the text hard to read. Above 12 pixel font sizes, it won’t matter much, and above 20 it won’t matter at all.
Even the original rule is starting to fade now that many apps can antialias the fonts, although many people find antialiased fonts “blurry,” and don’t like them.
It’s true that san-serif fonts are associated with newness and “hipness,” but the serif ones are associated with elegance. Since he wants both, I think he could go either way.
Thanks for the input - it’s definitely a help! Like I said, my graphic design abilities are null… and hiring a designer at this stage isn’t in my budget yet. But I definitely appreciate the advice.
Avoid, avoid, AVOID font effects–except possibly an outline, if it works for you. Drop shadows and embossed text pretty much say “amateur” unless you really know your stuff. Pick a nice font, and tighten up the kerning–move the letters closer together, but don’t smoosh them. Eyeball the amount of spacing until it looks good. Really, many professional logos don’t have any graphic effects, just a nice font well set.
