How to Design Logos, Symbols & Icons: 24 Internationally Renowned Studios Reveal How They Develop Trademarks for Print and New Media [Hardcover]

Gregory Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0891349154 | ISBN-13: 978-0891349150 | Publication Date: October 15, 2000

Using case studies, Gregory Thomas traces the steps taken by top designers as their ideas develop into logos, symbols and icons. Highly illustrated the book shows how they evolve a design from initial rough sketch to finished product.'

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This book explores a broad range of design projects, strategies and creative processes. You'll see how marks were designed for banks and non-profit organizations, feature films and churches ... for mergers, globalizations and diversifications. For each project, you'll get the whole story of how the logo, symbol or icon evolved smoothly (or not so smoothly) from the original concept, including:

- where ideas came from, whether instant inspirations or 2am breakthroughs
- different directions that were considered
- how initial roughs were influenced and shaped by the principles of good design and the realities of the client
- how the final design was adapted to use in various formats, from brochures and business cards to trucks and street banners

Includes the design strategies of:
Agnew Moyer Smith for Pittsburgh Children's Museum
Archetype Studio for Eudora
Carbone Smolan Associates for Chicago Orchestra Hall
Carlos Segura for Gene5
Chermayeff & Geysmar for TimeWarner
Enterprise IG for Detroit Edison
frog for frog's new identity
IBM for e-commerce
Imaginary Forces for The Island of Dr. Moreau
Landor Associates for Banco Bradesco
Malcolm Grear Designers for The Presbyterian Church
Metadesign Berlin for Volkswagon
Netscape/ MetaDesign San Francisco for Netcenter
Pentagram New York for Fashion Center New York
Pentagram San Francisco for Sony Metreon
Petrula Vrontikis for Two Lane Media
Qwer for Expo2000Hannover
Raymond Pirouz for Raymond Pirouz Identity
Selbert Perkins Design for L.A. World Airports
Skolos Wedell for Supersonic
Stan Evenson Group for ERAS Center
The Leonhardt Group for Experience Music Project

About the Author

Gregory Thomas is the owner and principal of Gregory Thomas Associates, a Santa Monica-based design consultancy. The award-winning company boasts an international client list that includes CBS, IBM, Levi Strauss & Company, Yale University and MCA/Universal Pictures.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891349154
• ISBN-13: 978-0891349150
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,228,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Response to the reader from Manhattan Beach, CA, February 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Design Logos, Symbols & Icons: 24 Internationally Renowned Studios Reveal How They Develop Trademarks for Print and New Media (Hardcover)

I have to say that I do and don't agree with the reader from Manhattan Beach, CA. I agree that reaching a target audience is very important in any identity system. This book, as stated, is designed not just for the art director or the designer, but for student, the entrepeneur, the marketing manager, the high level executive (i.e. CEO, CMO) Etc. According to the review, this book has achieved that goal with flying colors. I have to disagree with the rest of the review. This book's other goal was to enlighten the reader as to the process behind the final logo. To say that the range of logos in the book is average to excellent misses the whole point. It is not a ranking book like so many other logo books. Each logo was simply supposed to represent the very different processes and solutions possible. They were supposed to inspire the creative process and educate the reader (prospective client maybe) on what the process involves. If you follow the purpose of the book, they each stand on their own as excellent examples of creatively tackling the design process. In reading this book, the Philharmonic example was meant to show that although the computer is heavily used today, some ideas still rely on old solutions. In this case, there is no need to show other concepts. It would be hard to illustrate all the concepts and try to make the same point in four pages. Overall, this is a successful book on branding, identity and design.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a real book about identity and branding, November 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Design Logos, Symbols & Icons: 24 Internationally Renowned Studios Reveal How They Develop Trademarks for Print and New Media (Hardcover)

Had the privilege of getting a preview of this book. The first words to come out of my mouth were, "At last!" This book really explains the thinking behind the design of logos, symbols and icons with a really interesting layout by David La Cava and Julian Bittner. I was so tired of the 'logo' books that list a bunch of pictures without any explanation or step by step process of how the designer came to the final version of the logo and in essence the voice of the company they represent.

This book is not only for the design department, it should be included in the library of the brand manager, the marketing director, the small entrepreneur, the CEO, and anyone else who believes a major key to any successful business is the promotion and building of equity in the corporate ID and Brand Voice. Thank you Mr. Gregory Thomas for taking an intensive look into the creation of successful branding and corporate identification systems.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Coffee Table Than Professional Book, July 8, 2002

By 

Allan - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Design Logos, Symbols & Icons: 24 Internationally Renowned Studios Reveal How They Develop Trademarks for Print and New Media (Hardcover)

How To Design Logos (Forget about symbols and icons, there is maybe two or three pages on these aspects in the book.) is more for a general audience than the professional designer.

It has 24 studios working on projects from large to small. One thing I immediately noticed was the influence of the "net" design style of most of the projects. Having been published in late 2000, before the dot bomb era: this was where the bread and butter for these shops was developing. Alas, now they must go elsewhere and their designs after only a year or two seem dated.

I believe it is a good book for the non-professional. Each project has a small write up on how the design was done. These write up are no way an indepth study of the rendering of the logo. It does have great graphics and examples of the development of the logos.

For the coffee table or non-professional I gave it three stars, but if you are looking for professional advice I would give it two.