Designing Logos: The Process of Creating Symbols That Endure [Paperback]

Jack Gernsheimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008

In this comprehensive guide, learn what it takes to create an enduring symbol.

How to design great logos, step by step by step.

* Lavishly illustrated with 750 color images
* How-tos, case studies, and detailed analysis of well-known logos

What makes a logo good? What makes it bad? What makes it great? The entire process of logo design is examined, from the initial client interview to brainstorming, from first presentation to delivery of the final standards manual. Through 750 color illustrations, classic logos are analyzed, and readers will learn a thirteen-point system for measuring the effectiveness of any logo. Learn about the uses of positive and negative space, balance, color, and typography; follow intriguing case studies; discover how to make effective presentations to clients. Designers, marketing and branding specialists, educators, and students everywhere need this definitive guide to creating great logos. 750 Color Illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Review

I’m reading Jack Gernsheimer’s wonderful book to help me with current assignments that include rebranding and redesigning logos and web sites for two companies. I am so impressed I can barely find the words. Well I can find them; I just don’t have time for that lengthy a review because I’m on deadline. But I will say this: I predict this will be THE book that is used in art schools/colleges and will endure as being such. I am not even half of the way through and I’ve learned so much already (including what mistakes I’ve already made with at least one client). The client questionnaire (on pages 32-33) alone is worth the price of admission.      As I began to read, my first impression was that it is beautifully written and eloquent. My other first impression is how thorough, thoroughly informative, instructive and hugely helpful it is to anyone trying to fulfill the needs of the professional logo designer. Jack Gernsheimer has offered what seems to be all he knows, all his secrets, all that it took to make him the consummate professional designer he is. It strikes me as gift he is giving the world (at least the graphic design world). It’s as though he is passing on his very essence - all he has ever learned and done - for generations to come, really for the ages. Reading this is as good as taking a top level college course in logo and graphic design. It is written through a voice that quite resembles a sage elder-statesman college professor. But it is also written with warmth and almost an avuncular human touch. It’s as though you feel the presence and support of someone who really cares that you succeed and will hold your hand through the process.      I have been reading Designing Logos – The Process Of Creating Symbols That Endure very slowly, trying to absorb the enormous amount of essential information, and yet I can’t wait to get to the end, to get to all that awaits me. Oh, did I mention that the book’s page layout and overall design is beautiful? This is a gorgeous book and one I will treasure. Highly recommended! (Andy Lackow, 3D illustrator and animator )

About the Author

Jack Gernsheimer, the cofounder of Partners Design, has designed nearly 500 logos for clients ranging from one-person start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. A contributor to Communication Arts, Graphis, Print, Novum, and other publications, he lives in Bernville, PA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1 edition (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581156499
• ISBN-13: 978-1581156492
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Commercial > Branding & Logo Design

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Born of Intelligent Thought February 12, 2009

By Jane Palmer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jack Gernsheimer's new book Designing Logos is more than a must-read for graphic designers and educators. It is that, for the book is a vital exploration of how (and how not) to create lasting identities, described by someone with talent, a discerning mind, and decades of experience. Designing Logos should also be read by anyone planning or commissioning a logo, and indeed, by anyone with an interest in this most ubiquitous art form. It begins with a look at logos through the ages--starting, refreshingly, with ancient Egyptian letterforms--and at what makes a logo good (hint: it must be "born of intelligent thought"). Gernsheimer then goes on to outline the entire painstaking but not necessarily painful design process, including interviewing the client, early design exploration and refinement, client presentations, applications to diverse media, and last but not least, the standards manual. This alone would be invaluable to anyone involved in logo design, but the book is also a terrific read. A fascinating timeline of classic logos stretches from Steinway & Sons lyre (1865) and the everlasting GE (1890) to H&R Block's elegant green square (2000) and National Geographic's gold frame (2002). In between, we come to understand that Chase Manhattan Bank's powerful and mysteriously dimensional octagonal, for example, contains references to Han dynasty coins and the Mobius strip. Mr. Gernsheimer has designed hundreds of logos himself, and he generously takes us behind the scenes to see up close the early explorations, alternatives and subtle meanings. The story of the Carpenter Technologies logo featured on the cover--concentric, progressively refined Cs wrought in red-hot iron--is alone worth the modest price. In Designing Logos, Gernsheimer's explanation of the challenges and opportunities of logo design will help young designers avoid unnecessary pitfalls and encourage designers of all levels of experience to strive for greatness in their work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Book on Logo Design October 13, 2009

By The Andyman Can

Format:Paperback

I'm reading Jack Gernsheimer's wonderful book to help me with current assignments that include rebranding and redesigning logos and web sites for two companies. I am so impressed I can barely find the words. Well I can find them; I just don't have time for that lengthy a review because I'm on deadline. But I will say this: I predict this will be THE book that is used in art schools/colleges and will endure as being such. I am not even half of the way through and I've learned so much already (including what mistakes I've already made with at least one client). The client questionnaire (on pages 32-33) alone is worth the price of admission.

As I began to read, my first impression was that it is beautifully written and eloquent. My other first impression is how thorough, thoroughly informative, instructive and hugely helpful it is to anyone trying to fulfill the needs of the professional logo designer. Jack Gernsheimer has offered what seems to be all he knows, all his secrets, all that it took to make him the consummate professional designer he is. It strikes me as gift he is giving the world (at least the graphic design world). It's as though he is passing on his very essence - all he has ever learned and done - for generations to come, really for the ages. Reading this is as good as taking a top level college course in logo and graphic design. It is written through a voice that quite resembles a sage elder-statesman college professor. But it is also written with warmth and almost an avuncular human touch. It's as though you feel the presence and support of someone who really cares that you succeed and will hold your hand through the process.

I have been reading Designing Logos - The Process Of Creating Symbols That Endure very slowly, trying to absorb the enormous amount of essential information, and yet I can't wait to get to the end, to get to all that awaits me. Oh, did I mention that the book's page layout and overall design is beautiful? This is a gorgeous book and one I will treasure. Highly recommended!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Recommend June 28, 2009

By Mary J

Format:Paperback

Just finished reading this book and really enjoyed it. It was very helpful from my beginner's point of view to see how a logo is started from a few different alternatives to finally being accepted after an interesting period of evolution. I could just see and "hear" how his mind works in the thought design process. Clever and meaningful without being "in your face".

It came across clearly in his writing in general. The only logo evolution I failed to completely see was in the final design of the Berks County Community Foundation logo. I saw the Pentagon and Pagoda stages, but not sure how the final starburst design was conceived. Seems like there was an in-between stage missing somewhere.

Overall, I felt a sense of inspiration as if I could somehow come up with a great logo after reading all the descriptions and meanings behind all the historical logos you mentioned. Now, I see how much work goes into it unless someone is really lucky on the first shot.

I appreciate the background color selections in the various sections and chapters. It seems like a smooth progression of his favorite colors simply judging from the logos he designed in the book. Jack truly is a master of the gradients!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in learning about logos and doesn't know where to start.