The Secret Life of Logos: Behind the Design of 80 Great Logos (Hardcover)

by Leslie Cabarga (Author) "A story of tears, laughter, triumph, exultation and occasionally too, the heartbreak of rejection..." (more)
Key Phrases: final logo, logo comps, original logo, Art Deco, Morgan Road, Rick Sato (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Valuable Insight Into What Makes a Logo Work

*Subject of logos is one of three top-selling areas in design books
*From the respected author of Logo, Font and Lettering Bible
*Provides insight into successful logos by showing previous iterations

With a convenient horizontal format, The Secret Life of Logos showcases a spectrum of logos (including rejected versions of the logo) allowing readers to determine what leads to a successful design. Featuring hundreds of logos never seen before, the book visually showcases the creative process behind each logo’s development, and the behind-the-scenes decision making done by designers and clients."

About the Author
Leslie Cabarga is the author of over two dozen books on design, including Longo, Font and Lettering Bible, The Designer’s Guide to Color Combinations, and The Designer’s Guide to Global Color Combinations. He's been an illustrator and designer since 1970.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: How (February 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581808682
• ISBN-13: 978-1581808681
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #365,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!!, July 3, 2007

By	Diane "shyrelease" (midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book for my daughter who is studying computer graphics. I started paging through it and I couldn't put it down! It is interesting, creative, and very inspiring. It gives you a sense that it's okay to make mistakes during the process and mistakes sometimes spark more creativity. It really displays the importance of "listening" to your client. Listening is the inspiration for creativity. I loved seeing the logos that weren't selected and why they weren't and also the story behind the ones that were chosen and why they were.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for teaching or inspiration, May 20, 2007

By	P. Schaefer "Artist" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those in the design field and those just entering it, this is the perfect book for taking you step-by-step through the process of designing a logo as described by some of the world's best designers. With a little humor and a truck load of useful information, the editor (himself a designer with a few of his logos also in the book) interviews each designer finding out their tricks of the trade and how they get inspiration. The best advice comes in how to deal with difficult clients and what to do when your logo, though awesome, doesn't make the final cut. A must read for all designers of every level.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Logo Book I've Seen, November 19, 2008

By	T. Victor "embersyc" (Detroit) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stumbled upon this one in a real world bookstore and it jumped out at me right away. This book features various rejected designs for actual logos and the final accepted logo, as well as a story from each designer on what the client wanted, and why the rejected designs got rejected. A great book for helping you understand the design process and hopefully to help you get past those rejections. A surprising thing you'll see is that often the best designs are not chosen as the logo. My only complaint with the book is that is too short, would've loved some more examples.