HE SECRET BEHIND GOOD LOGO DESIGN – STYLIZATION

For many graphic designers, logo design is no easy task. It therefore helps to know some of the
approaches that experienced designers use to make the job easier. Basically, logo design is the
stylization of objects to make them better fit your own commercial or expressive goals.

Definition of Stylization
Stylization is the generalized representation of different forms – such as people, objects, animals,
plants – with the help of various simplifications that emphasize their most characteristic features.
 The easiest way to stylize a form would be to depict it with all essential characteristics while
avoiding unnecessary details.
 Don’t oversimplify the stylization, which may make it look too childish or primitive.
 For good stylization, place the object in a favorable pose, like a front view or a side-view
profile.
Application of Stylization
As a graphic designer you have to master stylization skills because they are used everywhere.
 Stylization is an essential part of such designs as logos, t-shirts, banner ads, animated
movies, textiles, fashions, patterns, CD covers, book covers, and advertising posters,
packages, brochures, and other formats.
 Do not confuse stylization with graphic reduction.
1. Graphic reduction is simplification of the original version of an object to its essential
parts while preserving its original shape.
Stylization can be defined as transforming an object in many possible ways:
 Simplification – Reducing an object to its essential parts.
 Geometricizing – Simplifying an object according to basic geometric shapes like circles,
squares or triangles.
 Distortion – Distorting an object’s original shape.
 Stylization – Adding design elements which do not belong to the original image, such as
lines, patterns, textures, and colors.
 Abstraction – Beginning the process of removing details that make the object specific to an
interpretation more general and less recognizable.
 Selection – Selecting what parts of an object to emphasize or distort.
 Interpretation - Deciding what message the emphasis or distortion supports.