How To Create A Cubist Style Logo Design in Illustrator

How To Create a Cubist Style Logo Design in Illustrator
http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-a-cubist-style-log...
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Follow this logo design process walkthrough to see the making of a cubist style logo design made up of lots of detailed vector facets. Not only will we be creating the actual design in Adobe Illustrator, but Ill also be describing the whole logo design process in this tutorial, from the initial sketches right through to finishing off the final design.
(http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk /wp-content/uploads/2011/raven/raven-logo.jpg)
The logo were creating as part of this tutorial is a trendy Cubist style logo made up of lots of detailed elements to form an larger object. The design is based on a fictional brand or company named Raven, but the whole process is the same for a live client (just without the infinite cycle of changes and revisions!). Well first create the full colour logo in all its glory with gradients and effects, then tone back the logo to create flat and mono versions to provide a versatile design for use in any situation.
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Its worth starting any logo design project with a sketch. Our fictional brand of raven is simply going to be based on the Raven breed of bird, but for live projects you may need to brainstorm ideas on how to visually represent a companys values. Sketch out a some basic raven poses to find a typical profile that would be easily recognisable at small scales. Curved lines can lead to the profile being mistaken for a seagull or a pigeon, so stick to sharp lines to relate to that predator nature of ravens and crows.
Once youre happy with your overall silhouette or profile open up Adobe Illustrator and draw your outline with the pen tool using simply clicks. Trace a stock photograph to ensure you capture all the necessary proportions.
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The design were creating is based on the cubist style to spice up the design with some fancy effects. Draw intersecting lines between each corner point of the outline.
Add a range of intersecting lines until the design is made up of plenty of facets. Dont go too far though as any tiny facets will be lost at small scales, which is generally how logos are used. Select all the intersecting lines and press CMD+8 to create a Compound Path.
Select both the compound path lines and the overall outline and hit the Divide option from the Pathfinder palette. Right click and Ungroup the objects.
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Set up a series of colour blocks to form a simple palette, then fill the individual shapes of your cubist design with these colours.
Once all the segments have been filled make a duplicate of the design. Well package up this flat colour version of the logo with the final files. Make a copy of the swatches and replace the fills of each block with subtle gradients.
Replace all the flat colour segments with their gradient counterpart, then go through each individual shape with the Gradient tool to adjust the direction of the gradient flow.
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The main logo symbol is complete, so we can now move onto the type. A series of sans-serif contestants were laid out to compare their overall form. The more realist styles with the straight leg of the letter R seem to have a more modern and stylish appearance that suits the straight lines of the logo symbol.
One clear winner out of all the fonts is the Futura (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3567583-6642797?url=http%3A%2F %2Fwww.fonts.com%2Ffindfonts%2FSearchPage.htm%3Fkid%3DFutura) typeface. Its sharp points relate well to the clean lines used in the creation of the raven symbol.
Next its time to combine both the type and the logo. Positioning the raven symbol facing away from the type leaves an awkward space between the two elements, whereas the breast and head naturally surround the first letter when its faced in the opposite direction.
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Finally the type and symbol are balanced in size by scaling the type to 1/3 of the overall size of the symbol. The tracking is also increased to increase the spacing between each letter to match the whitespace between the two objects.
The full colour logo will be the primary design used in most situations, but its always worth creating flat and mono versions for ultra small sizes or when inverted on a black background.
(http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk /wp-content/uploads/2011/raven/raven-logo.jpg)
All the designs can then be exported and compiled into a complete package and handed over to the client. The final layout shows the full colour primary logo, the flat and mono versions and the cubist style pattern,
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which could be used in any additional branding, such as the website design, business cards or stationery. Download the source file (http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/login)
Written by Chris Spooner Chris Spooner is a designer who has a love for creativity and enjoys experimenting with various techniques in both print and web. Follow Chris' daily design links on Twitter (http://twitter.com/chrisspooner) , and be sure to check out his second blog over at Line25.com (http://line25.com) .
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44 Comments
Jorden Tually says: December 5, 2011 at 7:12 am Very very lovely. Classic Spooner Pattern as well!
Raj Mehta says: December 14, 2011 at 6:50 am Awesome :)
Kzr says: December 5, 2011 at 9:51 am Classy logo!
Martin Fabricius says: December 5, 2011 at 1:02 pm Nice work, Mr. Spooner!
Arron Davies says: December 5, 2011 at 1:04 pm Awesome tut, really digging that cubist style! Nice one Chris.
Krishna says: December 5, 2011 at 1:37 pm Very nice!! the right level/amount of gradient use and nice balance of text versus image
Sanjay Mistry says: December 5, 2011 at 1:56 pm Clean and simple, brilliant!
BSL GraFiX says: December 5, 2011 at 2:26 pm nice work Chris. also you should show your audience how you would save it for client (use). I seen several tutorials of how the design concept started and finish but never the third act the prestige when its ready for delivery to client.
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Deepesh says: December 8, 2011 at 3:49 am I would also love to see how to would be handling the delivery stage. Curious.
Chris says: December 5, 2011 at 4:40 pm I am actually going to break from battlefield to make one. Its just awesome
laura says: December 5, 2011 at 5:24 pm thanks so much for this great tutorial, its easy to understand and super-professional and pretty looking yet again. FAB! (: oh, btw, i was really proud because i thought the futura would work very well with this logo before i read about your choice, hehe.
Peter Peterson says: December 5, 2011 at 10:11 pm Awesome. I love to see what the creative process looks like. Did you know you wanted to go the cubist route before you started sketching or was that decision made after you decided on the bird to use (obviously the silhouette) ?
pauly says: December 6, 2011 at 2:37 am Thank you so much for this tutorial dude. I was trying really hard to get this effect but failed and went ahead and handed over a logo I wasnt happy with. Since viewing this tutorial Ive updated the logo. It suits the project so well now. Again, thank you! Heres a link to the project artwork http://www.behance.net/gallery/Black-Ice-Productions/2588673
(http://www.behance.net/gallery/Black-Ice-Productions/2588673)
Men says: December 6, 2011 at 7:06 am The tutorial very details. Thank you so much, I love your Blog.
Green LED Bulb says: December 6, 2011 at 7:16 am Appreciate it a whole lot due to this course boy. When i seemed to be hoping really challenging for getting that consequence although was unable in addition to journeyed onward in addition to handed over some sort of brand When i wasnt very happy with. Due to the fact observing that course Ive kept up to date this brand. The item meets this challenge and so very well at this point. All over again, appreciate it!
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Bruceton Pokiforth says: December 6, 2011 at 7:24 am Inspired by this, Chris? http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/a_hummingbird_with_bite.php
(http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/a_hummingbird_with_bite.php)
Anshul Malhan says: December 20, 2011 at 8:30 am The humming bird in your link is a rip off of the freelancer.com logo.
jigs says: December 6, 2011 at 8:31 am great workits really helpful.. thank you :-)
Nisha says: December 6, 2011 at 8:32 am wow thanks a lot for this tut! always wondered about the technique used! will try this def :)
Steven Van Loy says: December 6, 2011 at 9:20 am Great tutorial. The shape of the bird is just perfect. Keep it up!
Nicki Fitz-Gerald says: December 6, 2011 at 10:49 am Another great tutorial Chris. All ideas clearly and succinctly explains. Love your work and you sharing it with us. Inspiring!
Sanjay says: December 6, 2011 at 11:37 am Cool technique Chris! Will try that today and see what I came up with.
Pupixel says: December 6, 2011 at 2:15 pm Great tutorial.. nice inspiration!! Tnx
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Dzinepress says: December 6, 2011 at 2:46 pm lovely dimensional view as im getting result of this creative tutorial. thanks
Don Richie says: December 6, 2011 at 5:17 pm Very nice. I like this
Gustavs says: December 6, 2011 at 6:32 pm Those colors, along with the minimalistic look make that logo a perfect example of clean and simple design. Thanks and keep making more of these :)
Stedesign says: December 6, 2011 at 9:43 pm Nice work and the tutorial very detailed. Thanks
Sharon says: December 7, 2011 at 12:41 am Nice tut. I am officially inspired.
elisa says: December 7, 2011 at 3:51 pm nice!, as always :-)
Miguel says: December 7, 2011 at 11:17 pm Very useful and informative article. Thank you for sharing it with us.
watercolor says: December 7, 2011 at 11:28 pm Fun! Just made a robin in nice wintery colours, so pretty! Thanks for that, cant wait for the next one!
Deepesh says: December 8, 2011 at 3:49 am
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Its awesome. Simple and smooth technique with a great impact.
Jacqueline L. says: December 9, 2011 at 6:47 pm This is an excellent tutorial and gives great tips on balance.
razmi says: December 10, 2011 at 5:18 am LIKE IT
RapeTheCake says: December 10, 2011 at 7:33 am wow, sometimes i think its difficult omake a cubist logo its done now ! thanks chris :D
bryan johnston says: December 10, 2011 at 11:56 am great tutorial, simple but very useful!!
Stuart Wigzell says: December 11, 2011 at 9:19 am Hi, Tried to get the zip file and even signed up but it says there is an error.
Wocon says: December 13, 2011 at 4:14 am Muy interesante, voy a linkarlo!
Alessandro says: December 14, 2011 at 7:47 pm Simply awesome Chris! Thanks!
Diogo Dantas says: December 18, 2011 at 12:59 am Thank you very much! Very nice tutorial.
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Renan Gomes says: December 19, 2011 at 5:09 pm That`s nice. Thanks for the tutorial
isso says: December 23, 2011 at 9:41 pm its greatthank you!!
soulmenj says: December 25, 2011 at 3:01 am this is awesome! :) Chris
mackson says: December 28, 2011 at 9:27 am I love this origami style bird logo. I will try my best to learn maximum from this post.
Comments are now closed.
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