5 Steps To Logo Design

Things to consider for a logo.

The logo is one of the most important aspects of your organization. It is the face of your company. People are going to remember your brand by the look, the presentation and appearance of the logo.

The organization is more important than an individual or a team. The individuals may change, the team can be changed but the business must go on to last for many years to come. How do you choose a universally appealing timeless logo for a business venture that appeals to a larger audience sometimes being loved not only in a small community or country but over continents all over the world?

When a logo is such an important aspect of your business other than the name and quality of the product, what are the important ingredients to choose and to use to give it that grand "Look"?

Out of many important things to consider about the logo I am going to discuss the TOP 5 RULES.

Before you even consider designing a logo consider the following carefully.
#1 First of all note down the qualities and values of your business or organization.

#2 Identify your target customers. Do you know your customers well?

#3 What are the services and products do you offer? 

The look of your logo will depend on the all these things put together.

Let us assume that the name has already been chosen.

Before we even start to keep one important rule in mind.

"KEEP IT SIMPLE"

Now that we have clearly put this rule above all the rules let us discuss the 5 rules.

#1 Appearance

A logo should be pleasing to the eye. When you take a look at a logo it should have a striking look. It should appeal in such a way that one can remember it. Logos are meant to leave a deep impression on the mind and memory. 

#2 Font

The font should be a clear typeface with serif or sans serif. These days many organizations use sans serif fonts.

This is not a good example of a logo.

Curved alphabets are sending confusing signals.

The most loved and famous logos are the ones that do not have intrinsic or complex details that make it difficult for the human mind to remember it. The font should be easy, clear and readable from a close-up and from a distance. It should be a font that is visible in any font size be it small or large.

The above example is a simple font but so many curves used with logo D that it makes it difficult to imitate.

#3 Color

Modern logos carry hidden, subtle and also many obvious meanings to the logo to stir emotions. 

For example, Orange and Yellow are connected to food and it can make a person feel hungry. The black colour is mysterious and classy. Blue colour emanates soothing and calm effect. Red is for energy and action. White can stir emotions of peaceful nature. Green is for herbs and mother earth. Pink for passion. Purple is for royalty and deep loving emotion. By now you can understand how the colours work on the emotions and hence colour is the most essential step in determining the look of a logo.

#4 Shape

A logo can be the name of the company itself or some companies like to choose a symbol with the name of the company. 

A circle gives the sense of a community. Squares or rectangles or lines with sharp edges are masculine in nature. Curves are usually associated with feminine products. Triangle is associated with power. These can be used to decide the shape of a logo. 

Best examples are Apple logo with a bite or facebook logo with alphabet f placed towards the right side inside a square with rounded edges. Human mind perceives things in shapes and sizes. Hence a shape is very important to represent the product in the logo.

#5 The Golden Ratio 1.6

Since ancient times mankind has been in awe regarding the universe. The beautiful plants, flowers, the human body and animals. It is believed that the most beautiful things in the whole universe are based on this Golden Ratio of 1.6. 

A logo should be clearly visible in small size as well as big size. Some logos with script font are not readable when the size is reduced. Such things should be taken into consideration when designing a timeless logo.

Armed with the knowledge of these rules one should give a close look at the mission statement of the company, the spirit of the company and the product they want to sell or portray. Then keeping these values of the company in mind one should use the rules to design a logo.

Let us say you want to start a business of fashion products then the logo should be stylish for example Chanel. It has a classy symbol logo with two half rings conjoined together.

If it's jewellery product then use a more classy font that appears to be handwritten, more personalized for example Cartier which uses a semi script font.

One can use sans serif fonts keeping in mind the budget oriented products.

There are no hard and fast rules for using a script or straight fonts for luxury or budget oriented products. But one can use these rules as guidelines to come up with a logo matching with the product and mission statement and values of the company.

After a beautiful and meaningful logo is created one must work on presenting the business to the world by branding the business.

The Queer Minister

It's a simple story that presents complex solutions in simple ways by shifting the focus to "We - the team" instead of "I - the individual" in order to do anything one wants to do. As it is rightly said, "the way you do anything is the way you do everything". At some places, it puts emphasis on the need to be an individual too as per the circumstances.

The Queer Minister

There was a man named Andy. He was a traveller.

He came from a distant land and he was visiting this beautiful prosperous kingdom. He had heard a lot about this kingdom, its beauty, its lifestyle and how people were happy and peaceful in it.

When he reached the kingdom he came to know that the King used to enjoy, indulge in drinking and throwing parties all the time. When Andy learnt this he wondered if the King was so incompetent, then how come the kingdom had prospered so much? He further inquired and talked to the people and was told that the Chief minister of the kingdom was a very wise person who took care of the administration and he was the main reason behind the secret of prosperity and happiness of the kingdom.

Andy was much impressed by what he had heard about this Chief minister and thought of meeting him so he went to his office near the palace. He told the gatekeepers that he wanted to meet their Chief Minister but the gatekeepers refused him and told him to go away as Chief minister didn’t meet anyone without a prior appointment. 

Andy told them that he had come from a distant land and had brought a special message from his King for this kingdom. Hearing this the gatekeepers told him that the Chief minister was not in the city and that he should wait for the minister to come back. But Andy was impatient and curious to meet this minister as soon as possible. So he asked them where could he meet the wise minister? The gatekeepers pointed towards a steep hill to the side of the royal palace and said the minister had gone to the temple up there on the hill.

Andy decided to go to the top of the hill to meet this minister. The hill was steep and it was very difficult to climb it straight up. So Andy decided to follow a narrow path that was going around the hill. The path had a gradual slope to the top of the hill. 

Andy reached the top of the hill in an hour and a half. On reaching the top he saw there was only one main building having a huge round space. Andy saw two gatekeepers guarding the main gate of the temple.

The entrance to the temple was visible to Andy and he could see inside the temple. The Chief minister was sitting in the middle of the temple space. It was a very strange sight as there were no statues or decorations inside the space and it was empty with the minister sitting at its centre.

Andy was very thirsty but he could not find water anywhere at the top of the hill. He asked the gatekeepers if they could tell him where to find water to drink, but they told him there was no arrangement of food or water there. Andy tried to go inside the temple but the guards stopped him and told him to wait for the minister. 

As Andy was very tired and thirsty, he sat near the entrance and kept waiting for the minister to finish whatever he was doing sitting inside that empty space.

After some 2 hours, the minister got up and came out of the temple and started to leave. Andy hurriedly got up and offered greetings and salutations. Andy introduced himself, gave the message of his King to the minister and requested to have an audience with him for few minutes. 

Seeing that Andy had climbed such a steep hill to come and meet him the minister was impressed. He agreed to spare few minutes for Andy and gave him some water to drink. Andy noticed that the minister was carrying his own water with him. 

Andy sought few explanations regarding some strange things that he had noticed there. The minister agreed to answer his questions so Andy asked the following questions and said Mister Minister please tell me:-

Question#1. How come the kingdom is so prosperous even when the King is not so keen on taking care of the kingdom and is always busy in enjoying and partying?

Question#2 Why the temple is built on such a steep hill-top and away from the city?

Question#3 Even though it's called a temple there was nothing that would qualify the building for a temple. It had empty space then how come it’s a temple?

Question#4 Why there was no arrangement of food or water at the top of the hill?

Hearing these questions the minister smiled and then told Andy to listen carefully.  

Answer#1 The kingdom is prosperous because the people of the country love it a lot and work hard for it. They follow a team of wise ministers who take good care of the kingdom and the people therein. 

The people and the team of ministers think it as one team, one family. Even if one fruit is rotten the rest of them take care of their garden. The overall garden is still prosperous with abundance and sweet fruits.

Answer#2 The temple is built away from the city on the top of a hill so that one can think about things in peace away from the hustle bustle of the city. 

One can actually plan about the solutions to the problems of the kingdom in tranquillity and meditate in solitude. It was worth the effort to climb to the top and be able to think properly while resting in the hall.

The long walk gave the mind ample time to brood over the problems and help the person to focus deeply to find solutions while walking.

Answer#3 The minister said that he respects the holy temples with statues to pray to beloved God. But he likes to come in this temple to meditate and find solutions here.The minister further added that in order to connect to God it is very good but not necessary to pray to the statues or meditate through other things in a temple. Your simple and very strong love from the heart is enough to help you reach God and He hears all the prayers whether they are done in a proper holy temple with statues or inside an empty hall. 

The minister also said that the most important thing is "to keep it simple". The more the things are kept simple the better is the administration and management. 

He said that as the things are kept simple in the kingdom there are not many expenses incurred and hence the cost to run the kingdom is low. This is the main reason they have a surplus amount of funds to run the kingdom efficiently.

Answer#4 The minister answered his fourth question in a very nice way and said when you set to go on a journey be it short or long you should not depend on others and should carry your own stuff with you. 

Be it water or food or clothes. One should keep the luggage light but should carry essentials all the time as per needs. 

He said to Andy that you are a stranger in this city you should not depend on anyone and should be ready to do things independently. He told Andy to look at him even though he is a minister he carries his own water and food when he comes to the hill. He did not have special guards or people serving him to carry his food, water or bag to accompany him. He also told Andy if you embark on a voyage you should do all the research before you set out on a journey.

The minister asked Andy if he climbed the steep side of the hill or took the narrow gradual slope to go round about the hill to get to the top. After knowing that Andy had taken the gradual round about path he lauded the efforts that Andy had put in to reach the top of the hill. 

The minister further added that an important lesson learnt even in that climb is that one should break down a problem into small parts and should gradually deal with it in order to accomplish a long term goal.

~~~~ The End ~~~~~~

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An Indian In Chicago Area

The Windy City Chicago

Chicago has a special place in my heart and in my life because I landed at the O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois to arrive in the USA. After that, I visited Chicago many times while going to different cities. It was the centre point of my travelling in the country.

My first impression of the Chicago city was that it had so many high rise buildings. The skyscrapers of Chicago give the city its unique look and the winds blowing through its streets give a wonderful feeling. It is rightly called the windy city.

The Willis Tower, built as and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 108-story, 1,450-foot (442.1 m) skyscraper in Chicago.

The Beautiful Chicago skyline. Picture was taken from Speed Dog boat cruise ride

There are many attractions in Chicago. One of them is Seadog Cruises that run some thrilling speedboat and cruise boat rides. I took the Chicago Lakefront tour. It starts from Navy Pier Chicago and the host on board tell you interesting facts about the pier and Chicago lake-front while playing some cool music. 

Chicago Harbour Lighthouse at the mouth of Chicago River on Lake Michigan was built in 1832.

Going on for a car ride in Chicago is a different feeling, It's the windy city and during summer times the sun sets at around 8:30 PM which means there is daylight till 9 PM sometimes till 9:30 PM too.

As Chicago is a big city there is a lot of traffic in Chicago. The city does get its share of traffic jams but the traffic keeps moving at a snail's pace. This picture was taken from the 9th floor of a hotel.

Chicago at night is a beautiful city. The picture quality is not good but it gives you some idea about the look of the city at night.

A building construction going on in Chicago. They construct one storey on the top of the building using tower cranes and keep adding floors one by one. A tower crane machine is seen at the top of the building in this picture.

A Living Statue Artist is a street performer who poses as statue or mannequin sometimes standing for hours at a time in a single pose. 

Chicago River Walk entrance and the two corn cob shaped buildings towards the left are Marina City Parking. The Marina City was the first building in the USA to be built with tower cranes. It was completed between 1964 and 1968 at a cost of $36 million.

A Matte Of Heart

A Matter of Heart - By Cynthia Jones

Anna Kalb barely acknowledged Dr. Bureš as he entered her hospital room and checked her pulse and listened to her heart.

Putting away the stethoscope, said, “I have news, Mrs. Kalb. We have a donor.”

A light flickered in her sunken eyes. “Oh, thank god, when?”

“The heart is being couriered here now. We'll get you prepped and be ready for when it arrives.”

“Please call Tim and tell him.”

Timothy Kalb was in his office when the call came. When he heard the doctor's news he collapsed back into his chair.

“Just when it was almost too late. Thank you, doctor. Tell her I'm on my way.”

He dropped the phone and rushed out, calling to the receptionist. “Finally she got a donor. I'll phone you.”

Hurrying out of the parking garage, he grazed the back corner of a red Celica leaving a long blue streak on it and peeling red paint down to the metal. He stopped, then muttered, “I don't have time for this.”

 “Besides, they have insurance and it can't hurt this old crate anymore,” he thought as he stomped on the accelerator and wove around two cars squeezing back in while barely missing the delivery truck in the next lane. At the last second, he hit the brakes and squealed into a turn, whipping the protesting Chrysler onto a one-way street just ahead of the oncoming traffic.

They had both become resigned to the likelihood that no donor would be found in time to help Anna, now they suddenly had the possibility of a future together. Tim's only thought was to see her eyes just one more time before she entered the operating room. They had to step into their new lives together.

The instant the traffic light turned green he hammered on the horn.

 “Come on, come on. What are you waiting for? It's green. Move!” He passed the offending car and groaned to see that the next light had already turned yellow. He sped up and his old clunker coasted through just as it turned red.

“I'm coming. I'll be there,” he thought as he planned for them to take that cruise they had always wanted to go on. It would be the perfect way for Anna to regain her strength, relaxing in the sun and fresh air.

The engine roared as he accomplished another tight maneuver around an SUV with a boat trailer. “Maybe it's time we even got a new car.”

The next light also turned yellow, but emboldened by his last success, he sped up and prepared to whiz through it too. The light changed sooner than he anticipated but he couldn't stop in time so he took the other option and jammed his foot all the way to the floor and tried to squeak through. As he sped into the crossing, it seemed he was going to make it until he saw a yellow pick-up coming from his left.

Tim couldn't react but the driver of the truck slammed on his brakes and, screaming black marks onto the pavement, stopped just in time for Tim to speed by, mouth and eyes wide, staring at the shining grill just outside his own window.

The first thing Tim realized was that he was still alive. The second was that he was still holding his breath.

“Calm down, idiot,” he thought, breathing deeply and deliberately. “It's only three blocks. Better get there alive. You've got a future now; don't lose it by being stupid.”

The traffic near the hospital finally forced him into a more cautious pace but was rocking with frustration. He was more cautious of the parking garage, jerked the car into the first available parking space, and sprinted for the hospital.

Dr. Bureš greeted Tim in the hall. “Mr. Kalb, I was just going to phone you.”

Tim's heart was thumping. “She's ok, isn't she? Did they take her in already? Can I see her?”

The doctor took a steadying breath. “Yes, she's in her room. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“What is it?”

“Mr. Kalb, there's a problem with the donor heart.”

“Problem? What kind of problem?”

“There was an accident,” he said flatly. “I'm sorry Mr. Kalb, but the heart was destroyed.”

“What? How? By who?”

“The police are looking for the one responsible. All I can tell you is that a car pulled out in front of the courier van causing it to swerve into a semi. The police are looking for a blue Chrysler Imperial with a dented passenger side and a red streak of paint.”

~The End~

The 7 Instructions & Inspirations

Earlier we thought to share these instructions in an ebook to those readers who will subscribe our blog and newsletter. Considering the immense benefits, we enjoyed using these life-saving instructions and inspirations we decided to share them in our LASOINS CARE BLOG here. Please follow the instructions and enjoy healthy, peaceful and happy life. 

It may appear that we have already talked about these instructions time and again but we want to assure you when you will practice them in your life, again and again, to make good habits and utilize these golden words to enjoy a disciplined, peaceful and having fewer hassles in your life.