My name is Michael Shumate and welcome to Logo Design
Theory. Logo Design Theory? What is Logo Design Theory?, you ask.
It is the underlying, foundational, bedrock principles of branding design, the things that
don't change, no matter what fads or fashions come and go in the world of identity design.
These unchanging principles should be taught in all graphic design schools, but they are not–at
least not in a cohesive way that produces consistent branding that always works.
The whole design world is groping around in darkness, designing logos by the thousands,
but only some work. It's hit and miss, even with the largest branding design firms on the planet.
You may ask, "Who is this Michael Shumate guy to write such a book?" I get it.
I graduated with a BFA degree in graphic design
and I've been a professional designer and illustrator for nearly 50 years.
My work has been used all over the world by many major companies like British Airways Magazine,
Kelly Services, Macmillan McGraw-Hill Publishers and Business Week Magazine. I've
worked in virtually every area of graphic design: advertising, institutional, product and retail,
signage, interpretive center display design and, of course, branding design, where I have created
identities in all areas of branding. Having said all that, I'm no big shot,
world famous designer. Where I really learned about branding design was when I started teaching
branding design. I know, there's a famous saying, "Those who can, do. And those who can't, teach."
But there's also another saying, "No one learns as much as the teacher."
After working in the field for nearly 15 years, I took a job to teach graphic design at St.
Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. The school already had a good reputation in Canada,
and I started teaching courses like graphic techniques, illustration,
color theory and others, and, of course, I taught branding design for nearly 25 years.
The first day of teaching any new college students, I always told them to call me Michael,
not Professor Shumate or Mr. Shumate. Then I told them, if they forgot my name, they could
always call me Grand Poobah, and some of them did. The term 'Grand Poobah' comes from the Gilbert and
Sullivan musical "The Mikado" and is one of the many titles that an
officious character has bestowed upon himself. The term Grand Poobah has come to mean "anyone
with no real authority but who acts otherwise," as defined, appropriately enough, in Wikipedia.
There you have it: I will speak with great authority where I have none,
except that which experience has given me. And what is my experience? I went to university
to study graphic design. My design education may not have been the best in the world,
but neither did I feel disadvantaged when i got to the real design world and began to work.
In my 25 years of teaching, I graded thousands of branding projects.
That helped me figure out the Core Principles of Branding Design,
so I could teach them to my students. After all, on those projects, I had to assign grades
to my students based on something concrete and against principles I had already taught them.
I found out what those things are that never work in branding and always hurt an identity. I also
found out principles on how to turn almost any concept into a superior final identity.
All during those years I kept looking for a book that I could adopt for my courses
that would summarize all the unchanging, fundamental principles of logo design.
I found books with hundreds of logo samples. I found books with case histories of famous logos.
I found books with some opinions about logo design. But I never even found the book
that attempted to cover all the universal and immutable principles of logo design.
Instead, I wrote the book I wished my students could have studied,
a book about the unchanging principles of branding design, and these videos are based on that book.
My own graphic design education, even though it was a four-year university bachelor of fine arts
degree, had to split my time with subjects like Math, English, History, and a foreign language,
and some sciences. It was a good broad education, along with my design education.
But the college design program I later taught in
was three years and the students whole curriculum was all centered around graphic
design. It is arguable that my students got a better design education than i did.
I had already been teaching for a few years when the college bought our first computers for the
graphic design program. By today's standards they were mere toys, with tiny monochrome monitors. The
learning curve for both teachers and students was significant, as well as the amount of time
it took out of our previous curriculum. Today, the computer applications students are expected
to be capable in are vast: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign are just a base. Some students also
study–or at least get a preview into–Web Design, Motion Graphics and Animation.
You see what has happened: the length of these programs is still what it was when I went to
school: typically four years for university and three years for trade schools. So, obviously, some
of what had been taught before the computer era has been replaced by computer-related subjects.
Many graphic design schools no longer have time for subjects like Illustration,
Color Theory or Art History—or even Design History. That educational absence is not
without its consequences, especially when it comes to branding design.
I'm going to teach you things that you will not find in any other book or course
on branding design anywhere. The purpose of these videos is to give you all the knowledge
to design brands that can last. This happens when you learn and master the Core Principles
of Branding Design. I'm going to start at the ground level and I'm going to teach the principles
of design that most impact Branding Design. Then with a solid foundation, I'll explain
Core Principles of Branding Design. You'll see with your own eyes what I'm talking about. And
you can decide what you'll do about it. Let's have a look.
First we'll have an Introduction Section, including this video you're watching now.
I'll also show you three high-profile examples of Famous Fails in the world
of branding design and show you how they did not conform to the Core principles,
and had to be replaced or abandoned at a huge expense to these respective companies. This will
help you see why the design world needs to learn about the Core Principles of Branding Design.
Section 1: Foundational Principles of Graphic Design
In our digital age many design schools concentrate so much on software,
that some basic precepts may be missing from the curriculum. Here are some essential principles
that have a huge impact on Branding Design. You may already know some.
but I doubt you know them all. Section 2: Branding Fundamentals
I'll show some basics of branding history, both ancient and recent, that will give us perspective
on branding design today. Section 3: We'll get into
what i like to call the Core Principles. First, we'll look at generating concepts.
Better identities are created when you can choose from a wealth of concepts, rather than just one or
two concepts. Here is a proven method to develop more and better corporate identity concepts.
Section 4: Core Principles: Seven Deadly Sins of Logo Design
There are several common approaches to identity design that can ruin
the brand and prevent it from working in ways that every identity should be able to work.
Section 5: Core Principles: Visual Techniques Any concept can be executed in virtually endless
ways. These techniques can transform a common concept into an uncommon
or even remarkable final identity. Section 6: Core Principles: Color,
Typographic and Spatial Issues Even superior designs can be
undermined by poor color, typographic or spatial choices. Here's how to prevent that.
Section 7: Implementing Core Principles of Identity Design
I'll show hundreds of current examples that demonstrate the consequences of deviating from the
Core Principles and the benefits of redesigning an identity to be in conformity with them.
There are 62 videos in all. Once you learn the Core Principles, you'll never approach brandy
design the same. I invite you along for the ride. The Core Principles of Branding Design are
universal and immutable, like the law of gravity. They cannot be ignored.
Ignorance of the Core Principles—just like with the law of gravity—will
not protect you from the consequences of violating them.
But the Core Principles of Branding Design can be learned and they can be taught. That's what I do.
For more information, go to logodesigntheory.com. If you found this useful, be sure to like this
video and share it with anyone who needs to know about logo design.