LOGOS

Logos

9 Types of Logos and How to Use Them Effectively (wix.com)

Logos are used to represent a company or a product graphically. In order to judge a logos effectiveness, two questions must be considered:

Is the logo unique?
Is the logo memorable?

For games, there are some specific requirements to make an effective logo. The logo should be able to convey the following information about a game:

Tone
- The atmosphere of the game, what it feels like
Activity
- What the player will be doing in the game
Setting
- Where the game is taking place
Expectations
- What can the player can gather will happen in the game

There are 5 common style of game logos:

Monogram:

Monograms are combinations of single letters, often making acronyms or anagrams. They're usually clean and modern looking, but are not always the clearest or most effective way to convey information to an audience. In order to make them stand out, more uncommon fonts can be used, but must take into account things like kerning to make them look presentable.

Wordmark:

Wordmarks are whole names or phrases written in certain typefaces. They can be deceptively simple, but every detail must be carefully considered to bring out the best in these logos. You can try and make your own typography, however this will take experimentation and lots of consideration. Best for brands and products with a catchy name, and who want to have their names recognised.

Pictorials:

Pictorials are made of images which often represent core ideas and objects to the brand or product. You must decide whether you want your images to be literal for your brand, or take a more symbolic approach. These types of logos work best to create strong brand recognition, and when designed well, can remain timeless.

Mascots:

Mascot logos consist of illustrated characters which act as ambassadors for a brand or product. They can be a good way for an audience to connect with your brand, as they often relate to our humanity and personalities. However, they're not often seen so much in games.

Combinations:

Combinations are a combination of both pictures and words. However, you must be careful so that they don't become cluttered. They benefit from good use of clean lines, and distinct shapes and colours.

Logo Moodboard:

I have made a moodboard of logo designs which relate in tone, theme and genre, to my own game idea. I will be analysing them to see what similarities there are between them, such as colour scheme, type, and image design, in order to inform my own logo designs.

Analysing Logos

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The logo is the first thing that people will see. It sets up the expectation for what this game is. People are aware of what Animal Crossing is.
The colour scheme is harmonious and filled with natural hues, which suggests this game takes place in a natural and rustic environment.
The logo even has a wooden texture which creates images of trees and forested areas.
The logo is in a serif font, and it's uncoordinated and slightly wonky, suggesting this game is a fun and relaxed experience.
The tag at the top with the text "New Horizons" suggests that there will be travelling involved to new horizons.

New Pokémon Snap

The traditional Pokémon logo is iconic. Nearly everyone is aware of the Pokémon brand.
New denotes that there are new experiences to have compared to the original Pokémon Snap.
Snap is in bold underneath an image of a camera and the Pokémon logo, suggesting that this game is about snapping pictures of Pokémon.
Snap also uses texture from the game. The triangles reflect the device used to carry you throughout different environments as it teleports.
The colours are on the warm end of the spectrum.

Designing My Own Logos

For my own logos, I have thought about what I've analysed, and the material I have gathered for my moodboard, to create some designs which can accurately describe the experience of my game at a glance. I have experimented with various types of logos, namely the monograms, pictorials, and combination logos, to see which can best capture the essence of my game.

The monograms are simple double GG logos, for the title of my game currently: Glassy Gardens. As they're so simple, the design shows through in the colour and textural choices that I have made. As I'm designing a very nature-themed game, I have used similar wooden textures in some of the logos. Some are softly rubbed out to make a more rustic texture, and I have experimented with mirroring the G's to play off the word "glass". However, these designs are very simple, and I don't think they best capture the essence of my game.

The pictorials are more related to different concepts and designs in my game, and so I feel they give a better impression of what my game is about. I have looked at various terrariums to create some simple pictorial designs, but have taken some further by adding simple vegetation or animals inside them, suggesting the collection and care of creatures in these terrariums. The colours are harmonious, with natural hues like blues and greens creating a relaxed atmosphere about the game. I have also used the design for the player character's home base as a potential logo design, as the design of the ship could prove to be iconic to the game.

The combination logos have made the most impact to me, however. They are bold and stand out compared to the rest of the logos, and I think they are best able to show off the atmosphere of the game I am creating. I have largely stuck with the same natural colour scheme, however, one design I have created has taken inspiration from stained glass windows. I have been considering this as a potential artistic style to create the game in, and so I have created this potential design for that reason. I have also tried out more natural textures, such as wood and grass, and have used images inside words to consolidate the message of the logo.

I have looked on Dafont for some typefaces that could potentially work with my logo designs. I have looked at various categories so that I have a wide range to choose from, and so that I can see which style will work best with my designs. I've started with the Cartoon category, fitting for the aesthetic of my game. A lot of the font styles are bold and eye-catching, with various marks which create different effects. I've found some glass-like types, which I had already included in my designs, and found some other types of font, particularly more sketchy fonts. I've been thinking of the game being in a more whimsical, children's book style, but I've not decided on a concrete aesthetic, and so this is still being left open for now.

Much of the Decorative category was based on floral imagery and patterns, which seemed fitting for the themes of my game. A lot of them are clever with how they incorporate the floral imagery, with flowers coming off the ends, or even the letters being the flower heads themselves. I'm also interested in Hanging Letters, a font which has letters hanging off the ends of strings. This goes nicely with the use of terrariums in my game, and is something I may try out in more designs for my logos.

The Distortion category featured a lot of typefaces with special effects, and there were a lot that created glass-like effects which would be perfect for potential logo designs for my game. The sketchy Glass typeface is particularly interesting to me, as it carries a sort of whimsical aspect to it. Positions is also of interest to me as the varied thickness in the weight of the letters and the jagged positioning creates an effect of things looking haphazardly thrown together. Similar to Adelia above in the Decorative category, I am considering this typeface too.

I have a collection of Serif and Sans Serif fonts to consider as well. These are quite plain and formal, but they could be what I need to contrast my logo designs.

My Logo Designs

The monogram logos are very simple. I feel that they are too simple to make an impact, especially for a beginning game that'll have no following from launch. However, I am quite happy with how the bottom right logo turned out, using the mirrored G to create leaves on a growing sapling. That was a clever take on using the reflective properties of Glass and then applying them to an image.

My Logo Designs

I think that the combination logos are the strongest designs for my game. I created a stain-glass effect for one of the logos, as I was considering this as a possible stylistic choice to design the game around. I've also used the terrariums in place of "a" in the words Glassy Gardens. I'm also fond of the glass words on wooden background, with a terrarium to reinforce the themes in the game. It all together feels quite "homey" and comfortable, which are feelings I want to create in players.

My Logo Designs

I also had a go at pictorial logos. Again, I don't feel like these are as strong as the combination logos. However, I could see the ship design maybe working on its own, as it could potentially become an iconic design, especially when it has its rings in motion as part of the design.

Final Logo Design

My final logo design has changed quite a bit from my previous designs. I had an idea come to me for one more design, so I quickly sketched it on to a post-it note and completed it digitally. The result is a cloud sheep resting on top of a board with the name of the game on, in glass writing. It's inspired by one of the combination logos I made, using the similar wooden background with glass writing on top, but I figured the cloud sheep has become popular with many people I have talked to about my game, and so it seemed fitting to feature it in the logo. I used its cute and relaxing nature to my advantage, and hopefully it will garner the attention of others when seeing the logo.