Suiting Up: Part 4 - LOGOS!

So now you're an RLSH, geared up and ready to hit the streets. You've got everything you need as far as gear, protection and now you've got your very own super suit. But who the Hell are you? How will people know you are anything other than some weirdo running around in tights and sports pads? 

Today we'll be discussing logos. You know, the big red 'S' on Superman's chest? Yea, that. Whatever you call it; logo, sign, sigil, mark, seal, crest, it all basically means the mark you wear on your costume that identifies you with your superhero persona. read more after the break:

A logo can be just about anything you can think of: but the most common would be a letter(or letters) or symbol that represents you. Popular examples of this would be Superman's S or Batman's bat logo. Ok, so we know what a logo is, but how do we make one?

Well, as luck would have it, I've designed logos for a few RLSHs, and I'm going to take you through the process of making a basic logo. First, check out some of these logos I've made:

Pretty nice, huh? Yes, that was a shameless plug. Anyway, let's take a generic superhero so we can make a logo. *looks around room* Security Man! Ok, Security Man needs a logo. What are his options? Well, you could go with the simple go-to of a letter:

Ok, that doesn't exactly pop. To make your logo really stand out, you need to play with the letter. Give it a dynamic font.

Oooh Abaddon, nice. That just screams style. Ok, it's still missing something, so let's add some color and... Why not, let's throw in a border.

Ok, that actually looks pretty decent. So you could reasonably stop right there. But what if you don't want a letter as your logo? Our hero Security Man wants something different for his logo, so he needs to go with a logo that invokes the spirit of his persona. What do you think of when you hear the name Security Man? Ok, whatever it is you were just thinking, I was looking for a badge. So let's take a badge:

Ok, that doesn't work quite as well, but it opens up a new possibility. See where I posted the DC hero logos earlier? Take a look at them for a second - what do you notice about them? Except for the WonderWoman logo, they all have shields... or backings... of some sort...

So let's combine what we have so far:

Actually not bad, not bad..... But not perfect. There's a few things not quite right with this, but it's a good thing that it turned out like this, because it's important information that I need to share with you.

First off, the "S" is just a bit too small for the shield.  Use of space is very important when designing your logo. If the letter is too small against the background the whole thing could come across as boring, or uninteresting, so blow that sucker up!

BOOM! See? It already looks much better, but there's still an issue. The yellow of the shield and the blue of the "S" don't exactly go together. It's important that your foreground color and background color go well together. If your background is too bright, or the colors aren't complimentary, then the logo can appear off-putting, or the foreground (the letter) can be almost unnoticeable. So let's look at some color options:

Well, those are definitely... options.... I kind of like the white background. I mean the colors go together better, but it's still just.... missing something...

OH! A border!

A thick, colored border can help take up dead space and make a picture pop more. Our Security Man logo is looking better, but it still needs some tweaking. The shield shape just doesn't feel right, for some reason. It should still use a shield, but that particular one? I don't think so. Finding a background that fits with the foreground is as important as any of the other elements. Let's see if we can fix this:

Now see? It still looks like a badge, but it fits much better. We're almost there. I still see some dead space. It looks like that letter could make such better use of all that space. Let's play with it a little bit and see what we can do:

Perfect! SecurityMan now has a logo! 

So what have we learned tonight? When designing your logo, you want it to be dynamic, you want to make sure to use complimentary colors so that your letter or image isn't obscured by its surrounding. You want to make the best use of space possible, using borders, properly sized backgrounds, and foregrounds that are large and adjusted to fit. 

Whether you are using shields, letters, or symbols, using these tips you are sure to make a logo that will definitely stand out!