Logo Design Evolution

Logo Design Rules Have Changed. The New Rules That Separate Professional Designers from Pretenders

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

The Angry Designer Podcast delves deep into the evolving world of logo design, highlighting how digital advancements have significantly changed the landscape over the past decades. In this episode, they explore the importance of logos adapting instantly across multiple platforms, the rise of animated logos, and the necessity for AI-ready designs. They also provide actionable tips for designers to stay ahead in this digital-first world, ensuring logos remain effective and relevant in diverse environments.

Highlights

Logos are now part of a rapidly changing digital landscape, much faster than in the last century. 🕒
Digital-first approach requires logos to be highly adaptable across various digital platforms. 📱
The era of static logos is over; animations can tell compelling brand stories in a few seconds. 🎬
AI-ready logos are essential for brands to maintain visibility and accuracy in digital mediums. 🤖
SVG files and LLMS.text files are important tools in designing logos for the future. 📁

Key Takeaways

Logos must adapt instantly across all platforms to stay relevant in today's fast-paced digital world. 🌍
Animated logos are no longer optional; they bring brands to life and capture attention. 🎥
Designers need to focus on creating AI-ready logos to maintain brand integrity and discoverability in AI-driven environments. 🤖
The shift from print to digital-first requires a complete rethink of logo design principles. 🖥️
Incorporating SVG file formats and understanding new technologies like the LLMS.text file is crucial for future-proofing logos. 📂

Overview

The age of digital transformation has massively impacted logo design, more so in the past 20 years than in the last century. Logos must now be versatile enough to function flawlessly across digital platforms, which demands a whole new set of rules for designers to follow. Embracing these changes ensures that logos can maintain brand integrity while adapting to a myriad of environments where they might appear.

In an era where the first point of brand interaction often happens on a screen, logos are expected to do more than ever before. No longer can designers rely on the print-first design principles of old. Now, logos must be designed with digital-first mindsets, allowing for adaptive, animated, and even AI-ready formats to ensure relevance and engagement across different mediums.

Tools such as SVG files, LLMS.text files, and simplified motion graphics are not just optional but necessary for modern logo design. Keeping up with these technological advancements helps designers future-proof their creations, ensuring brand logos remain recognizable, agile, and effective in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Chapters

00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Overview The chapter provides an introduction and overview of current and near-future trends in the design industry. It suggests that consideration needs to be given to how logos and branding can be embedded deeply, even hypothetically into human consciousness, within the next decade. The discourse acknowledges the evolving landscape of graphic design and marketing, emphasizing the importance of staying ahead in a rapidly changing environment. The chapter also highlights the mission of the "Angry Designer Podcast" to support graphic designers in navigating industry challenges and improving their professional practice.
01:30 - 03:00: Logo Adaptability In this chapter titled 'Logo Adaptability', the discussion centers around the dramatic transformation of logos in the digital age. The evolution of logo design in the past decade has been more significant than in the previous 50-60 years. The focus is on breaking away from outdated logo design concepts and introducing three new rules essential for digital-first logos. The episode emphasizes the need for logos to instantly adapt across various digital platforms.
03:00 - 06:00: Sean's Injury Update The chapter titled 'Sean's Injury Update' deviates into a discussion on design trends, specifically focusing on animated logos and AI-ready designs. It includes a promotion for a newsletter called 'Anger Management for Designers,' which promises useful insights for designers. The chapter concludes with motivational advice for designers to stay focused and diligent in their work to avoid negative consequences like getting fired.
06:00 - 12:00: Evolution of Logo Design The chapter humorously begins with Sean being teased about his height and current seating situation, likened to a child at a large table. The lighthearted banter is juxtaposed with the announcement of Sean's unfortunate injury. It is revealed that Sean has officially fractured his fibula, a fact confirmed by a visit to the orthopedist earlier that day. Despite the seriousness of the injury, the group maintains a playful tone, describing the X-ray of Sean's fractured fibula as 'badass,' highlighting a blend of humor and camaraderie even in the face of misfortune.
12:00 - 18:00: Digital First Logos The chapter titled 'Digital First Logos' begins with a conversation about downloading something and the challenge of finding it. The dialogue reveals a situation where one person faces mobility issues due to recent knee surgery, leading to a period of restricted activity. This experience is shared and somewhat normalized by a discussion of obtaining comfortable seating to ease the discomfort of being inactive for an extended period. The tone reflects a mix of frustration and resignation to the circumstances, while offering a glimpse into the necessity of digital solutions for accessing resources.
18:00 - 24:00: Animation in Logos The chapter delves into the challenges of staying engaged and productive during leisure periods, where typical activities like watching TV and using laptops reach their limits. The conversation suggests that after about a week, restlessness can set in, driving one to seek alternative tasks to avoid cabin fever. There is a shared sentiment of a looming feeling of going 'stir crazy,' indicating the need for varied activities and interaction to maintain sanity and prevent monotony.
24:00 - 36:00: Logos and AI Integration The chapter 'Logos and AI Integration' discusses the challenges faced by an individual using crutches to move around a home that is not designed for such mobility needs. The dialogue hints at the potential for homes to be improved or integrated with technology to better accommodate mobility aids, suggesting a broader discussion on AI and technology integration in home design.
36:00 - 45:00: Logo Design in the Future The chapter titled 'Logo Design in the Future' discusses the evolving landscape of logo design over the past 25 years. The conversation highlights the need to adapt to new situations and environments, emphasizing the importance of change in a field that has been steadily growing. The dialogue involves an appreciation for seamless transitions in discussions and the recognition of a 'chef's kiss' quality in executing such transitions, reflecting on the industry's adaptability to modernization and transformation.
45:00 - 57:00: Closing Remarks In 'Closing Remarks', the speaker reflects on the significant changes in the landscape of logo design over the past 20 years compared to the previous 70-80 years. These changes are framed within the context of the historical contributions of iconic designers like Paul Rand and Paul Bass. The speaker acknowledges the evolution in design and execution, emphasizing a period of more dynamic transformation in contemporary times.

Logo Design Rules Have Changed. The New Rules That Separate Professional Designers from Pretenders Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 This is stuff that's happening already and stuff that's happening in the very near future. This is this is stuff that we have to start thinking about in all of our logo execution packages. Yes. What the hell is going to happen in the next 10 years? I don't know. They're just going to start embedding logos into our minds. Yes. Into our minds. You're listening to the Angry Designer Podcast, where we help frustrated graphic designers crush the industry bull and share what it takes to charge
00:30 - 01:00 what you're worth and build badass, rewarding careers. Logos have transformed more dramatically in the past decade, than the past 50 years, maybe even 60. Digital changed everything. We're blowing up at the old outdated thinking of logo design and giving you the three new rules of digital first logos that you have to take into consideration. In this episode, you're going to learn why your logos must adapt instantly across all
01:00 - 01:30 platforms, how animated logos just aren't a trend anymore, and exactly what it means to design an AI ready logo. But before we do, make sure you sign up for our newsletter, Anger Management for Designers, packed with stories, insights, and no fluff. I promise. Sign up in our profile or on the website. All right, anger designers, keep your eyes on that road or on that path ahead. Or better yet, get to work cuz God knows I don't want you to get fired. And let's
01:30 - 02:00 go. So Sean, you're looking a little shorter today, buddy. You should see Sean. He's like a little kid at a at a big table right now. I know. I feel like a complete nerd. So, you totally broke your leg. It's official today. It's official today. I went to the to the orthopedist and uh he said, "Yeah, it's a fracture of the fibia." Dude, fibula. Jeez. Right. And you did. The X-ray looked badass. So, I
02:00 - 02:30 I want to I want to get that. Well, you can you could download it. She says, "Apparently, I'm going to have to find that." So, yeah. So, yes, I'm sitting, which is kind of pathetic cuz I can't I can't be on my foot. And what's worse now is we found out that you can't even really be here for 2 weeks. You're going to be literally sitting on your ass. I will be laid up. Yes. And you had knee surgery, so you've kind of you're comfortable. Oh, I know. Sitting like and and it's the first week fine. It's okay, right? Make sure you get a big comfy chair. I know. But then by, you
02:30 - 03:00 know, you start getting like stir crazy, you know, because there's only so much TV you can watch. You have your laptop. So you'll be you'll be working because you want Exactly. Geez. Yeah. It's it's it's going to be a little challenging. By the second week, you will go stir crazy. I will be nuts. I will be nuts. And I can't wait. I I had to come back this week. Like I we talked about it and I was like, you know, I you probably would have let me stay for two weeks, but I just couldn't do it. And I may do the same. I Well, you No. Oh, no. I
03:00 - 03:30 need to get that ready. I know. I know. I should do the right thing. So, like I mean, so now that you got crutches and you're hobbling, you're like three-legged, hobbling all over the place, right? So, your house, it doesn't really move. No. So, what's that like? Yeah. It's Did you guys clear out furniture? No, it's it's very difficult. It is It's an older home, so there's smaller hallways and, you know, and there's little cubby rooms and stuff like that. So, it's just a pain in the ass to get around. So, I can just imagine, right? If only homes could
03:30 - 04:00 adapt to new situation. Oh, you're good. Did you like that? Did you like that? That was kind of good, right? That was great. Usually we talk about the segue, but you just went right in. That was a good segue, right? Chef's kiss. Yeah. Well, and I mean again, the new changing environment, you know, I mean, uh, okay, let's face it, you know, we we've been in this space for 25 years, right? maybe even a little bit longer. Um, and in our 25
04:00 - 04:30 years, the landscape in our space has changed more like for a logo. Okay, the the there's been more fundamental shifts in logo design and logo execution in the past 20 years, we'll say, than there has been the past 70, 80 years. Absolutely. you know, like when you we think back to the turn of the century guys last century, right? Like Paul Rand and and Paul Bass, all these amazing guys, right? Um, so their stuff seemed to have
04:30 - 05:00 lasted forever and then it it just seemed like like in a blink in the past 10, 15 years, it just changed so rapidly, so many times, right? It just is unbelievable to actually experience from from this side of the table, of course. and they would never have to deal with, you know, the different aspects of of what a logo what they what they kind of did, right? Like, yeah, this is this is crazy. This is just a new this is a new thing, right? Right. Digital has really turned this whole world, the production side and even the
05:00 - 05:30 design side of of logos upside down, right? Like, okay, the So, I got a couple points here like the speed that technology changed. Okay, before when they created a logo, right? It appeared on print materials, okay? They were static. That was it. Sometimes it would show up maybe on TV, but again, you had full control over how it was going to look, right? And again, we're talking it would show up on print, you know, business cards, billboards, newspaper ads, maybe on a pen if you had to. That
05:30 - 06:00 would be the responsive nature going down that small. But you had full control on that, right? where now it's like logos live on screens first, not print. Okay, I bet you there was a huge percentage of logos that will never see print. Okay, cuz there's so many digital only companies, right? App companies that you'll never ever see anything in print from those companies, right? And then not to mention smartphones, smart watches, you know, um websites, social.
06:00 - 06:30 So it's like logos now digital first. Yes, print is not necessarily an afterthought, but it's only if required. Right. Right. Right. Crazy. Um, you know, so that means, you know, now all the design has to be digital first design or should be digital first. Should be digital first. Right. Which is crazy because there's a huge population of graphic designers who, you know, even though they may know what CMYK is, they will never have to actually use CMK. They won't design. they won't know that
06:30 - 07:00 there is differences in in when things print and what they look right if you need to learn about this go visit our buddies over at the print design academy but it's true before designers had full control over you know um you know obviously not only the logo placement the size but you know the color okay which was a huge and the color consistency right like you would either have a CMK or it would be a spot color right and that was it and you knew that okay the hardest challenge you had was to like try to find a spot color that
07:00 - 07:30 was very similar, replicable to CMYK. Exactly. Right. You would have had your panone selector and you'd be like, "Okay, this CMYK is very close to the spot color." Like that was the hardest part of your job. But then secretly back, you know, you you'd do something in RGB and you think, "Man, I wish we could use this cuz it's so bright vibrant, right?" Then you'd have to then embrace all these spot colors back to CMYK. You're like, "Okay, well now here we are in this digital age." Did you? And then not to mention that now all of
07:30 - 08:00 a sudden the logos like resize without you even knowing, right? Like are like the size of a freaking the tip of a pencil. Okay, so that sucks, right? You know, you you have no control over like, you know, how the colors because everybody's a different monitor. Every phone does this differently, right? Like it it totally changes that whole game, right? So I mean, you know, logos compared to before now have to constantly adapt to all these different environments and colors and screens and intensities. So that's freaking crazy. And you know, there was another part that I thought was crazy, right? Logos
08:00 - 08:30 before company rolled out a new logo. It would take years before that logo hit all the markets. Everybody would see, oh, it's on their the sign in the building. It's on their the stationery. It's now in the newspaper, right? Like the roll out was like no matter how fast you wanted to roll this bad boy out, it would be one, two, three years. Yeah, exactly. Now logos, they they launched instantaneous a snap, right? Remember when Kia launched theirs? They did the
08:30 - 09:00 drone show and then all of a sudden it was all over the news and everybody knew what the new Kia logo was. Love it or hate it. Yeah. And then you started seeing them. You don't you never see the old one anymore. And this is what not even a year. I don't Instantly. Instantly. Right. Pepsi cans too with the new logo on that. Well, that's why it's funny cuz all these brands would change. That's maybe why, you know, like some brands in the ' 60s to 80s, they didn't change much because they were like, "What the hell is the point? Nobody's ever going to notice it's going to take so damn to roll out where now
09:00 - 09:30 it's like it's so immediate that if you really up like the Gap did years ago with their one, right? You can go back and switch it because people have an immediate reaction to it." So, this is, you know, this this whole logo world has just changed. And I thought this would be interesting to talk about today because it's kind of like you know we've talked about logo design principles which you know in in general I still strongly feel that you know they that they still apply to almost every good logo design right but there are some new
09:30 - 10:00 logo design rules okay that I think everybody right critical rules for this digital first world okay and that is they have to be adaptive they have to be animated now yes that's a big deal yeah they have to AI ready. AI ready. So, this is something new that I've been researching lately. Yes. Interesting. And I mean, the future's coming. It's coming for us all. I'm not laughing. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry.
10:00 - 10:30 But I But I mean, again, interesting stuff to learn about. Okay. But I mean, okay. AI ready. I know. Crazy. That one This one was interesting, but I don't want I'm going to leave that one to the last, right? All right. I'm curious. So obviously we have talked in the past about you know and we talked early about this where people thought we were for talking about this but you know logos nowadays absolutely have to be adaptive. Yes. Gone are the days where you create one logo and it's horizontal and that's the way it stays everywhere.
10:30 - 11:00 I mean I remember having arguments with with apparent brand managers and and they were like I'm like you know you know your logo's really wide. you're trying to put it on something vertical. Maybe we should just, you know, take take your mark and put it on top at the very least and make it a little bit more ver well. No, that's that's going to mess with the brand integrity. I we can't do that. That's like the like all of a sudden it's like, whoa, I don't recognize this brand anymore. I I don't understand. I used to have these arguments on a regular basis with people
11:00 - 11:30 and and the funny thing is is like what will really wreck your brand identity? a your logo that's jammed in the tiniest spot that no one can see it anyway, right? Or an adaptive one, right? And that's exactly it. Logos in order to do a brand justice, logos need to look and and look clear in all kinds of environments, okay? Let's face it. I mean, they're they're everywhere. And when you got brands like Spotify and Disney and Nike and Airbnb when they're
11:30 - 12:00 making, you know, variations of their logos, right? You know, it's it's a cool concept to see like especially I love what Disney did. Yes. Right. Like I mean the full Disney logo has got like the Disney castle and then the word Disney underneath it. Right. And they're all really, you know, strong brand items. Okay. But as the size goes down, right, what happens, right? That castle disappears and then it's Disney. Okay. And again, still recognizable. Beautiful. Yeah. Even less space. The
12:00 - 12:30 Disney disappears and it's just the D. But that really stylized recognize it. Yeah. Everywhere. Okay. So now you see that on a phone. So what is more beneficial to the brand? Having the full Disney logo jammed into an icon that's 32x 32 pixels on a phone or you have the letter D? Yes, absolutely. So this is this is a really cool opportunity now for all designers, you know, all graphic designers because you can now go back to brands and be like, well, is your logo, you know,
12:30 - 13:00 adaptive, right? Will your logo switch based on social? Will it switch based on, you know, the digital environment, you know, your website? Are you sure it looks good everywhere it is? And this is, I mean, even small restaurants and such, you know, small little local places, you know, they're showing up on Door Dash, they're showing up on on Uber Eats. And if again, if you can't see that logo because it's so they haven't created a good responsive version for it, then they're only going to hurt their own. No matter how good their food looks, you can't recognize who it is, somebody else will take it. Yeah.
13:00 - 13:30 Especially you see that little that horizontal logo in all that white space on, right? That's great. Oh god. So I mean again, so you know the actionable tips here that designers need to consider, you know, and I got a small list here. you know, they you need to make sure that the logos are simplified enough that you can actually go down to a small size, right? You have to make sure that they they're also dark mode compatible nowadays, okay? Cuz a lot of people have dark mode, right? And they have, you know, so your logo needs to show up nice and reverse, okay? And not just take the colors and just make it
13:30 - 14:00 white and just flip it. Yeah. Cuz we've seen what that looks like sometimes and there's some funkiness depending on certain brands about that. True. So, you got to do that. And then again, you know, the big the big push here is you need to have different sizes, different variations, even different kind of stacking and placements, you know, that are available for the different screen sizes, whether it's on a mobile device, whether it's social, right? You you need to do your brand justice and make sure it looks like a million bucks. And this isn't just digital. This also applies
14:00 - 14:30 to, you know, print ads. Um, you know, oftent times, you know, we got the the kitchen rangers, the hockey team here. will go there and and a big push locally is is rink signs, rinkboard signs, right? They will sell these extremely wide and we're talking like wider than 9 by6, right? They're super horizontal, but sometimes the brands on there are like a vertical logo and and you can't see it. Here's like you got this huge board and a logo that nobody resized to be good. So from, you know, when you're
14:30 - 15:00 up in the stands, you can't even recognize. Maybe that's money that you've just pissed away. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, quick tests here. You know, make sure you know, you shrink down the logo size to like a, you know, I think a favicon is like, 16 by 16 pixels. It's really tiny. I think it's pretty small, but I think that's the smallest size. Um, but I know icons we were dealing with today, app icons are 32x 32, right? So, you need to be able to shrink it down and make sure that the brand is still legible in this
15:00 - 15:30 case, right? And then, of course, you know, we talked about dark mode. And then again, if it's not clear enough, that means it's not adaptive enough. Okay, remember that. If it's unclear that whose brand it is and whose logo it is, that means it's not adaptive enough. So, keep adapting, guys. Keep adapting. Keep adapting. Always be adapting. So, um you know the second one that is really important for this new age, okay, is like it or not, there is a huge advantage for logos to be animated. Now, how often do you see this now in anything? Like always a new logo comes
15:30 - 16:00 out with a little bit of an animation. An animated version. Yes. Huge. Look, we we pitched a company two weeks ago, okay? And we they didn't have an animated logo. There's a billion dollar company. And at the beginning of their presentations, they didn't have it. So when we did that, all it's almost like they didn't even see the rest of the presentation. They saw the what the hell was that? They're like, "Wa, I'm sold. That's amazing. Let's go with it." Exactly. And it's true, right? It brings logos. It brings brands to life. Yes.
16:00 - 16:30 Right. It adds a little bit. And especially with this one, like I mean the little animation we did, it was only like a 5second animation, you know, but it told the whole logo story and this logo was pretty intricate. We didn't create it. There was a lot to it, but the little animation made it all work. Okay. Like static logos, they're completely forgotten these days. Yes. And that's that's the catch that people have to remember. We're we're in this environment. Everything has to happen and catch our attention. Catch it with an animated logo. Yeah. Yeah, that's absolutely true. You you see that is
16:30 - 17:00 like again this is this is something like Paul Rand or Saul Bass would never have ever kind of had to deal with. Maybe Saul Bass because he was in movies and that's kind of an R style. But he didn't animate logos. No. No, I don't think he did. He didn't need to back then. Yeah. Because you it was not even a thing, right? Yeah. But now Yeah. Like what's that? What's that? It used to be brand loyalty. No. What is that? Under consideration. Under consideration. Yes.
17:00 - 17:30 Every logo that they launch always has an animated version. You're right. Which is cool. And even uh our friends at Pentagram. Mhm. Okay. The agency, not the Satanic Cult, however they're they they might be closely aligned. They might be. They might be. But um if you notice, every time they every time they launch something, you know, a new logo brand or whatever, they always have a huge push. Yes. For animated animated logos, animated corporate IDs, right? like you know and cuz it's not like it just shows up once in a presentation and it's done right it shows up
17:30 - 18:00 presentations um online menu boards right online ads like how much how much of a push is there now that carousel ads and animated ads Google ads like it's everywhere you even on a website in the corner the first time somebody comes in add that little splash of animation then it's cash and they don't have to see it again but I mean it's so important it it elevates this brand and almost brings brings life to it. You know, like Netflix, you know, there's every time
18:00 - 18:30 that that app launches, you see their animated logo, right? Google even does their, you know, the Google word turns into the three dots, right? Cuz it's doing stuff for you. And Discord's got one. Oh, that's cute. Discords is cute, right? Like a little controller, right? Dots. And that What is Discord? Like I I don't I don't know much about Well, I mean, Discord's everything, right? Midjourney lives on Discord, but it's it's like the discussion groups, right? It's like a community. That's what it is. Yeah. Yeah. But it's got a gaming element though, too. Oh, huge. It's huge for gamers, but switches a lot of areas,
18:30 - 19:00 right? And again, MidJourney launched on Discord first, right? Really communitydriven platform. Yeah. So, is he a gaming? He does look like a gaming console, but regardless, I think that's what it was because Yeah, there's there's like a little element to him. He's a face. You see how cute though it turns out? Adorable. That animation is great. Yeah. And it's very unique, very distinctive. Yeah. Even obviously Disney does, right? I mean, there's Yep. So again, it's like there's so many, you know, opportunities to use these animations. Now more than ever, it's
19:00 - 19:30 easy for anybody to get on these, right? For for the longest time, you know, animated logos were you had to be a motion designer to even start understanding, right? Or back in the day, for some of you who might remember, Flash allowed us to do a lot of that. Remember Flash, everybody? Oh, yeah. Well, that darn Steve Jobs got rid of Flash, bastard. But I mean it used to be back then and then you know as of recently it'd be Adobe After Effects would be what people would use right but it is a very different mindset right but
19:30 - 20:00 now like I think there's a free Adobe app called Express Adobe Express that allows you to do for free right um obviously you're part of the creative crowd you get that um but then even online like there's platforms like Lahi L tie E I think that and that's again it's just simple to animate your stuff on there right you can go you put your and then you can Actually, it's getting so it's getting so much more easy now. And I guarantee you there's probably AI apps everywhere that will do it for you if you just drop in the logo and it's like, "Sure, sure, I'll do it for that." Not that I'm pushing that one. But, you
20:00 - 20:30 know, I do think that this is now a norm that almost everybody should pitch in, you know, their logo design packages, right? Our packages are getting bigger. It used to just be a logo and then your color, your font, this that, but now it's logo, font, adaptive, you know, then then animated now. and this and that. Like there's a lot to this, right? Totally. I think the key here though is is is when people get into this, you know, less is more. Okay. And again, these things, they can only be 3 to 5
20:30 - 21:00 seconds max, right? I bet you 5 seconds to sit through a logo reel would be too much. Would be too much. You know, it doesn't sound like it, but like I I I think ours 3 seconds and after that I'm already bored. So, it's just So, yeah, screw the three to 5 seconds. Stick to three. Okay. Get it to 3 seconds if you can, right? you know, and then again, subtle motions, something easy, right? Like you don't have to go too crazy. Fades, gentle shifts, those are the easiest ones to do. And just by doing a a logo fade and a reveal is just that
21:00 - 21:30 alone can help versus just a static one, right? Um because then this way it's just like it shows a logo without being distracting, especially if you can't really get to that level yet, right? Yes. And then, you know, you have to remember when you're animating these, okay, if it doesn't reinforce the brand or it doesn't reinforce the user experience, cut it. Don't even do it. Don't bother. Don't go overboard, right? Cuz I think what I don't want to see is already we're battling with so much freaking, you know, design pollution out there. Last thing we need is now
21:30 - 22:00 animated design pollution. God, it'll feel like Homer's web page. Remember, that's what it'll be. The dancing Jesus. Yeah. Seriously. But again, you know what? Test your speeds. You know, when you're building these, right? How's your butt, Sean? This is This sucks. I'd ra I'd much rather stand. Stupid old body. Oh god. I don't even know how you're going to handle the next two weeks, buddy. No. I'm going to do this. Oh man.
22:00 - 22:30 You know, you know what you're going to do? You can learn how to make animated logos. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, I'm going to do that. What did you say it was? Adobe. What? Express. Yep. Yeah. And and again, it just it simplifies this whole process. That's cool. I see. That's the thing is there's all kinds of interesting stuff around there that I don't know what that does. I guess I should be a little more mindful about that. But I have access to it. I just got to just jump on that, buddy. Exactly. Exactly. So, all right. So, we've got, you know, logos need to
22:30 - 23:00 now be adaptive and for your benefit, they should be animated. So, here's the third one that I think is pretty good. It can be controversial, okay? But this is something that I've just been reading up on the past couple weeks, so I thought it's worth mentioning. Um, but I think, you know, brands, logos in the future need to now be AI ready. AI ready. Okay. So, like first and foremost, okay, like let's let's let's talk about the big, you know, uh, elephant in the room in the room. Yeah. We're not saying that we want AI to be
23:00 - 23:30 able to copy our logos that we create and now, you know, redo them on their own platforms. Sadly, they're doing this without our help, you know, and, you know, like it or not, that that ship has sailed regardless if it's, you know, they got there in an ethical way or not. Okay? That part of this world is is is happening and and sadly, you know, we we were just stuck in the crossfire. Okay? But that's not what this is about. Okay? What this is is by making logos AI ready, okay? We're actually pro protecting our designs from incorrect
23:30 - 24:00 reproductions. Okay? So, we're kind of like saying, "Look, you know what? I know you're going to rip it off, right? I know you're going to be using it for your own purposes, but there's not like their own." And I'll explain the purposes, but I know you're doing it, but at least if you're going to do it, use this version with the right colors so you're protected. You're you're you're you're delivering the brand in the proper way. Right. Right. And so the whole idea here is that your logos now,
24:00 - 24:30 you know, if not now in the very very very near future needs to play nice with AI because there are so many AIdriven environments and platforms that will pull your logo into them. Okay, so for example, Perplexity. Okay, Perplexity is like an AIdriven search engine. Okay, it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. I use that and I use chat for, you know, I use them, you know, interchangeably because they do they do different things. But the thing is, if
24:30 - 25:00 I'm looking for a brand per in perplexity, okay, it will go online and show me examples of the brand. It'll pull them. Okay, so it'll pull them or it'll pull it what it believes likenesses of that brand are. Okay, there is so many AIdriven search engines that are coming out there. There's AIdriven tools. There are going to be um AIdriven ad tools out there that will basically build ads based on brands, okay? Based 100%. And if they don't have
25:00 - 25:30 the right tools equipped, they're going to botch, do their own versions of it, okay? So that's why this happens. AI is now going to be scanning and recognizing these logos online. Okay. And again, Google Lens is another one. Pinterest has got their own version. Okay. Yeah. Right. Automated ads we talked about. Oh, augmented reality is another one, right? That is coming fast and it's AIdriven augmented reality. So in that kind of environment, you put on the glasses, you put on your headset and
25:30 - 26:00 you're going to start seeing these logos. So the idea here is that we need to provide the logos in an AI friendly ready way so that when it is displaying it in one of these now AIdriven apps, like it or not, it's going to be driven that the proper thing. Okay. So this helps for our brand integrity, right? Okay. So our clients now their brand will show up properly in these kind of environments, you know, it's not it's not a licensed version or it's not supposed to be there cuz they're not trying to sell anything, right? This
26:00 - 26:30 augmented world. You're walking down the street and it's like, hey, this is, you know, barking dog um design studio, right? Boom, there's that logo. Here's Midnight Cafe, you know, um coffee shop. Boom, here's that logo. It can pull it up for you or it can make its own version based on all the other it reads online. Shitty but it is your brand. Exactly. Right. So you see where so you know again so brand integrity is a big reason discoverability. Okay. This does help you know like for recognition in these kind of environments. Right.
26:30 - 27:00 And the thing is then it's giving us the runway to do this properly so that it gives us designers a little bit more control in these environments. Okay. And it allows us and again another search to another another upgrade option in this whole package. Okay, maybe the local shops might not have as much interest in it, but you start getting bigger clients and you start telling them look this is the future. Bigger companies know this is the future. They're willing to invest to be kept up and kept up to speed in these environments. Okay. So some some
27:00 - 27:30 basic, you know, uh AI ready readiness ideas, okay, that you need to take in consideration. Okay, some high level stuff. I I'll get technical like the two big technical things that we need to take into consideration but some of the design readiness stuff you know or tests that we need to do um you know we need to make sure that there's a silhouette test that has to take happen okay so this means you know your logo when you design it for a customer if you go drop it out to black and white okay and you see that silhouette if you can still recognize that it's their logo that does
27:30 - 28:00 well okay with these tools cuz they're going to come in they're going to try to scan the shape right cuz they're they're not always reading what's in the shape as so much the shape shape and and the and the the shapes that make the logo itself, right? So, the silhouette test helps. Okay. Um obviously the thumbnail test. Okay. Will it recognize it at a small scale of 32x32? If we do it adaptive, this is great. This is we're already covered for this, right? Um prompt test. Okay. Is it easy to describe this logo for AI? Okay. or are
28:00 - 28:30 you trying to tell such a huge story with all these crazy gradients and this and that that there's no way you could try to prompt that logo to life. Okay, so you got to think that, right? And last but not least, there has to be a contrast test to this too, right? It needs to be able to work in just shades of gray. Okay, and enough contrast. And this does kind of apply to the whole accessibility side, right? So we need to make sure that we have contrasting colors. So these are just some highlevel ideas on how to make them AI ready and and and to pass that test. Okay, but
28:30 - 29:00 there's two big technical things, okay, that apply here. Okay, so number one, you know, we're often creating in vectors and then we're saving as PGs or JPEGs, right? Yeah. So there's a file format that we don't talk about enough and that's the SVG file format. Okay. So, SVG file format is a vector-based file format, but it's also a digitally um you know adapt accepted format. Okay. So, we're we're
29:00 - 29:30 coding with SVG files now. We're dropping them in on websites as opposed to PGs or JPEGs. So, now okay, it think of it as a digital vector file. So unlike you know our PGs and JPEGs that are raster-based images, okay, SVG files are like digital, they're the equivalent to a digital vector, right? They are a vector cuz the thing is you could download an SVG file, drop it into Illustrator, and just boom, keep designing away with it, right? Then you
29:30 - 30:00 can take that, put it on a website, boom, you can see it on a website. It is such such a versatile file format that I can't see a reason in the near future why PGs and JPEGs are even gonna exist because they're also really small because it's a vector. Yeah. So, yeah. Wow. Yeah, that one's huge. That's interesting. Yeah. And the vector obviously when it smaller it gets it still maintains its its like So now these platforms if it finds an SVG everywhere it's going to show up that
30:00 - 30:30 SVG is clear, right? It's clear as is as day and it will have like a descriptor of what ah the descriptor is the next part. Okay. So yeah good for you. Oh there is okay a part two. Another big technical tip here. There is something in the near future. It already exists. This already exists but you know you'll see more of it in the near future. It's called an LLMS.ext file. Okay. Okay. So learning language MS text file. Okay. And what
30:30 - 31:00 this is, it's basically it's similar to like uh the index file that you would put on a on a website, right? It's like what what crawlers would go in and look at or your ads.ext file, right? And what this is, this is going to be a digital file that's going to be on the website, okay? Cuz because again, AI will search the web, but it's not going to search your computer. It'll search the web, okay? It'll go into your website. And this text file, it's a simple text file that sits in the website root folder just like some of these other ones, okay? Like sitemap does and all that, right? And what it does, it actually
31:00 - 31:30 helps the AI understand your brand. Okay, it's it has a format and you just type in your brand colors. Okay, panone this, hex code that, you type in your fonts that it uses, you outline all there is a format and if anybody wants to see this format, hit me up. But um you know, again, I'm sure you can find it online. I'm sure you can find it on chat, guaranteed. But um regardless what it is is you're listing okay what the criteria is. Here is my SVG file and
31:30 - 32:00 you're going to put a link to it. So it's now going to look SVG logo SVG. Here's the link. Here's the reverse. Here is the dark mode. Okay. So it is a blueprint for AI to read and it will read it which is the crazy thing. It looks for and will take it and use this in these kind of environments. It knows to do that. So this is what I mean by um you know this is the big thing that I've been learning about the past couple weeks and all the all the new ways that
32:00 - 32:30 AI is going to be kind of um moving moving brands to that next level. So, so this LLMS text file, okay, um, helps with the accuracy, of course. It helps a learning language models, you know, understand brands details, especially when generating content for that brand, okay? It helps personalize, okay? Because it'll speak in the voice of the brand, right? It'll actually take your brand and do what you want it to do. So, it makes sure that everything it does align with your brand's tone, with your brand's messaging. So, that's massive. Okay? And then again since you are being
32:30 - 33:00 friendly to it, it will be friendly to your brand and then it boosts how much your brand is actually well no but then it boosts it because it's like hey these guys are jumping on here let me put this in our examples. Yeah. So now again obviously I can't say 100% um you know this is all the stuff I've been learning about but it seems like AIdriven platforms are requesting these files and these file formats. So those who do comply tend to get rewarded get
33:00 - 33:30 rewarded. Yeah. A little bit. Interesting. So this is what I mean by logos now have we've entered this whole new technical you know digital age you know um beyond anything that we've been living the past 20 years. Like we're at a whole new state. Yeah. And logos now they absolutely have to be adaptive. It's to our benefit to make them animated. Okay. And now AI ready logos if you're not already doing this you will be doing it within the next 12 to 18 months 100%.
33:30 - 34:00 So, these are all three new new ways, you know, a you know, you upgrade your logo program, upgrade to your customers, go back to your existing customers and be like, "Hey, guess what? There's some new things we need to talk about." Yeah. Yeah. Right. Um, you know, and again, and it's it's just another thing to add to your whole, you know, audit, your checklist audit, right? To be like, "Yeah, we need to Are you doing this?" No. Okay. Boom. Okay. Should be here. Yeah. Yeah. Doing this. Yeah. It's it's it's pretty funny because now now there's so many different parts of just a simple basic logo design. that, you
34:00 - 34:30 know, I I I can't see logos costing any less than thousands and thousands of because they're even the execution on a final product is now getting So, you're going to have to start being able to sell and explain all these different things. Yeah. No I Yeah. And that's that is fascinating stuff. Like, holy crap, man. That So, you you send it out there and it it has it's like a little little brand guideline inside that you can That's the LA I know.
34:30 - 35:00 That's kind of cool, right? It is. It It's a It is a little brand guideline. That's exactly how to describe that. It's cool, right? Digital one. Yeah, that's cool. Holy So, again, you know what? I don't think that uh you know, designers from 70 years ago were thinking that their logos would have to do this much work. You know, granted, they're important, but yeah, holy, this kind of stuff, this is a whole new level. This is a whole new level. But again, it's this is the way it's all again. I I I I can't believe what I experienced. the past 20 years,
35:00 - 35:30 okay? 20 25 years. Well, we have experience because we've gone from print and let's honestly it was all print when we started. That was it, right? Like web I remember having to unplug my fax machine, plug it into my modem to check my email once a day. Once a day. Like seriously, internet had that sound back then, that that scream like it sounded like some sort of little
35:30 - 36:00 dinosaur that Oh, music to our ears now. Yes. Yes. And now And now. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy, dude. How fast that is. Insane. Yeah. So, you know, honestly, um I I hope you guys got some pretty decent stuff out of this episode because, um this is stuff that's happening already and stuff that's happening in the very near future. This is this is stuff that we have to start thinking about in all of our logo execution packages. Yes. So, you know,
36:00 - 36:30 drop us a line. Let us know your thoughts on this stuff. Let us know if you think that we're okay? And if you're just going to be designing logos flat for now on, um, please don't give up, you know, because again, this I'm giving you this information. We're talking about this to prepare you for the future of graphic design, okay? This is the future of logo design. So So don't hate us, okay? Don't hate. We're we're the messenger. That's right. Okay, buddy. Wow. That's That was amazing, man. That's that's a learning
36:30 - 37:00 experience here. This was a big one again. Like what the hell's going to happen in the next 10 years? I don't know. They're just going to start embedding logos into our minds. Yes. Into our minds. All right, everybody. That's awesome. My name is Masimo. My name is Sean. Stay creative and stay [Music] angry.
37:00 - 37:30 [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
37:30 - 38:00 [Applause] Yeah. Heat. [Music]
38:00 - 38:30 Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
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