Creating a new company logo?

[pdnnoob]

The extra effects was to cover up the mistakes in the e

To make the "e" like that, I made one layer with a tilted black oval, then duplicated it and inverted the color to make a white oval with the same rotation. I shrank the white oval and moved it into position. Then, on a new layer, I used the line/curve tool to draw the curve I needed to remove from the white oval. Once I deleted that part of the oval, I deleted the extra layer. From here, you're pretty much done. You may need to move the separate pieces of the white oval a little when you are done, so select one piece with lasso select, press ctrl+x, and paste it on a new layer.

TIP: After you draw a straight line, right click on one of the nubs before you start dragging them around. This sets the line/curve to "bezier curve mode" which makes nicer looking curves.

[Greg135]

The extra effects was to cover up the mistakes in the e

To make the "e" like that, I made one layer with a tilted black oval, then duplicated it and inverted the color to make a white oval with the same rotation. I shrank the white oval and moved it into position. Then, on a new layer, I used the line/curve tool to draw the curve I needed to remove from the white oval. Once I deleted that part of the oval, I deleted the extra layer. From here, you're pretty much done. You may need to move the separate pieces of the white oval a little when you are done, so select one piece with lasso select, press ctrl+x, and paste it on a new layer.

TIP: After you draw a straight line, right click on one of the nubs before you start dragging them around. This sets the line/curve to "bezier curve mode" which makes nicer looking curves.

Hey there pdnnoob,

I've been playing around with a bunch of fonts....

OK...thanks for your explanation....but I'm struggling to follow your instructions...

Let me tell you what I did:

-created ellipse on white background

-selected ellipse

-tilted ellipse

-duplicated titlted ellipse (still selected) Layers > Duplicate Layer

But how did you " invert the color"?

Am I correct thus far?

Regards

Greg

[HELEN]

Greg, to invert the color, you press Ctrl + Shift + i

[Greg135]

Greg, to invert the color, you press Ctrl + Shift + i

Thanks for the tip Helen....

[Greg135]

OK.....finally with much trial and error, I managed to duplicate what you did pdnnoob....

I'm not sure if I can remember the steps it took to get here.....

Anyway have a look....

Everyone else as well.....yes you are all included....you know who you are - thanks for all your help.

At least I can now use this as the base for one of the logo ideas...

Regards

Greg

[Greg135]

Ok everyone,

Herewith one of the logos......colours are not final....

Again thanks to everyone for your input....have to single out pdnnoob for going the extra mile!!!

You guys are awesome!!!

Regards

Greg

Edited September 11, 2012 by Greg135

[Greg135]

Really nice to see someone giving credit where it's due. It's so so dis-heartening when people get advice and run

Have you considered a bit of Bevel Selection on the larger E ... it seems a bit 'flat' at the moment

http://forums.getpai...cember-12-2011/

You know what Welshblue....this forum is really great because of the people....and you can include yourself in that group!!!

I agree with you....I need to make the design more punchy....

I think I've been at it too long today because I can't figure this out.....

I tried the bevel but it applies the bevel to the background and not the E itself....(large E is on a transparent background)

Any ideas on how to do this?

And any other ideas will be most welcome...

Regards

Greg

[nitenurse79]

You would need to select the large E using the magic wand and then go to effects > selection > bevel selection

[pdnnoob]

The bevel plugin applies the effect to the currently selected area. To apply it to an object like your e, just use the magic wand to select the e before using the plugin.

I would highly recommend applying the bevel on a new layer so that you can adjust it if needed.

Looking good so far. Glad I could help!

[nitenurse79]

The bevel plugin applies the effect to the currently selected area. To apply it to an object like your e, just use the magic wand to select the e before using the plugin.

I would highly recommend applying the bevel on a new layer so that you can adjust it if needed.

Looking good so far. Glad I could help!

Posted at the same time pdnnoob

[Greg135]

Thanks nitenurse79 and pdnnoob and welshblue!!!!!

OK here is the result....

Be brutally honest please....meeting with the client tomorrow....

The final logo is going to be used right across the companies media branding

including:

-business cards and letterheads

-real estate boards and markers

-flags

-large format advertising boards 8' x 12' and larger

Just a quick question - what resolution should the final logo be created in to meet all the printing requirements?

Regards

Greg

[Greg135]

Sorry...timed out...

[nitenurse79]

Looks pretty cool to me very clean and easy to read. The highest resolution possible for print quality is always going to be your best option. This may be of use to you http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/17049-dpi-and-you-understanding-resolution-for-print-and-web/

Edited September 11, 2012 by nitenurse79

[HELEN]

Greg, just a head's up. If this logo is going to be used both on the Web and in printing format, you should save it in different formats. For example, your Web logo should be saved as a .png with a dpi (resolution) of at least 300. If the logo will be used on flags, boards, letterheads, etc., you should probably save it as .tiff since it's the printing format and with a 300 dpi (at least).

[nitenurse79]

Sorry to post again, but perhaps run AA's Assistant plug-in to remove some of the jagged edges around the curves.

[Greg135]

Greg, just a head's up. If this logo is going to be used both on the Web and in printing format, you should save it in different formats. For example, your Web logo should be saved as a .png with a dpi (resolution) of at least 300. If the logo will be used on flags, boards, letterheads, etc., you should probably save it as .tiff since it's the printing format and with a 300 dpi (at least).

Thanks Helen....

Great head's up...was not aware of those requirements....

Hopefully my PC is powerfull enough to render those resolutions...

Regards

Greg

[Greg135]

Brutally honest ... it's a taste thing but I don't like the colour of the E.

But I'm seriously thinking I need an eye test in real life, so that could be me thinking it's too bright

One suggestion I would have is to make a new Bevel Selection layer and use the alternate lighting direction option, so that the lighting changes. Then maybe set the layer Blend Mode to Overlay, it'll help it blend in nicer IMO

That's cool welshblue....

My idea is to put something completely different in front of the client...

I'll play with your other suggestions....where is the Blend Mode?

regards

Greg

[Greg135]

Sorry to post again, but perhaps run AA's Assistant plug-in to remove some of the jagged edges around the curves.

You post away...no problem...

I still need to do that too....

regards

Greg

[nitenurse79]

Press F4 on your keyboard to access the blend modes

Edited September 11, 2012 by nitenurse79

[barbieq25]

Hey Greg, it is great to see you giving credit as Welshy said & I am very happy to read such a positive outcome. A wonderful sharing of collective experience.

It may be a bit late but a single pixel white or black outline on the lettering would give it that extra pop. Signwriters often do that with vinyl to make the image/letters stand out a bit more.

Good luck with the meeting. I am sure they will be impressed. Good colour choice too the blue since blue is the communication colour. Well done Greg & Pdnnoob for the mini tute.

[Greg135]

Press F4 on your keyboard to access the blend modes

Thanks nitenurse79.....where would I be without you.....lol

[Greg135]

Hey Greg, it is great to see you giving credit as Welshy said & I am very happy to read such a positive outcome. A wonderful sharing of collective experience.

It may be a bit late but a single pixel white or black outline on the lettering would give it that extra pop. Signwriters often do that with vinyl to make the image/letters stand out a bit more.

Good luck with the meeting. I am sure they will be impressed. Good colour choice too the blue since blue is the communication colour. Well done Greg & Pdnnoob for the mini tute.

Never too late Barbieq25.....almost midnight here!!!

Yes the experience has been really good.....last night I was panicking and really didn't have a clue!!!

I'll try the white outline.....what's the best way to apply the outline?

And yes thanks very much for the good wishes....appreciated.

regards

Greg

[minners71]

Hi Greg, I am a bit late to this helpful topic but thought I'd give a bit of advice. Like NN79 said it does need either feathering or AA assistant, to see why make a new layer and fill it with black and move it to the bottom of your layer stacks ( Its always a good idea to have 2 layers at the bottom one white and one black and switch between them to check your work especially when working with transparency )

Feather can be found by going to EFFECTS>OBJECT>FEATHER

and

AA assistant is a plug in which you will have to dl from here http://forums.getpai...showtopic=16643

Once DL unzip it and move the .dll files to your paint.net effects folder ( remember to close pdn first )

another idea is a drop shadow,there is a plug in to do this for you but its very easy without

1. Duplicate the layer with the e now go to ADJUSTMENTS>HUE/SATURATION and move the lightness slider all the way to the left ( this turns it black ) now go to EFFECTS>GAUSSIAN BLUR ( and blur it to about 4 px ) and then move this layer below the blue e layer. You can either keep it as it is or use the blue move arrow to place it in a better position. Also you may wish to change the opacity by double clicking on the layer in your layer windows box.

You could also do as Barbie suggests and outline the e but bear in mind both these options will show up the jaggies more so even more important to use feather or AA.

One last pointer try and think what size you wish your finished logo to be and start of with a canvas 4xbigger and then when finished give the whole image a gaussian blur at 2-3/px then resize by 25% this will eliminate most jaggies and give the image a very clean look.

Good luck

*Just copied your image into pdn to see what feathering,outline and drop shadow does to it and it seems as the the image is not on a transparent background :s anyone else have this problem ?

Edited September 11, 2012 by minners71

[barbieq25]

Minners, probably it is not a .PNG & so transparency is not supported. I had the same issue.

Greg, I'd probably go with Drop Shadow set to a small value such as 1 for both width & blur.

Otherwise there are a couple of outline plugins.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

Hey Greg - just a note on printing at different resolutions.

You really need to read this:

The real trick is to work on a REALLY LARGE CANVAS. If your current logo is 600x600px then it will print horribly if you try to stretch it up to say 6" x 4".

So before you go any further - make sure your canvas is:

1. really, REALLY large.

and

2. A size that is a power of 2 multiple of the required finished size - i.e. 200%, 400%, 800% or 1600%.

I'm not kidding. When the client wants to print a banner six feet wide a source image 600px square isn't going to cut it.