Book Review: Logo Design Love

When you are reading a book to educate you on a specific subject, the worst thing is for it to seem like a textbook from grade school.  This book is the exact opposite of that, it is a joy to read.  That being said, the virtue of a textbook is that it imparts massive amounts of knowledge.  I have trouble ever remembering any of said knowledge, because I am usually too bored.  This book may not have massive amounts of knowledge contained in it, but that is not the purpose.

So the bottom line is this, I do think this is a very good book for what it is.  Sometimes too simple, and sometimes it gives advice that seems too obvious, but it does it well.  I for one learned a lot about logo design from this book.  It goes in depth into the process the author uses when creating a logo for a client.  At every step there are examples and interesting anecdotes.  The writing style is light and fun to read. It's easy to say that advice is obvious after you've read it, but it is rather nice that it speaks to you as a beginner, but has concepts to make you a professional.

There are so many books on this subject and like with anything, many of them are not very good.  This is one of the better ones to get started with before delving into some of the more in depth tomes of graphic design.

Image © David Airey All rights reserved. Originally published at www.logodesignlove.com.

ByRegina gets me moving

Byregina.com is a great resource for getting started with blogging/freelancing.  It focuses quite a bit on blogging, but is a great resource for tips on how to get started and how to be successful. This post in particular (http://byregina.com/starting-your-freelance-business/) is a great checklist for getting started on your own business.  Look at me!  I'm following it right now, starting my own blog.  She really goes in depth about what you should do to get started.  It has multiple steps each well laid out and suggests scheduling these on your calendar in order to push yourself.

Once your there, make sure to check out other posts by her as well.  There are so many informative posts and they are a pleasure to read.  Her writing style is great, it is funny and punchy and makes me want to read everything, even when the post is about something I'm not necessarily interested in.  Okay, okay, I'm not actually listing 12 reasons, but there are at least that many, go check it out for yourself if you like awesome stuff.

Inspiration - Zen Pencils

Inspiration is an important thing.  I have had trouble in the past with inspirational speakers and books.  I have found the whole subject to be, in general, too cheesy, too plastic for my taste.  I have trouble listening to their advice, because I feel like I am trying to be sold something.  I don't think this is always the case, but more often than not if someone starts talking about inspirational material my eyes instantly begin to glaze over and I just wait for the "I spent x amount to go to their lecture and spent more money on their book once I was there."  Sounds like someone sold you something and good for you, you learned a lesson, right?  They were so inspirational they took all your money; Just another con artist at work.









Okay, okay, this is a jaded and cynical view and I don't actually believe it to be quite so dire, but it's the feeling I get all the same.  I believe that there are probably plenty of people out there who do truly want to inspire you and make you better, but it's all about finding what is right for you.  It's hard to listen to something inspirational if it doesn't really apply to you.  I mean, the root of all of this stuff is probably the same, it's probably the same rules to follow that will lead you to success and feeling good about yourself.

But I am an artist, and when someone is talking to me about their success in sales or business, it doesn't mean anything.  I want to listen to people in my field.  And this makes so much sense, but it was hard for me to get there.

What I'm leading to is Zen Pencils (www.zenpencils.com).  This is my new favorite site.  It is a site where an artist, Gavin Aung Than, has taken inspirational quotes and drawn out comics for each one.  It is amazing.  I think it is great for anyone looking for inspiration, but more importantly to me, it is great for artists.  Artists of any kind really.  A great deal of the quotes are from famous artists, though there are plenty from others who are just remarkable people with interesting things to say.  It makes me feel good.  For lack of a better word, it makes me feel inspired.

It is organized by name of the person who has been quoted, so you can probably find someone you respect, or at least someone who makes you laugh.  My personal favorite is the Bill Watterson quote.  One, because it feels like it is specifically for me, it is the way I feel about life but could never express so eloquently as this.  And two, because I love Calvin and Hobbes.  I can't recommend this highly enough.  Go check it out for yourself.

All images copyright © Gavin Aung Than www.zenpencils.com