Identity systems

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Symbol design and reduction

Lesson 5 of 18 in Identity systems.

Logo Design | How Small? · Will Paterson
Lesson

A symbol is a shape that has to survive being made small, being printed badly, being embroidered, being stamped into metal and being seen for a fraction of a second. Reduction is the process of finding out which parts of an idea survive all of that, and deleting the rest.

full lockupmark and namemarkat 24pxeach step drops a whole element, never a thinner version
One identity at four sizes, losing an element at each step.
An ink drawing from above of five tracing-paper sheets showing a fish symbol growing simpler from left to right, ending beside a stamp, a patch and a small button carrying the final shape.
The symbol gets simpler on each sheet until it survives a tiny button.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    A symbol pairs a circle with a square, both aligned to exactly the same height. What does a viewer see?

    • The circle looks smaller, because the eye measures area rather than extremes
    • The circle looks larger, because curved edges catch more light
    • A matched pair, which is the point of measuring them
    • A square that looks correct small and wrong at large sizes
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Removing everything the mark can survive losing. The whole method.”

    • Optical edge
    • Reduction
    • Tile
    • Clear space
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “An enclosed gap inside a shape. The first thing to fill in at small size.”

    • Counter
    • Wordmark
    • Adaptive identity
    • Distinctive asset

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