October 31st, 2008 by Learning Systems
It’s best, generally, to keep your courseware system logo simple. You want something bold, memorable, describable, and easy on the eye. If scalability is an issue, keeping the logo simple will also help with that.
Consider your course content and target audience. It might be educational content, business content, or a training course. Who will be using your courseware? If the answer is children, you can make your logo more colorful and playful. If the course is meant for medical students, take that into consideration.
Designing a courseware system logo involves balancing two disparate concepts. The logo should reflect not only innovation but also tradition and constancy–a fine line to walk. Your logo should represent a system that potential students can place their trust in.
October 31st, 2008 by Learning Systems
You might need your courseware system logo to be able to hold up well at tiny sizes. You can test its scalability by creating a 16×16 pixel “favicon” of the logo and seeing how it looks–this is probably the smallest it will ever need to be in. Also, try printing it at different sizes. Scalability may or may not be an important issue for your courseware system logo, depending on its use and location.
Once you have a simple, strong design, the key is just to try different things with your logo. Test different colors, add and subtract images, shades and tones. The logo will probably be surrounded by taglines and text. Put the logo in different situations, testing taglines and texts just to see where they look best–left, right, center, etc. Test different fonts, sizes and combinations.
October 31st, 2008 by Learning Systems
Branding your courseware system with a logo will give your course its own flare and personality. But how do you go about designing a logo that is as unique as your courseware system?
The first thing you’ll need to do is just start brainstorming like crazy. Use lots of paper, sketching and writing everything out by hand. Large design companies use this strategy, sketching pages and pages of logo ideas before even going near a computer. Sketching is the best way to quickly create and visualize your courseware system’s logo. Using the computer right away will waste time and slow you down.
Brainstorm concepts, using all means possible–research images on Google, write down keywords and ideas, do mind mapping, take a look at competitors’ logos. Don’t scratch any concept or idea until at least the next day, and be sure to run them by people whose opinions you trust.
October 31st, 2008 by Learning Systems
When designing a logo for your courseware system, you’ll want to first understand the history, nature, definition and function of logos. Your logo is the image embodying your courseware system, representing its content and fostering immediate customer recognition. Logos can be a name (logotype), an icon, sign or emblem (ideograms). Most logos are a combination of the two. Ideograms are sometimes recognizable without a name, like the McDonald’s arc, or the Red Cross. Ideograms are especially useful for logos of organizations that are being marketed in different alphabets, but logotypes can also be designed in a way that is instantly recognizable in different languages.
Though some companies and organizations hire a graphic designer to design their logo for them, it’s not necessary to do so. Since you’ve already designed an entire courseware system, why not add your personal touch by designing your own logo?
October 31st, 2008 by Learning Systems
Designing a courseware system to upload to Coggno’s syndicator? Or maybe you’ve already developed the course, but have yet to perfect the simplest part: the logo.
Let’s face it, a logo is kind of like a book cover; in the long run, it doesn’t really signify much. Your courseware system itself has to be strong, well-developed and effective in order to succeed in the marketplace. But the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t exist for nothing. The fact is, we do make quick, visual judgments when selecting everything from courseware systems to shampoo to restaurants to, well, books. Like a good book cover, a logo piques interest, appeals to some aesthetic sensibility, and quickly distinguishes your course from the rest.
Already have your logo and courseware ready to go? Take advantage of Coggno’s exciting promotion. From now until November 15, we’ll migrate your content for you, free.
