Check more artworks by Webshocker on Dribbble.

New D4U Gallery issues are coming soon; keep up with new posts.

For more inspiration, check the sets of other posts from our D4U Gallery, where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you, for example:

• people illustration gallery,
• Procreate illustration tutorials, 
• logo animation examples, 
• realistic 3D portraits,
• impressive packaging designs, 
• artistic portrait collages
• childhood illustrations, 
• 3D illustrations, 
• book cover designs, 
• sunny digital artworks

Сообщение 24 Hypnotic 3D Animation Concepts by Webshocker появились сначала на Design4Users.

Check more animations by Alex Gorbunov in his Dribbble portfolio.

New D4U Gallery issues are coming soon, keep up with the news.

For more inspiration, check the examples of ultra-minimalistic product designs, awesome food and tableware photography, realistic 3D portraits, impressive packaging designs, dog illustrations, childhood illustrations, 3D illustrations, book cover designs, and other posts from our D4U Gallery where we gather impressive creatives to share their art with you.

Сообщение 15 Animated Logo Design Concepts by Alex Gorbunov появились сначала на Design4Users.

By Tubik Arts

By Markus Magnusson

By UI8

By MUTI

Cub Studio

Gal Shir

By Anna Kajda

By Tubik

By RADIO

By Anna Hurley

By Fireart Studio

By Phillip Nordstrom

By Artua

By Roman Klco

By Matt Carlson

By Tubik

By Rosie Phillpot

By James Boorman

By Andrey Prokopenko

By Mario Jacome

By Icons8

By Jordan Jenkins

By Carlos Puentes

For more digital art, check the collections of autumn illustrations, summer illustrations, winter illustrations, and other D4U Inspiration posts

Сообщение Trick-Or-Treat in Digital Art: 20+ Cool Halloween Pictures появились сначала на Design4Users.

Today we describe visual components of a logo that are vital for compelling visual perception and also show practical cases of applying the psychology of color and shapes in design for branding.

Psychology in logo design

To make an effective logo, designers have to consider the tiniest components which it is built of and think about the influence they will have on potential clients. The science studying the impact of various factors on the human mind and behavior is known as psychology. Knowledge of psychological principles helps to understand human aspirations and motivations which means designers can predict the possible users’ reactions to certain solutions.

People may not notice but the mind often reacts to visual objects affecting the emotions and behavior. In our previous articles, we described two psychology branches that study the impact of shapes and colors on people’s visual perception. In short, each color and shape tend to be perceived with its own meaning, so when we look at a visual object our brain receives a certain message and reacts according to what we see.

Comprehending the role of the color and shape psychology, design expert can control the meaning a logo contributes. Each component chosen thoughtfully helps people read the meaning of the logo right.

Color in logo design

The research provided by Colorcom showed that it takes only 90 seconds for people to make a subconscious judgment about a product and between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. That’s why the success of the brand strategy depends largely upon the colors chosen for the logo design.

Colors are a vital factor for not only the visual appearance of products but also brand recognition. In the article Color in Design: Influence on Users’ Behavior we described the meanings of common colors in branding and here is a short sum up.

Red. Confidence, youth, and power.
Orange. Friendly, warm, and energetic.
Yellow. Happiness, optimism, and warmth.
Green. Peace, growth, and health.
Blue. Trust, security, and stability.
Purple. Luxurious, creative, and wise.
Black. Reliable, sophisticated, and experienced.
White. Simple, calm, and clean.

The color choice shouldn’t be based on the common meaning alone. Visual perception is quite individual for everyone so the color effects may be different because of factors such as age, culture, and gender. For example, children like yellow color pretty much, but as we become adults it usually seems less attractive. Moreover, there are many cultural differences in color definition. To make sure the color will work effectively for a brand strategy, it’s vital to consider the preferences of the target audience.

Shape in logo design

As we already mentioned in the article devoted to the psychology of shapes, all the visual objects can be analyzed in terms of shape. People may not always notice what figures and shapes surround them still they have a great impact on our consciousness and behavior. Many years of research and tests have helped professionals to define what meaning each shape typically brings and how it can influence human perception. Let’s take a closer look.

Squares and rectangles meanings: discipline, strength, courage, security, reliability.
Triangles meanings: excitement, risk, danger, balance, stability.
Circles, ovals, and ellipses meanings: eternity, female, universe, magic, mystery
Spirals meanings: growth, creativity, calmness, intelligence
Natural shapes meanings: originality, organic, balance, refreshment
Abstract shapes meanings: the duality of meaning, uniqueness, elaborate.

Creating a logo, designers should work on the shapes applied as well as pay attention to the typeface chosen for the wordmark.

Practical cases

Tubik designers have great experience in creating compelling brand signs. Let’s see the logo design examples applying color and shape psychology.

LunnScape

The logo was created for LunnScape company specializing in landscaping services to commercial properties like office and courtyard spaces, parks, etc. A brand sign is presented with a mascot of a dragonfly. LunnScape company is based in Florida and the creature is a perfect representative of regional fauna. Moreover, a logo with an insect helps customers understand the nature of the services.

The dragonfly illustration has a simplified style so its wings look like flower leaves. The logo consists of several colors. Turquoise circle with a dragonfly gives a solid stamp effect and brings calming feelings. Also, the color is associated with refreshment and energy, so it creates the right mood around the brand. The wings of the dragonfly combine yellow and pink colors. Together these colors symbolize joy, warmth, and a bit of sensitivity making a dragonfly look playful. The wordmark typography complements and also unveils the core brand services of the company due to the thin and elegant font.

Andre

One more identity design project connected to the theme of landscape and nature was the logo for Andre Landscape. The final choice was made on the combination mark presenting the mascot in clear simple forms and elegant lettering echoing the rounded shapes. Symbol resulted in a new shape combining the visual concept of a bird and of a leaf in one image based on the circle. The rounded shape is easily associated with the universe and eternity, quite positive stuff to transfer the idea of professional land care. Color combination is also connected with the nature of the offered services with vibes of green and natural background.

Binned

This is the brand sign for trash bin cleaning service called Binned. A logo is presented with a lettermark featuring capital B as it associates with the brand name. The lines in the letter take the shape of waves evoking a sense of water and cleanliness. The logo is followed by the wordmark of the entire brand name. The chosen font is simple yet bold which makes it look neat and reflecting the mood of a brand.

The color palette includes tints of blue and green which give string associations of cleanness and refreshment. In addition, the blue color often represents some corporate images since the blue is the color of trust. It usually shows reliability, may give users calming feelings.

Reborn

The logo presents a self-service Chinese restaurant Reborn. The major philosophy of a brand is bringing in the modern way of automated ordering food in the restaurant industry and setting the link between traditions of healthy food and innovations. To transfer all these ideas and create an effective brand image, the red silk ribbon was featured as the initial letter in the wordmark.

The ribbon creates spiral shapes that bring a feeling of creativity and innovation. Moreover, it features a slight movement showing the restaurant as a modern business that moves with times.

Red is a traditional Chinese color so a logo lets customers understand the specifics of cuisine served at the restaurant. Also, red color demonstrates the confidence and youth of the service as well as contributes to better brand awareness due to its brightness.

Motion

This is a logo concept for a modern dance studio called Motion. The company participates in multiple directions of the dancing sphere like organizing classes and workshops, events, and tournaments.

The brand sign has the shape of a circle. Originally, this shape symbolizes eternity since it has no beginning or end. This way, a logo highlights the diversity of company services. Moreover, one of the common meanings for circles is motion so it perfectly reflects the brand’s name.

This logo concept provides a variety of color performance showing the flexibility of general brand strategy. The presented options include yellow, green, and blue colors. Yellow is a principal color which brings warm and playful emotions. Green and blue colors symbolize balance and harmony.

OrBeat

Another round logo was designed for OrBeat, the online platform for sharing digitized sound material like music, speech, and specific sound sets on the Internet. In addition, the service has the functionality of a social network so the shape sets the association with the circle of friends. Users can create their unique playlists, leave comments, listen to the tracks online, and share their sound collection with friends from other social networks.

So, setting the connection with the themes of music adding dynamics to everyday life, communication, and expressing the metaphor of orbit, the logo is based on rounded shapes and features the variety of shades associated with diverse content on the platform.

Whizzly

The logo is made for the social network Whizzly showcasing talents and sharing creative projects. The mascot is a monkey that looks quite pretentious because of the sunglasses. The choice of the character can be explained by the common associations connected with this animal. Monkeys are energetic funny representatives of fauna and they know how to draw attention. Rounded forms make the image dynamic and friendly.

As the brand’s target audience are talented people, the monkey displays its eccentricity. The colors include the gradient of violet and blue. They are easily associated with the lights which are often used on the stage. Also, we can see the reflection of the brand’s name in the sunglasses. It ensures better brand recognition.

fOxygenic

Here’s the concept applying branding symbol for an app icon. It features a logo for fOxygenic, a mobile application that represents a social network for people loving the active life, open-air sports and events. As you see, the mascot is based on a round shape. It may set different levels of association by the resemblance with “O” letter for the word “oxygen” applied in the brand name, motion and active life and the circle of friends as well as in OrBeat logo. Bright warm orange color reflects not only the traditional vision of a fox coloring but also the idea of dynamic life, joy, and great mood. Moreover, the color has high visibility potential which strengthens the icon’s recognizability.

SwitchUp

This is a branding sign for a music app SwitchUp with broad functionality on generating and sharing playlists. A logo features a wordmark and the form of a play button. This shape helps to set the link with the nature of the application. In addition, the keywords behind its branding are “bright”, “dynamic”, “fun” and “positive”, the reason why the triangle is an accurate choice. The thing is that the triangle is an energetic and dynamic shape that is associated with motion and direction. The color palette supplements the brand image bringing the feeling of energy and freshness.

Meditrack

The logo concept was designed for a medical app Meditrack used by doctors for planning and organizing the flow of appointments as well as tracking and saving health data for patients. It features the stylized track sign where straight lines go up and down similar to heart rating graph. The combination of blue, light blue and red colors is often associated with health care industry so creates a professional image for a brand.

The success of branding highly relates to logo design. Considering the influence of colors and shape on human psychology, you can create compelling brand signs which set the connection with the target audience by transferring accurate messages and emotions.

What to Read

Knock Design Into Shape. Psychology of Shapes

Color in Design: Influence on Users’ Actions

Animated Logos: Why, When and How to Use

Psychology in Design: How to Understand Users

Creative Stages of Efficient Logo Design

6 Creative Stages of Design for Branding

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение How Shape and Color Work in Logo Design: Practical Cases появились сначала на Design4Users.

Motion design was called one of the leading trends of this year. Animated elements have become a core part of the powerful design by delivering innovative and fresh solutions. The animation is applied for various UI components of a digital product as well as for any other graphic material.

Animated logo is a popular asset of marketing and brand identity. Motion designers turn static logos into something new and unique. Today many brands continue sharing the animated version of the logos with the world. But why do companies invest in logo animation? Let’s find out what profit an animated logo can bring to a brand and where it can be applied.

Horsy logo animation

What’s an animated logo?

A logo is like a heart of a brand identity. It presents a personality of a company or a product and plays a significant role in a branding strategy. A powerful logo can set the connection with the target audience as well as tell the story of a brand. If graphic designers do their job right, a logo establishes an effective brand image which serves as the foundation of a successful marketing strategy.

The age of only print-focused and static graphic design has passed. Modern technology opens great opportunities and professionals need to take advantage of it. To bring a fresh breath into the logo, design experts decided to add some motion.

The level of animation can vary from simple moves to the complete short video presentation. A company and designers agree on which kind of animation to choose and how long it will be according to business goals as well as the type of personality they want to demonstrate to the clients.

Today the tools helping to create animated graphics are in open access. Even more, they are clear enough to use so graphic designers often create animation on their own. However, in case a brand needs a complex video, it may be good to approach the specialists of the motion design sphere.

Really logo animation

Why does a brand need an animated logo?

As soon as the trend of the logo animation took its place, many big and small companies got in touch with designers. But why is it getting popular so fast?

An animated logo is a modern and dynamic way to present a brand. It can show a company character and transfer a certain message to attracting clients. Moreover, it is a good way to stand out from competitors since an animated logo guarantees originality. Let’s see the list of benefits that an animated logo brings to a brand.

An original image

It’s not a secret that some brands have similar logos and even more, sometimes they can be competitors. It may happen not on purpose but just because brands are forced to apply some recognition elements in a logo which would give a hint about their services.

To bring uniqueness to a logo, designers can add some motion. An animated logo allows the imagination to go out of control. Original graphics combined with different visual effects create a unique way to perceive the logo.

Higher brand awareness

Many experts say that dynamic images, as well as video content, are comprehended better than static which means they are easy to remember. A powerful animated logo connects with potential clients and draws their attention effectively. Some animations can last up to 10 seconds which increases chances of memorizing compared to a short glance at the static image.

Pleasant first impression

The first impression has a great impact on how people see a product. It takes only a few seconds for us to decide whether we like something or not. Since a logo is the first representative of a brand it needs to make a nice first impression on potential clients. An original animated logo is a good way to surprise people and increase the chances that they will remember your brand. Positive first impression helps to attract users’ interest.

Evoked emotions

People like fresh and unusual ideas and an animated logo is a good way to surprise them. An effective logo animation can become a trigger for excitement, joy, and intrigue. If a logo can bring some positive emotions to the target audience, there are great chances that they will remember a brand and associate it with something pleasant.

Whizzly logo animation

Better storytelling

An animated logo can become a working part of a storytelling process. Animation can give a more detailed explanation of the nature of a business than a static logo does. It works as a short video telling a unique story of a product or a company. Video content can easily set an emotional connection with viewers. In addition, video can be shared across the web which means more people can see a logo.

Company professionalism

Customers may not be experts in the marketing field still they understand what is trending. A lot of famous companies including Google have already acquired animated versions of their logos and proudly share it with the whole world. That’s why when a brand shows that they keep up with the innovations, people see them as the real professional.

Binned animated logo

Where to use an animated logo

Video content targets all the digital space and can be applied in different cases with different purposes. Let’s see what they are.

Social networks

Nowadays, social networks are one of the major platforms for product promotion. People spend plenty of time surfing the Internet and communicating on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. The video content is an effective marketing tool that is easy to share and which can be quickly found among the other content. Moreover, animated logos can be converted to GIFs becoming effective material for social posting, so they can be shared across social media.

Company website

Websites are like a CV for a company. It’s vital to make sure a website works effectively. An animated logo can improve the image of the site as well as boost its SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Visitors will watch logo animation and by doing so they will spend more time on a page. This indicator has a big impact on the website’s rank in the search results.

Presentations

Public figures often have to hold different presentations be it a product demonstration or a business meeting. By including an animated logo to slides, you can add the element of originality and creativity to the presentation.

Promo Videos

In our previous articles, we have described the role of promo video in business and said that many companies take profits from this marketing tool. So, why not to polish a promo video with an original animated logo? This combination can accomplish certain business and marketing tasks.

How to use an animated logo

As we can see, an animated logo is often applied as an effective promotional tool. It helps to increase memorability, brand awareness, improve storytelling, and create an original image for a brand. To make it work efficiently, don’t forget to consider the factors below.

• Before you create a logo animation, analyze the company’s business goals, and think of the personality a brand will show.
• Conduct user research. The logo animation should be oriented to the users’ preferences.
• Try to make users surprised. Create an animation that way so the final result would be unpredictable at the first second.
• Keep it short. Try not to make a complex movie from a logo. It is recommended to stay under 10 seconds.

Toonie Alarm logo animation

Read More

6 Creative Stages of Design for Branding

Benefits and Pitfalls of Promo Videos for Web

Creative Stages of Efficient Logo Design

Identity Design: 5 Basic Types of Logos

Animated Logo: Dynamic Way to Present a Brand. Collection of Design Concepts

Mascot Power for Creative Branding

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Animated Logos: Why, Where and How to Use появились сначала на Design4Users.

So, today the D4U inspiration set is collected at the crossroads of graphics and motion design to feature awesomely animated illustrations. Some of them were designed as a part of video production whereas others support interactions or positive user experience on apps or websites. Enjoy a variety of styles, details, colors, and plots.

By Tubik

By Artua

By Jonas Mosesson

By Tubik

By Gal Shir

By BluBlu Studios

By Glenn Thomas

By Maria Keller

By Jonathan Dahl

By Radio

By Jonan Mosesson

By Animagic Studios

By Guillaume Kurkdjian

By Gal Shir

By Glenn Thomas

By Down the Street Designs

By FANTASY

By Icons8

By Down the Street Designs

By Tubik

To read more on the topic and review other examples, check out the following articles:

UI as Art: Illustration in Interfaces

Benefits and Pitfalls of Promo Videos for Web

Step by Step Guide to Custom Promo Video Design

Design Process: How to Create Illustrations for IT Blog or Landing Page

Design Case Study: Binned. Promo Video Production

Сообщение Motion Design: 20 Inspiring Animated Illustrations появились сначала на Design4Users.

Task

Design of a logo for the logging platform uniting the efforts of Swift and Objective-C developers, UX designers, app analytics experts, and product owners.

Tools

Pencil sketching, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects

Process

As we mentioned in a case study on UI and UX design, SwiftyBeaver is a native Mac application presenting the integrated logging platform for Apple’s Swift programming language. It is aiming at developers as its basic target audience. The product supports all the devices belonging to the Apple device family.

The design practice of previous projects accomplished by studio designers, such as Saily App or Passfold, proved that tight interconnection of design solutions on branding and user interface for the same product features a higher level of efficiency. Both mentioned cases showed that in brand positioning and promotion, using the concept of strong corporate style and applying the elements of branding such as logo, lettering and illustrations consistently was the effective strategy. It is also important to remember that the user interface of an application or a website is not just a sort of static or moving images — it is the field of active interaction. Interaction with the product via the interface enhances much higher memorability potential of brand elements as well as general stylistic concepts. Following this approach for the SwiftyBeaver project, user interface designer Ludmila Shevchenko and logo designer Arthur Avakyan worked in tight collaboration to get the design solutions that will effectively support each other.

Naturally, the initial stage of the general concept search tried the variants of mascot. As the name of the product includes “Beaver”, in the first sketching set the designer presented variants of this animal as a key mascot. There was also a variant of the original presentation of “S” and “B” as two basic letters of the product name. In addition, this first set included a bit more abstract version based on the set of lines featuring the movement of a beaver’s tail.

The variant based on lines was accepted as the basic concept practically at once. Although the mascots can be a powerful tool of branding, this time the strategy was different. The target audience, as well as the nature of the product, is quite specific so a more abstract version of the logo could show more flexibility in its expressive potential. Founder and CEO of SwiftyBeaver Sebastian Kreutzberger was very attentive to details and open to discussions. He decided upon the variant with stripes because it made a logo meaningful as logs the app is based on like the logs of trees are stripes so it presented a strong visual metaphor. Additionally, he liked the colored stripes of famous 70s and 80s logos so he wanted to have a logo that would look vintage and at the same time super modern. So, this direction was developed further.

Moreover, this version got closer to the general visual design of the user interface for the application. As it was described in the previous case study, UI design widely used color lines as markers for categories of log entries, and the chosen concept of logo provided a strong connection between UI design and branding. Therefore, the next stage of the design process of elaborate and thorough work on the slightest nuances. Different versions of curves and length of the lines were tried and discussed in search of the most harmonic variant.

The color palette also echoed the colors chosen for UI design and supported them with smooth gradients. So, the user interface of the platform, landing page, and logo were conjoint via colored elements.

The original version of the logo was colorful, but the monochromatic version was also accomplished and tested to provide branding solutions with a high level of flexibility.

Another issue to consider was the choice of font for company name lettering featured with a logo image. Several options that could work effectively with the logo and correspond with the nature and general design of the product were offered and discussed. The set of potential variants included diverse variants from strict and straight to smooth and curvy. Finally, the font was chosen to provide a good combination with the fonts of the app interface. The client chose that particular font because found it appropriately curved and perfectly matching the curves in the logo.

The approved variant of logo image and lettering was also supplied with the design of the animated version. It was accomplished with the help of Tubik Studio motion designer Kirill. The designer and the client took a considerable amount of time and discussion optimizing the physics of the ball to look and feel as natural as possible.

And one more important task to move on with was the design of an app icon. To prove its efficiency, designers tested it on different devices and in different sizes to ensure that it didn’t lose its recognizability or didn’t get dirty in a smaller size.

Logo design for SwiftyBeaver was one more case proving that there are no unimportant details in branding. It was one more project full of elaborate sketching, thorough work on the slightest hues and gradients, numerous variants with different length, width, and placement of the elements to make a catchy, harmonic and stylish logo that will represent the nature of its product.

Useful Case Studies

For those, who are interested to see more practical case studies with creative flows for a logo and identity design, here is the set of them.

LunnScape. Identity Design for a Landscape Company
Binned. Brand Identity Design for Cleaning Service
Reborn. Identity Design for a Restaurant
Andre. Logo and Identity Redesign for Landscape Firm
SwiftyBeaver. Logo for Mac Application
Saily. Logo for Local C2C E-commerce Application
Creative Stages of Logo Design

Originally written for Tubik Blog

Сообщение Case Study: SwiftyBeaver. Designing App Logo появились сначала на Design4Users.