Logo design, logo designer | Cropped logo design inspiration

34 spot-on reader comments to “Cropped logo design inspiration”

1. Aaron Russell, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   Thanks for sharing these David. It’s an interesting technique and these are quite striking examples. I like it in the context of the “cutcost” logo - a clever idea.

   Aaron Russell’s last blog post…Real men don’t drink and drive

2. George - LogoDesign.org, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   Hmm, can’t say I’ve seen alot of cropped logo designs in day to day life (at least not any memorable enough for me to recall), I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the use of cropping in most of the examples you have referenced, especially not the blink, Vision or SHN logos, they just make me feel that the printer was running out of ink, LOL.

   I do find the CutCost and “crop” logos to be quite inspired, however.

   Thanks for sharing

   George - LogoDesign.org’s last blog post…Today is the day! Rock the vote!

3. Pete, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   One example that comes to mind is Surface magazine. Cheers.

   surface_mag.jpg

4. Chris, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   An interesting set of cropped logos. I thought the way Shn was cropped to resemble curtains on a stage was ingenious.

5. Jacob Cass, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   Thought you would have done a post like this on Logo Design Love. Thanks for sharing. Do you take the photos with macro?

6. Rachel Goldstein, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   I really like the effect that cropping out part of the type creates. Thanks for sharing this with us.

7. Antonio, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   David, I love this book and this is one of my favorite sections.

   Antonio’s last blog post…Mytton Williams

8. Chaitanya VRK, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   Nice idea, David. I recently bought this book. But not yet read this section. Will do it today.

   Chaitanya VRK’s last blog post…3rd Annual Pixel Awards Announced

9. Chaitanya VRK, on November 6th, 2008 said:

   Hi David, the photographs are pretty clear. May I know how you shot them?

   Chaitanya VRK’s last blog post…Choosing paper for your print needs

10. Toby Hook, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    This book is awesome - nice blog post

    Toby Hook’s last blog post…Fake Problems/All Or Nothing

11. David Brooks, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    These are brilliant logos. I think I might have to order a copy of that book, thanks for the inspiration.

12. Nathan Beck, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    With some of the examples I feel it adds to the design (even though you’re taking something away!)

    However I can’t see the relation between some of the logos and the objectives of their corresponding company. Ark is cool, obviously Crop and Cutcost.com make sense.. maybe I’m just not looking in to them enough.

    Regardless, I need to get that book!

    Nathan Beck’s last blog post…Designing with data

13. David Airey, on November 6th, 2008 said:
    Aaron,

    No worries at all, buddy.

    George,

    The SHN is one of the more effective logos for me, referencing the drawing of curtains on the theatre stage.

    Pete,

    Nice addition. I’ve pasted the logo here:

    

    Chris,

    I liked that one more than most too.

    Jacob, Chaitanya,

    There’s a macro setting on my camera, yep. Can’t remember if I was using it, but I guess so. Although I love it, I’m definitely no professional photographer.

    Rachel, Toby,

    You’re both very welcome.

    David,

    It’s been a while, and I hope you’ve been keeping well. The logo book is one of my favourites, and I’d certainly recommend it.

    Antonio,

    I purchased Logo not long after it was released, though I’ve heard from some people it contained glaring errors, and an updated copy was published. There are a few mismatched references in mine, but nothing major. Hope you got a decent version too. Regardless, I don’t think you can go wrong with it.

14. firebubble - logo design, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    I really like the appearance of the science cite artwork. Nice mention Pete on the Surface magazine logo that looks great. I agree with Chris the way Shn was cropped to resemble curtains on a stage is ingenious. Thanks for sharing the excellent logos.

15. Richard, Peacock Carter, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    Like the Denk Art logo, though I first read ‘Denk’ as ‘Derek’!

16. Justin Wright, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    Some awesome designs. I really love the idea of using the crop to make it loo much more unique and eye catching.

    Justin Wright’s last blog post…Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

17. Gareth Coxon, on November 6th, 2008 said:

    Less is definitely more! Did these cropped typographic identities inspire the recent ‘Berthier Associates’ design work David? Great examples from a great book, thanks for sharing.

18. Jesse W., on November 7th, 2008 said:

    anything to attract attention by being a little bit different looks good to me!

19. Kathy @ Virtual Impax, on November 7th, 2008 said:

    This is my first exposure to cropped logos and I’m definitely impressed! I too was drawn to the Denk Art logo.

    I find it fascinating how all of these “cropped” logos somehow each convey a personality all it’s own.

20. Aaron Weiche, on November 7th, 2008 said:

    Five Technology, we’re a cropped logo … and proud. :)

    Aaron Weiche’s last blog post…Web Design Project: Brandt Automation

21. David Airey, on November 7th, 2008 said:
    Gareth,

    It actually wasn’t until after I completed the Berthier logo when I took another look through Michael’s Logo. They are, however, similar in their simplicity. I agree.

    Aaron,

    Ah yes, thanks for reminding me of your FIVE logo.

    I hope you all have a great weekend!

22. George - LogoDesign.org, on November 8th, 2008 said:

    @David: Ahaha, now that you explain it I can see the curtains closing in the SHN logo, but I still have a slight problem with it: I took literally 5 minutes staring at the three logos I mentioned and stage curtains did NOT come to mind in the SHN one, and although it is admittedly very cool when you understand it I wonder how many casual viewers see the logo and don’t get it at all, and just think something is “off” with it ( the cropped sections aren’t symmetrical and it just doesn’t look balanced at all if you don’t “get” it).

    At the same time when originally viewing it I somehow missed that it was a logo for a theatre company, maybe seeing it in context helps people understand it.

    George - LogoDesign.org’s last blog post…How Obama’s logo made him the next President of the United States!

23. PG, on November 8th, 2008 said:

    Often times as designers we sometimes forget about the most basic and simplest solutions to solve our problems. A little cropping, rotating, reversing, etc. may just be enough to produce some worthwhile results.

24. bob quinn, on November 8th, 2008 said:

    The logo for Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art is composed of individually-cropped letters. They also use a similarly cropped alphabet for headlines. See http://www.icaboston.org

25. Mat, on November 9th, 2008 said:

    That what I love in logo design - idea, simplicity, and beautiful form. Thanks for showing this!

26. David Airey, on November 9th, 2008 said:
    George,

    A logo in context will often be much stronger than out, so I agree that having that theatre relation will strengthen the idea.

    Peter,

    Looking forward to your site update. When can we expect it?

    Bob,

    Thanks for the ICA link — another good example.

    Mat,

    You’re more than welcome.

27. PG, on November 10th, 2008 said:

    David,

    Hopefully before the end of this year ;)

28. PJ, on November 10th, 2008 said:

    I think this technique has been over used a lot recently… well not recently like a couple years ago. I like the ‘Arc’. It has a purpose. But there are too many that just use the technique and don’t include the idea.

    PJ’s last blog post…Collection of Stamp Images

29. Dainis Graveris, on November 10th, 2008 said:

    nice logo ideas, thanks :) I also took notice You took time to describe each logo what it is about - thanks, everybody should do it :)

    Dainis Graveris’s last blog post…30 Sources To Get Your Web Design Inspiration

30. Graphic Design Guru, on November 11th, 2008 said:

    I did a project in college where you had to take the names of countries and then use the word itself to illustrate a well-known concept or event related to it. I used this “cropped logo” effect for Zimbabwe, taking away parts of each letter of the word, playing on the state of the political climate in the country of that time when the farms were simply taken away from the farmers and given to disadvantaged parties. Point being that this effect can be used very successfully to illustrate numerous concepts… Great article, thanks.

    Graphic Design Guru’s last blog post…Von Roxy Designer Wear

31. Dolzhenkov Ilya, on November 14th, 2008 said:

    It’s my logo - http://www.free-lance.ru/users/dolzhenkov/upload/f_488e23399da93.jpg ^_^

32. Amanda Vlahakis, on November 17th, 2008 said:

    I’m not sure about many of them as it seems to be a case of being arty for arty’s sake.

    I prefer those where the cut has a clear meaning/purpose and I would deem those as including; Arc, Cutcost, Crop and Surface.

    Good find …. as I don’t think I’ve actually seen a cropped logo before that I recall.

    Amanda Vlahakis’s last blog post…Drooling In Ikea

33. Ernie Small, on November 18th, 2008 said:

    it sort of seems to me that “mis-cropping” as it could be called harkens back to when more things were cut with scissors and glued together. rather than being perfectly assembled on computers. i find that almost half of the text and graphic ideas that i “come up with” are due to mistakes like cropping wrong, etc.
    what is it about incorrectness and inexactitude that is so pleasing to the eye?

34. David Airey, on November 18th, 2008 said:
    Ernie,

    What is it about incorrectness and inexactitude that is so pleasing to the eye?

    Good question. I’m a big fan of grids, but when you know the rules, and how to break them, you can really create some interesting design.

    Amanda,

    I agree. My likes from these include Arc, Crop, SHN, and cutcost.com.

    Thanks for the comments, everyone.

What are your thoughts?

Simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. Comments should be respectful of other voices in the discussion. I reserve the right to edit or delete comments at my discretion.