Various Aspects of Using Black and White in Logo Design

A number of famous business logos, like Playboy, BBC, Louis Vuitton, WWF, Nike, etc, have their logos created with either black or white or shades closer to these two colors. A logo designer should know the various positives and negatives related with using black and white in logo design. He also needs to know how to blend these hues successfully with other colors to create appealing logos.

At times, using a greyscale mode, or Halftone Graphics mode, becomes imperative in logo design. There are several shades of grey that exist between white and black. When it comes to printing colors accurately, a designer needs in-depth knowledge of printing methodologies and color conversion. Veteran logo designers often start designing logos in greyscale mode and convert it to color mode when they are satisfied with the result. Because a logo using bright colors may require printing in greyscale mode, the greyscale version must be attractive.

It is also important to use image editing or page layout software to reproduce differences between subtle shades of grey when printing. Some such applications offer extra color palettes for halftone shades. At times, converting color to greyscale with an image manipulation app, just does not work, and instead, causes loss of contrast and tonal variation. Designers need to have solid knowledge of RGB and CMYK color models before designing their logos.

Working with a vector graphics based application is often necessary to maintain a level of quality in the artwork and keep design flexible. Logos may need to be expanded and squeezed depending on where they are being used – on websites, on banners, on billboards, etc. Vector images are ideal for altering image resolution without suffering loss of data. As opposed to raster images, vector images do not become pixelated or distorted when stretched.

A logo design professional must consider the psychological aspect of using black and white in his logo. Black can have different connotations depending on region and the context it is used in. It gels well with a corporate company, but using black as primary color in designing a logo for a baby care company, may not be a prudent idea. White can be used in combination with other colors for designing various types of logos.