Using Canvas, Photoshop or any other program with layers, set an assortment of lower case letters first. Now come back with a new layer and type in the Upper case "masking characters" . . . this allows you to movethe elements around, repositioning them as you like Next, select the background elements, turn off that layer, and select the Masks layer. When you delete... You get finished logos. This is just a real, fast, general example. There are tons of variations. The above example actually used two characters as the background. The last sample we rotated 45 degrees before the mask. Here are some black and white models A lot of people talk about instant this and instant that, but here's a novel idea from the Jonathan Macagba studios of Logo Design & Fine Typography in Philadelphia, PA -- the "instant logo" font. We think this is a really fun idea, and one that will give you far more milage than you think. Jonathan invented the font in order to quickly rough up logo designs for clients. While they're a little cliche, they still make dynamite idea starters. In his documentation (included) he carefully walks you through the various letters you need to combine to make the logos work. He used Fontographer with a crafty twist of causing a specific set of lower case characters (called "masking patterns") to actually overlap the upper case characters. He gives you 36 different panels from a simple square to stars and lightning bolts to apply the "masking patterns" to. This gives way to literally hundreds of combinations that can be achieved. We went one step further: In Photoshop, or any painting program you can use the various tools to further modify and combine the letters. In some cases we used two "panels". It's fun, and it's a real creative brainstormer when you need to come up with a handsome icon or logo in a hurry. Jonathan asks just $25(US) shareware for his creation, and we think it's worth it!

. Back to &Type! [ The Design Center ] _ [ DTG Newsletter ] _ [ Designers' Bookshelf ] Want to discuss it? Subscribe to The Designers' CAFE You are visiting: http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/ Copyright 1996 - 2000, Showker Graphic Arts, for the The Design & Publishing Center, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Notes: The screen shots herein represent the copyrighted works of their respective owners, and are used here for editorial demonstration purposes. please read and be aware of our Legal Properties & Disclaimers document. Not all areas of the online environment allow special characters such as the registration and trademark marks. This file will alert you to proprietary works that cannot be duplicated or distributed. Copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 by Showker Graphic Arts, The Design & Publishing Center, on behalf of the respective authors and artists. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. &photographic, Photoshop Tips & Tricks, &Type, WebDesign & Review, and Pixelsmith are all trademarks for The Design & Publishing Center. Other products mentioned in these pages are the registered trademarks of their respective owners.