Create a Logo in Illustrator CS3

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(c) 2009 White Light Web - Illustrator graphics are fun. No matter what version you're using, Illustrator comes preloaded with example files called templates that you can use to start yourself off in figuring out your logo design. From the "File" pull-down menu scroll to find the "New from Template..." toggle. From here you can pick from a number of styles included in CS3. Using the template you can create a new print, web or mobile document. (c) 2009 White Light Web - Illustrator select from a template.

Remember that this is something that you'll want to be able to print on stationary, but you'll also need to have it render quickly on your website or mobile site too. All this means is that you'll want to save the file out as different file types. Consider how the design scales, or how it looks when it's big or small, and remember that you want it to stay ledgeable.

(c) 2009 White Light Web - Illustrator graphics are fun. The usual layer scheme is to have a layer for the die cut for the printer, a layer for the image and a layer for the text. That way if anything changes, you can go in and adjust the layer that needs changing without adversely affecting the other aspects of the image.

(c) 2009 White Light Web - Illustrator graphics are fun. Although this version is a bitmap print graphic, meaning that it is 300 dots per inch and the color scheme is in CMYK half-tone. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and K for Black, is known as CMYK, and it's the de facto four color print process, but you can save your image out for the web as a jpg or gif. Use the "Save for Web & devices" and the color will automatically adjust. But remember to change the dots per inch setting from 300 to 72, otherwise the image will take forever to load on the interwebs.

(c) 2009 White Light Web - Illustrator graphics are fun. Another newer image type is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG.) This file type is XML-based and designed to describe two-dimentional images with math for the web or mobile devices. This give you flexibility in the size of the graphic and allows for speedy electronic delivery. It's all math, so there isn't any pixelizaton or fuzzy image edges to worry about. Amaze your friends with a new SVG logo on the interwebs.