I assume with many of the corporate V-Tubers they get pushed more into homogeneity, like Fauna's logo being more consistent with the rest of HoloCouncil's aesthetic is more important than being transcendent. Also, I've observed that Japanese companies when using actual Japanese text in their logos tend to emphasize legibility over stylization in a way they don't when using English.
I think many vtuber logos are styled after Japanese videogame and anime title images, which are more illustrative. So, I would almost consider them vtuber title cards instead of logos. Big western streamers, on the other hand, usually use more businessy styled logos, fitting with that streamer's niche. At my day job, I lean towards logotypes when I design logos. Logotypes are generally the company/product name with minimal embellishment. This passes the silhouette, readability, and sizing tests. Don't worry, they can still look fun and unique!
Ooo you make a good point about them functioning as title cards as opposed to strictly as logos, most of them are even animated in stingers or other vtuber assets too like video game and anime titles are!
VTuber logos are in the odd position that they are mostly decorative and not used for identification. For merch, the character design is what identifies and needs to be memorizable, not the logo. They are typically not used as favicons or app icons, where the sillouete part becomes massively important. They more closely resemble banners or seals. That being said, the logo you made is pretty fantastic.
Graphic design student here. Gotta say: personally, I think your logo is brilliant. Creative, concise, well integrated, and easy on the eyes. It resembles your model’s likeness really well, specially for having as few visual elements (shapes, in less technical terms) as it does. I really like the way you threw in the accent colors of your model. It really reflects the “sometimes less is more” advice I’ve had to make logos before and it is a STRUGGLE. Kudos to you for your nice lil logo :D
Ah thank you so much, I really appreciate the feedback! Graphic design is TOUGH, no joke, mad props to you for taking it on as your degree!! Good luck!
I think the collage style is because it would be really cute to animate for an intro splash. For agencies that debut their talents in waves/generations, it's more important for the gen/wave branding to be consistent and recognizable vs the members
I honestly expected this to be another one of those "minimalism is king" graphic design advice videos that's been popular the past decade. But you proved me wrong by, albeit very briefly, pointing out how simplified corporate logos are boring. Minimalism certainly has its place, but I feel it got so popular to the point of many graphics being rather soulless or boring like the aforementioned corporate logo redesigns, or sacrifices function (i.e. a lot of modern websites). Though you aren't the first person I've seen lash back at this a little, I still wanted to comment how I appreciate you talking about what goes into a logo design other than just minimalism, composition, and colors.
I'm definitely not a fan of minimalism, but I do think that there are a couple of small aspects of it that can be useful when incorporated into designing! The corporate redesigns drive me a bit nuts, I want the old Firefox logo back!
Howdy! Gratuated graphic designer here, what you stated are some very good points. And a lot of the techniques stated are actually a thing! I'll go by time bookmarks and break it down to anyone who want's to learn even more. The V tuber logos you showed.. were not so good! Okay! For personal logos, we actually did that during quarantine so some details might be a bit fuzzy. But! Basically the main ideas is to get a shape that best represents you. You can but don't have to add text. The best I can give you is to keep it as simple as possible, and try to have it distinct. At 1:36 you mentioned some brands have their name as their logo. And most of the examples are correct. A logo is a full piece of multiple elements. There is Symbol - The piece of a logo that will represent your brand, if the symbol can be recognizable on it's own (youtube logo for example) then it's a wonderful symbol! Then there is text, it really depends how big of a play you want the text to be? Do you want the text to interact with the symbol? Do you want the text to be the main logo? does your logo have additional text? Having a text, or a symbol that is recognizable and unique is a powerful thing. I'll put here a little bit of an example from my personal work. I had to make a logo for a brand that sells hand made wooden toys. The person is pretty popular where I am from, and they wanted their name to be appart of the brand. So I picked out a font that works for them, which is a freely written font with heavy shading and it is very decorative. Their name is the main logo, with a symbol being interchangeable and additional text being interchangeable as the person is planning to expand their brand. The best advice I can give here is that you should design your logo with change in mind. A lot of brands can and might shift what their brand produces, best example is Nokia. We all know them as a lovely immortal phone company. But did you know they used to make paper and guns before? That's right! And it didn't affect their brand at all, so I think that if you know you want to expand yourself, or change your interests. To make a brand that works in every setting. I also suggest avoiding gragients. It is unspoken rule in the graphic world that unless gradient works REALLY WELL. It screams "I have no idea what I am doing" And high contrast items are wonderful tool to use! Just please make sure they are not fighting for attention. At 6:00 The silloute thing is actually SUPER important! Not all places can print in color, maybe you need a design that only allows two hues. It is common practice to always check, or even specifically design how a B&W version of your logo would look. The Anoobisgaming logo is actually a very very good logo! It is simple, it is readable, and it will not suffer on recognizition if the brand decided to change what they do. 7:00 The down scaling test is very very important. It is also a test to see what is the mininmum size your logo can get. If you are making a logomanual (basically a logo rule book on how to handle a logo and work with it made for any future graphic designer to know what you were going for, I made mine logomanual very strict as the person wanted their products to be recognizable even without a logo alltogether.). It is good to see if your logo can get small. The ideal "smallness" is small enough to fit on a promotional product like a branded pen. And have a clear visual of "I can't go smaller then this or I won't be able to see it." As for your final logo, I personally really like it! The gradients could be avoided in terms of simplicity especially if you are planning on printing the logo. And I 100% suggest avoiding grey tones. Grey is a tricky color to print and unless you are planning on using PANTONE direct colors which are ECTREMELY expensive, I think sticking to a black is good. I think simplyfying your logo color wise will be great for any future merchandise you are planning on. And I am happy you are using your knowelge to make it great. Because it is! Like genuenly that logo, if tweaked, could compete with a logo made by a graphic designer. And I think that is a big compliment. Overall, no matter what you are desinging a logo for, I think it is smart to try and think like your are working for a professional business. Think of any and all things you are planning on. Because after all, the hardest logo to design, or any design in general is the one for yourself. As you have you and only you for feedback on how you want it to look. No corrections from client. As you yourself are the client.
Wow!! Thank you so much for all your feedback! I had never heard that bit about gradients before, but I can definitely see how that can be the case a lot of the time. I wasn't really designing for print because I don't intend for the logo to end up anywhere physically (I'm just a hobbyist vtuber), but I do have past experience with greys printing funky so I 100% trust you on that one 😅
BGM bit loud, but good video content. Never really paid attention to logos more just their name and character model. The point about having the logo be able to scale seems really big and something that hadn't crossed my mind
i love that you stated that you’d only be pointing out weaknesses of logos that are under an agency, even though you see more issues in indie logos. so respectful! 👏🏻 the way you say “it’d be incredibly rude to give unsolicited advice” is soo friendly! it’s refreshing to hear critiques in this way, usually people are quite dark, heavy with it. so this lightness is quite nice 💛 i agree with not giving unsolicited advice to individuals who don’t/lack access to resources of an agency overall, love the video! i’m here mostly for the logo, graphic design stuff. & I learned a lot 😄 i think your logo is great! simple, easy to remember, recognisable, & scalable. speaking as a multimedia design student
Thank you so much! I teach students about the etiquette of critiques, and those are some of the things we really stress to them (: There's too many un-solicited unkind critiques out there, so I will always work to not be one of them. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and learned something from it!
Solid discussion point! I am a designer in my day job and the work I do for vtuber logos is nothing like what I would produce every day, for good reason! However there’s almost a level of expectation within the vtuber space, which I try explain whenever I take on comms. A logo should be recognisable for sure. And although it’s perfectly okay to have a colour scheme, remember if you want your brand to stand out, having it be the exact same colour as both your overlays and your model is likely not the way to go! Your points around having a recognisable icon that isn’t in the vtuber collage style is 100% valid! Great little video!
Yeah, I especially applause them because making graphic design for yourself is one of the hardest tasks. As you don't really have anyone else to rely on but yourself.
@@squiiji3D I find it super interesting, because what vtubers see as a logo isn't really that. There's almost an expectation of an illustrative piece to represent the vtuber. It's super interesting!
I'd say that it's good to use band logos as an example! Vtubers are people, so a logo needs more personality than a logo like amazon needs. Bands are a great inbetween for that! Idol groups also work well! Jsut anything about people instead of products is great!
I think of VTuber logos more like title cards or transitions for the character like in video games or even as a banner you see in artist alleys! More illustrated and fun rather than focused on compactness and readability. That being said, I adore your logo! It's so simple yet adorable
@@squiiji3D Some people would embrace it and play it off. Personally if i was a mushroom VTuber i would embrace the phallic design and be as "seiso" as possible giving others whiplash lol
I’m working on a logo at the moment and I really like the points you made, especially the silhouette. Good Silhouettes help give a clear shape compared to more clustered designs.
This video is very helpful as it is well-explained. I've been studying graphic designing so I got intrigued with vtuber logos when I started to encounter them. They're very different from the "usual" logos of brands since they get animated for stingers or attached to stream overlays for newer audience that comes in the streams (for decoration most of the time) but for me, they don't really become memorable. You actually pointed out good arguments and tips to make a better vtuber logo here. Thank you very much for sharing this! Your logo turned out very well.
As an aspiring VTuber myself, I'm still in the process of designing my own logo. Your video gave me a lot of helpful insights, especially on the importance of creating a logo that is both visually appealing and memorable.
Vtuber COMPANIES have simple, recognizable logos. Cover corp and Anycolor are good examples, but they already had said logos before they became Vtuber agencies. A better example would be the logos of Phase Connect and Idol, as well as Vshojo. Sometimes the "myth" logo for hololiveEN myth is cool
I really like the one for KFP (not Kiara) that got designed by Spiritsnare. It is plenty versatile and us fans have used it in so many occasions ans variations as well. Looks nice on paper and design prints too I do think that logo design is hella important, so thanks for pickung this topic up. Have you seen Kiara's first album, Point of View, cover yet? Cover design is another topic for itself, that may warrant a video essay (for instancd they forbid logos of streaming sides and many other rules apply to those)
Oo I had to look into KFP, and I agree, it's a really nice concise logo! I have seen her album cover though, I'm not sure what the consensus on it is but I think it's pretty solid aside from the text being a bit small. I'll put some thought into cover design, thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to look into some of those rules (:
@@squiiji3D thanks for the reply. About Kiara's album cover art, she wanted to not market it towards vTubers but be pretty generic to widen the appeal and interest a larger listenerbase. Regarding the rules for album art, the easiest way to read up on those is Apple Music's cover art guidelines (you can find them if you search for "cover art - apple music", should be a support article). They forbid any references to physical media like CDs, any brand (advertisement) and much more
2 out of the 3 new Hololive girls seem to have a simplified logo on top of their regular full name logo. Otonase Kanade use a stylized character as background elements of the full logo but it can be use separately like in her cover song, Ichijou Ririka have a fictional company logo for her Ichijou corp. which is attach to her full logo but can seen decorating various part of her model and background. Any opinion? (Special mention to Laplus Darknesss who seem to be the first Hololive member to use this style of logo)
Fantastic video! I have been studying graphic design on my own for almost a year, and a lot of what you mentioned is exactly what goes into making logos and logotypes. I would really suggest you make a video on Vtuber mascots, as it's something that is very similar, and a lot of new Vtubers are probably interested in it.
Gossh Squiiji, thanks for this amazing Vtuber starter pack.. Though some of us would probably not go Vtuber route, these designs and techniques are still very helpful! Kindaaa wish you'd also stream on RUclips hahaha but a man can dream, thanks again! Excited to see what's next from the model to logo.
Color, shape, style, symbols, semiotics etc within the logo is very highly important i actually do have a good idea on graphic design due to myself doing a ton of research into this stuff. I've never done this yet but already got the idea i need including motifs are very important for a Vtuber within my logo!
Successfully redesigned a commission for a vtuber logo because of this, the old one was too cluttered but we couldn’t figure out what they wanted removed. Thanks a ton for your help!
great video..gotta agree with it all… when designing anything, from logo to characters … i personally always take my image and limit the amount of color to 3 (white,black and gray) if the logo or character details are recognizable if i stand 2 meters or more away from the screen after being away from it for 15 minutes.. the design is a success..else back to the drawing board.
VERY good assessment, echoing many of my own thoughts on v-tuber logos. So often I simply cannot read their logos when they're used on their own streams, especially at the smaller sizes, with all of the wacky color and contrasts inside the letters. There's a point at which visual personality overwhelms readability and becomes a detriment. I've designed a lot of logos in my career, many for fan-related media like podcasts and comics, and all of your advice is pretty solid. I think you're a better graphic designer than you give yourself credit for ]:)
Interesting, seems like the full name logos work for streams (makes them easy to identify from a glance from a clip), though the smaller box logo is still useful. Also no offence but I can't tell (I assume they are i's) what the letters in your logo are besides the J, it reminds me of the clip with a Vtuber yelling at a different dyslectic Vtuber "WHICH ARE THE I'S (upper case i) AND WHICH ARE THE l'S (lowercase L)"
Lmao you're right that they're I's, and I agree that full name logos are good for that purpose, they do need to be legible when they're small too though
Nice video! Though I'm struggling to understand why Vtubers even need a logo in the first place. I think it's far better to invest in something that has shown better branding results in the past: a strong character design motif (Kizuna Ai's ribbon) or a mascot/viewer character (Takodachi, Koronesuki).
gearing up to step into the scene and this video came at a perfect time. Ive been trying to vectorized my logo and found many design flaws so stumbling across this video helped me go back to push the design and I wound up finding something I like 10x better so TY!
thank you for including and reviewing the vtuber logo I made for Rin Penrose! I learned a lot from just 10 minutes. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since I made that and I agree I have so much more to learn when designing logos. this is why when clients prefer a lot of details on their logos, I would always provide a simplified version without the details in case they need it for anywhere else - although they always end up using the one with a lot of details 🤣 I always believe with less is more!
The thing is, corporate logos are meant to be more… umm merchandise-type look. But by making a logo just a symbol, you defeat the purpose of tuber logos, it’s meant to display the name, and the colors are meant to be recondizeable so by justbi glance I can go- oh! It’s them. Soo… by making it just a symbol you make it the opposite, it fades to obscurity,” is this a vtuber? A company?”. We won’t know, but vtuber logos have a distinct way of appearing, which is why they are like that. I agree with the points of how it shouldn’t fade into the background. But mainly, it’s best to just keep it looking how it looks, those motifs help to see who it is, the colors push that, making a notable. It’s like turning a vtuber model into text.
Thank you so much for these videos, while I'm not a 3D vtuber I'm inspiring png vtuber, doing everything myself is halla confusing and complex. These videos help so much with my branding and future/present concepts I need to seriously work on
I have an actual logo that I've been using since before I ever got my first avatar. I got it back when I was a webcam user. The idea was to be a vague "S" and "F" in twisted together into a helix shape, to thematically go with my design. A design which was inspired by nicknames I've been called throughout my life. Though, recently, I've been thinking of seeing if I can get it revamped a bit, in order to make the "S" and "F" shapes more obvious.
love this simple yet accurate analysis, iji! i came across this video while trying to do some research on vtuber assets and this is probably one of the most concise one i’ve watched. i think it’s important to have fun and be creative with your design, but some “rules” are great to help you get the boost out of what you have. having been in the design industry for years doesn’t make me immune to overcomplicate my explanation sometimes, and i think i could learn a thing or two from the way you get your message across. great video iji. would love some more design related videos if you’re planning on more in the future.
The reason many bands have that super simple logo is thanks to 1 major invention... the Smartphone. If you look at brand icons back in the 80s and 90s you will see they used to be far more elaborate. But with the smartphone, the companies had to have an icon that was distinguishable when squished down into a 1"x1" square. So they got very simplified.
THANK YOU!!!! SO many vtuber logos are based on their name with Decals and images and it isnt incorporated into a useable symbol or motif!! Your video summed it up perfectly!!!
Hi. Former graphic design student here. Your logo is amazing. And has a strong sense of silhouette. I personally struggle with this kind of thing. And your colours are really nice too, I like how it ties in with your model and character design without much clutter. Though I do have one issue with it. I get you were trying to make the letters looked like a mushroom stem but other than the S that was part of the cap I had a hard time figuring out what the letters were. But other than that great job!
There's an S in the cap? Where? I initially thought her name was Iji upon seeing the logo. (yes, I failed to look at the channel name before I watched the video).
Thank you! I was really trying to prioritize silhouette! I have gotten a couple comments about what the letters are (it spells "IJI" so I probably need to revise a bit), thank you for your feedback!
My name is Squiiji, but it's often shortened to just Iiji. I can 100% see where the confusion is coming from, I may need to hit the drawing board again a bit haha
I always felt odd with my logo since i didn't want it to be my title, but i find resemblance with it. I would like to capture the essence of fading in the shadows and struggle of mental health, but i don't see what that may look like. (Regardless, this was interesting to think about)
at the end of the day every graphics are made with their use cases in mind. vtubing is a pretty new thing, and their logos are very rarely used for other than an overlay for their streams, in which a striking multi-color choices and complexity actually benefits them and make them stand out on top of the other stream elements. those tests/rules like thumbnailing (seeing if the logos are still legible in small sizes), silhouette, etc precedes vtubing by a long mile. they are good guidance in making logos generally but one shouldn’t follow these rules to a T, after all rules are meant to be broken as long as you understand why the rules are there in the first place. I make logos myself since way before vtubing become mainstream and it has been a fun challenge learning new ways to make logos for unique use cases
I also see a lot of RUclipsrs/streamers have some recognizable logos associated with them: Jacksepticeye, VanossGaming, Game Theory, Half as Interesting. I wonder if a good (albeit, not perfect) litmus test for a good vtuber logo would be to have it as your RUclips/Twitch/Social Media profile pic as a test. Not permanently, but to gauge how well it works on its own. If you can look at it and it’s recognizable, and see it works just as well as a pic/art of your vtuber
Different use cases. Corporate logos need to be slathered on everything, especially in places where there's no room or time for text, and the logo is the primary form of identification, to which all your knowledge of the brand is linked. Vtuber logos get used sparingly, mainly as a feature image, as opposed to a signature or watermark, and the logo does little to no lifting in terms of actually identifying the subject, being more a decorative accessory than the actual memory hack.
I like the more simple designs vs the more detailed designs because some of us dont have the resources like professionals do and we have to compromise with free programs that give us limited options to use im currently trying to work on my own Vtuber logo and vtuber design I wanna be a 3D vtuber one day but there is ALLT to still do
One advantage of iconish logos is that you can make stealth merch- merchandise that proclaims to other fans that you're a fan, but isn't embarrassingly anime and looks like a motif or an athletic clothing brand. Having multiple logos helps for that.
I'm working on mine for a Twitch channel and 2nd RUclips channel which is inspired more off of how racing drivers have their names over their rollcage in NASCAR in either a signature or bold letters. I aim at hybridizing both which is kind of a unique design style for a logo in the VTubing space as there's no collage, there's no image of the VTuber often seen in the smallest budget indies, etc.
I’m not a graphic designer but I have an idea why vtuber logos look exactly how they look. Regular logos are recognizable and minimalistic because they serve to present established brand that you will probably already familiar or come across many times already or will come in the future. It should be something simple that your eye doesn’t spend a lot of time on it. But for vtubers logos serve to attract new people and introduce them to a vtuber they might hear for the first and the last time. So, this logos should contain all the crucial information like name. Because if your name is always out there it helps to make it recognizable even if particular person doesn’t watch you they might still know your name and this counts for a lot. And a big background image that quickly establishes what is your theme for people who are already spoiled for choice and you need to interest them with something from the get go.
Since your logo is so good and rarely seen, you should add it as your Video Watermark! Go to RUclips Studio, Customization, Branding info, and then upload it under Video Watermark! Then you can set the duration it will show. I think it's super useful
Graphic designer here: your whole "deal" really shines through in the logo! I love how you could recognize the icon even without noticing the text at the stem of the mushroom. Colors contrast well and it would work wonderfully in print. Your tips are absolutely solid and accurate to the current understanding of the industry. Great work!
This is only a criticism of the first part of your video, as I more-or-less completely agree with the last 60-70%. You compare VTuber logos to corporate logos, but this is not a like-for-like comparison as the VTubers aren’t the corporations. In fact, the actual corporations themselves (Hololive/Cover Corp., Nijisanji/AnyColor Inc., Idol) have good, professional logos that meet the requirements you discuss (some being shown in the video). VTubers, especially agency VTubers, aren’t the company - they’re the product. Because of this, you should be comparing them to other product logos. As they are media products it’s probably best to compare them to over media logos - band names, TV shows, movie franchises, video games, manga/anime. The VTuber logos still lose in this comparison (and lose enough that the argument that is the meat of your video is wholly unaffected), but because the gap is reduced the differences are easier to see. You briefly mention light novel title marks, which I agree are good comparisons. But you only show English translation titles, which are usually low-effort interpretations of the more stylised original. For example, *checks leaflet from yesterday’s bookshop haul* “Uketsukejou Saikou” has a jumbled title that altogether took me too long to read! Some examples of products from the genres I mentioned above with distinctive logos might be - Babymetal, Friends, Batman, Final Fantasy XI (maybe the worst of all the Final Fantasy logos, but still better than VTuber logos), Madoka Magica.
Corporate logos need to be easily identifiable from afar, at a mall/ high street, as a pc/mobile app icon etc... vtuber logos are used in banners and the stream waitroom, not to say that they can't be better or more distinct, but I think they were designed with the larger screen estate and closer viewing distance in mind. I do also wonder if these corporate logos are iconic themselves, or if it was the trillions of dollars and decades of marketing and sponsorships that made them such, like I don't think I would remember or be drawn to the nike logo if they weren't the biggest shoebrand in the world worn by everyone's favourite sports players, celebrities and influencers.
i think there's a major lack of disambiguation in this video, which seems to be an extension of the same lack in the industry at large. what bore the brunt of criticism aren't logos, but nameplates, which are designed primarily for use on channel banners, merch catalogues, stream overlays and brb screens. they usually appear in the same frame as who they represent, and serves the role of telling people who they are with a dash of flare. y'know, nameplate stuff, which a logo, no matter how good, can't do. this excuses them from following logo design philosophies and explains that of their own. they don't need to work small, or have readable silhouettes, for example, because they are never shown small or far away. they have the vtubers' full name in them because that is sort of the whole point. while there are criticisms to be made towards them still, doing so in the framework of logo design is rather moot and unfair on top. obkatiekat 's logo is being used to criticize nameplates, even though she has a nameplate of her own which never gets brought up. it is almost quite literally comparing apples and oranges. when the need for actual logos arise, the industry fulfills it just fine, with examples such as hololive's recent Dev_IS logo. indie vtubers tend to not have a real logo because, just like us regular fleshsuits, individuals rarely have a need for them. even for corporations, logos lose their luster on the internet, mostly because they can't be googled. when you see a vtuber clip on youtube, you can google what it says on the name plate to reach their channel without having to navigate the clip description. you can't do the same if that's replaced by a logo.
If you look at the Nijisanji en (and idrk if other agencies do this too) wave/gen logos, they are literally silhouettes, which makes them really identifiable, I personally like them and thb i didn’t even know that individual talents in niji even had logos- lol
Nijisanji's wave logos are really great! When I was working on this video I was wondering why their logos for their talents aren't more like that, but it's also true that their talents rarely use their logos, so it might not be a worthwhile investment
Ive gotta say your logo is great my only real critique is that the first letter isn't as eligible as the others and could be misread as Tji or Ji with a decal over it and I think that either capitalizing the I or separating it from the cap some more would greatly increase the readability, the only other thing is that the halftones might be complacted to put on to certain products but that is mostly because I mainly studied the product side of graphic design
I think a good idea is to seperate the "title/name" logo and the "motif" logo cause having a stylized namecard is important but sometimes logo and stylized namecards get mushed into the same thing when they shouldn't be. (the motif one would be similar to how walmart and amazon have seperate logos for their entire name vs their signature logo)
Very helpful video! I'm rebranding, and doing everything myself. So this video was perfect. I did originally try the collage logo but it just didn't click with me. So this was perfect, thank you! Compliments to your logo. Good readability, you got your main colours into it, your initials, and the oozing droplets makes it stand out from other mushroom logos that I've seen ^^ You also have a very cool vtuber dressing. It makes my fingers itch and reach for my stylus haha ^v^
One thing I learned from a girl whi does creative makeuo and I use it on my graphic design career is that I always design the base idea in black. ALWAYS. Because if it's good in just black and the shapes are good in colour will be good too
7:25 just these in big size are hard for my dyslexic adhd ass to read because my eyes are drawn to the darker colours making it hard to focus on what the actual text says. I only know the green one says something like "ce" and "faun" maybe but even thats after you flashed it on screen how many times? If nothing else, they need to take into account disabilities like this that will absolutely affect their audience 10:37 I’m curious if you took how your head is placed typically when you talk into account with the design or adjusted the rigging at all for it because I realized just towards the end that you look upwards a lot to show more of your face (but also I think looks unique to your mannerisms and is great tbh)
I would love a logo critique video, graphic design is.. not my passion lol. I'm not great at identifying what makes logos good besides the feelings i get when looking at them. I just know i don't feel great looking at mine 😅
User here, I find flat boring logos annoying and demotivating. Fun logos of fun VTubers are more memorable to me. I go "Oh, that's the funny person!" not "Damn, is it another mobile app bullcrap?"
Thank you! Great video! Even when i usually compare the logo more to a thumbnail, instead of an emote, you are summarizing many important points very well and i think its even kinda brave to criticize the logos of big Corpo-Vtubers. :D I personally am going for a logo that is detailed on the close, but has all important elements big enough to be very readable from the far. That has the reason, that i want to use my logo for my starting/BRB screens and change it (when i get the money) for events like christmas or maybe even the four seasons (it has a tree included, so that would work). :)
the idea that "simpler logo makes it easier to remember" is kinda false, the fact that we know alot of the other famous logos is how much the brand depend on it and how much they brainwash us with constant commercials popping up everywhere. even with the most iconic logos if u ask any random people to draw it out of their memory they will most likely only going to make it to 80% or less similarity, it is not that the logo is iconic but as to how much brainwashing u've experience, vtubers on the other hand, u rarely see or didnt pay attention to the logo, but u can instantly remember how the vtuber looks despite how complex a 2d model is compared to a logo. sooooo, after all the long bullshit ive just spat out what is the conclusion? the answer is; what makes a logo or a brand memorable isnt how impactful the logo design itself is, but it is the marketing, and marketing includes how much u brainwash the public (spam ur logo and brand everywhere), make people care about said brand (vtubers does this by having unique personalities), make sure ur logo is not awful looking (just mid will do the job). trust me, nike's logo can be just as forgettable if the brand marketing didnt do its job, there are soo many simple logos out there that we dont give a shit enough to memorize. thanks for all who attended my ted talk, and for those who "i aint readin all dat" feel free to pass if ur not into design and branding theory
![Making a Vtuber Logo + Animated Intro using Canva Tutorial [No drawing required]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eF2oIrNDsOI/mqdefault.jpg)
I assume with many of the corporate V-Tubers they get pushed more into homogeneity, like Fauna's logo being more consistent with the rest of HoloCouncil's aesthetic is more important than being transcendent. Also, I've observed that Japanese companies when using actual Japanese text in their logos tend to emphasize legibility over stylization in a way they don't when using English.
I can definitely see what you mean for both of those points!
I think many vtuber logos are styled after Japanese videogame and anime title images, which are more illustrative. So, I would almost consider them vtuber title cards instead of logos. Big western streamers, on the other hand, usually use more businessy styled logos, fitting with that streamer's niche. At my day job, I lean towards logotypes when I design logos. Logotypes are generally the company/product name with minimal embellishment. This passes the silhouette, readability, and sizing tests. Don't worry, they can still look fun and unique!
Ooo you make a good point about them functioning as title cards as opposed to strictly as logos, most of them are even animated in stingers or other vtuber assets too like video game and anime titles are!
VTuber logos are in the odd position that they are mostly decorative and not used for identification. For merch, the character design is what identifies and needs to be memorizable, not the logo. They are typically not used as favicons or app icons, where the sillouete part becomes massively important. They more closely resemble banners or seals.
That being said, the logo you made is pretty fantastic.
Exactly this, they aren't used in the same way as almost any other logo.
Graphic design student here. Gotta say: personally, I think your logo is brilliant. Creative, concise, well integrated, and easy on the eyes. It resembles your model’s likeness really well, specially for having as few visual elements (shapes, in less technical terms) as it does. I really like the way you threw in the accent colors of your model. It really reflects the “sometimes less is more” advice
I’ve had to make logos before and it is a STRUGGLE. Kudos to you for your nice lil logo :D
Ah thank you so much, I really appreciate the feedback! Graphic design is TOUGH, no joke, mad props to you for taking it on as your degree!! Good luck!
I think the collage style is because it would be really cute to animate for an intro splash. For agencies that debut their talents in waves/generations, it's more important for the gen/wave branding to be consistent and recognizable vs the members
That's a good point about the animated intro splashes, I hadn't thought about that!
I honestly expected this to be another one of those "minimalism is king" graphic design advice videos that's been popular the past decade. But you proved me wrong by, albeit very briefly, pointing out how simplified corporate logos are boring. Minimalism certainly has its place, but I feel it got so popular to the point of many graphics being rather soulless or boring like the aforementioned corporate logo redesigns, or sacrifices function (i.e. a lot of modern websites). Though you aren't the first person I've seen lash back at this a little, I still wanted to comment how I appreciate you talking about what goes into a logo design other than just minimalism, composition, and colors.
I'm definitely not a fan of minimalism, but I do think that there are a couple of small aspects of it that can be useful when incorporated into designing! The corporate redesigns drive me a bit nuts, I want the old Firefox logo back!
Howdy! Gratuated graphic designer here, what you stated are some very good points. And a lot of the techniques stated are actually a thing! I'll go by time bookmarks and break it down to anyone who want's to learn even more. The V tuber logos you showed.. were not so good!
Okay! For personal logos, we actually did that during quarantine so some details might be a bit fuzzy. But! Basically the main ideas is to get a shape that best represents you. You can but don't have to add text. The best I can give you is to keep it as simple as possible, and try to have it distinct.
At 1:36 you mentioned some brands have their name as their logo. And most of the examples are correct. A logo is a full piece of multiple elements. There is Symbol - The piece of a logo that will represent your brand, if the symbol can be recognizable on it's own (youtube logo for example) then it's a wonderful symbol! Then there is text, it really depends how big of a play you want the text to be? Do you want the text to interact with the symbol? Do you want the text to be the main logo? does your logo have additional text? Having a text, or a symbol that is recognizable and unique is a powerful thing.
I'll put here a little bit of an example from my personal work. I had to make a logo for a brand that sells hand made wooden toys. The person is pretty popular where I am from, and they wanted their name to be appart of the brand. So I picked out a font that works for them, which is a freely written font with heavy shading and it is very decorative. Their name is the main logo, with a symbol being interchangeable and additional text being interchangeable as the person is planning to expand their brand.
The best advice I can give here is that you should design your logo with change in mind. A lot of brands can and might shift what their brand produces, best example is Nokia. We all know them as a lovely immortal phone company. But did you know they used to make paper and guns before? That's right! And it didn't affect their brand at all, so I think that if you know you want to expand yourself, or change your interests. To make a brand that works in every setting.
I also suggest avoiding gragients. It is unspoken rule in the graphic world that unless gradient works REALLY WELL. It screams "I have no idea what I am doing" And high contrast items are wonderful tool to use! Just please make sure they are not fighting for attention.
At 6:00 The silloute thing is actually SUPER important! Not all places can print in color, maybe you need a design that only allows two hues. It is common practice to always check, or even specifically design how a B&W version of your logo would look. The Anoobisgaming logo is actually a very very good logo! It is simple, it is readable, and it will not suffer on recognizition if the brand decided to change what they do.
7:00 The down scaling test is very very important. It is also a test to see what is the mininmum size your logo can get. If you are making a logomanual (basically a logo rule book on how to handle a logo and work with it made for any future graphic designer to know what you were going for, I made mine logomanual very strict as the person wanted their products to be recognizable even without a logo alltogether.). It is good to see if your logo can get small. The ideal "smallness" is small enough to fit on a promotional product like a branded pen. And have a clear visual of "I can't go smaller then this or I won't be able to see it."
As for your final logo, I personally really like it! The gradients could be avoided in terms of simplicity especially if you are planning on printing the logo. And I 100% suggest avoiding grey tones. Grey is a tricky color to print and unless you are planning on using PANTONE direct colors which are ECTREMELY expensive, I think sticking to a black is good. I think simplyfying your logo color wise will be great for any future merchandise you are planning on. And I am happy you are using your knowelge to make it great. Because it is! Like genuenly that logo, if tweaked, could compete with a logo made by a graphic designer. And I think that is a big compliment.
Overall, no matter what you are desinging a logo for, I think it is smart to try and think like your are working for a professional business. Think of any and all things you are planning on. Because after all, the hardest logo to design, or any design in general is the one for yourself. As you have you and only you for feedback on how you want it to look. No corrections from client. As you yourself are the client.
Wow!! Thank you so much for all your feedback! I had never heard that bit about gradients before, but I can definitely see how that can be the case a lot of the time. I wasn't really designing for print because I don't intend for the logo to end up anywhere physically (I'm just a hobbyist vtuber), but I do have past experience with greys printing funky so I 100% trust you on that one 😅
BGM bit loud, but good video content. Never really paid attention to logos more just their name and character model. The point about having the logo be able to scale seems really big and something that hadn't crossed my mind
i love that you stated that you’d only be pointing out weaknesses of logos that are under an agency, even though you see more issues in indie logos. so respectful! 👏🏻
the way you say “it’d be incredibly rude to give unsolicited advice” is soo friendly! it’s refreshing to hear critiques in this way, usually people are quite dark, heavy with it. so this lightness is quite nice 💛
i agree with not giving unsolicited advice to individuals who don’t/lack access to resources of an agency
overall, love the video! i’m here mostly for the logo, graphic design stuff. & I learned a lot 😄
i think your logo is great! simple, easy to remember, recognisable, & scalable. speaking as a multimedia design student
Thank you so much! I teach students about the etiquette of critiques, and those are some of the things we really stress to them (: There's too many un-solicited unkind critiques out there, so I will always work to not be one of them. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and learned something from it!
Solid discussion point! I am a designer in my day job and the work I do for vtuber logos is nothing like what I would produce every day, for good reason! However there’s almost a level of expectation within the vtuber space, which I try explain whenever I take on comms. A logo should be recognisable for sure. And although it’s perfectly okay to have a colour scheme, remember if you want your brand to stand out, having it be the exact same colour as both your overlays and your model is likely not the way to go! Your points around having a recognisable icon that isn’t in the vtuber collage style is 100% valid! Great little video!
Yeah, I especially applause them because making graphic design for yourself is one of the hardest tasks. As you don't really have anyone else to rely on but yourself.
Thank you! Oo you're right, I hadn't considered the way that a lot of vtubers may now expect logos to be a certain way, that's really interesting.
@@squiiji3D I find it super interesting, because what vtubers see as a logo isn't really that. There's almost an expectation of an illustrative piece to represent the vtuber.
It's super interesting!
I'd say that it's good to use band logos as an example! Vtubers are people, so a logo needs more personality than a logo like amazon needs. Bands are a great inbetween for that! Idol groups also work well! Jsut anything about people instead of products is great!
Tbh i ironically love how ceres fauna's name logo turns into what looks like CRSANT when downscaled.
I think of VTuber logos more like title cards or transitions for the character like in video games or even as a banner you see in artist alleys! More illustrated and fun rather than focused on compactness and readability.
That being said, I adore your logo! It's so simple yet adorable
I honestly feel bad for any mushroom VTuber trying to make a logo as it will always look phallic
Hooo it's a struggle for sure 😅
@@squiiji3D Some people would embrace it and play it off. Personally if i was a mushroom VTuber i would embrace the phallic design and be as "seiso" as possible giving others whiplash lol
I tell my friends this ALL THE TIME, Readability and silhouette is so important with logo design!
I’m working on a logo at the moment and I really like the points you made, especially the silhouette. Good Silhouettes help give a clear shape compared to more clustered designs.
This video is very helpful as it is well-explained. I've been studying graphic designing so I got intrigued with vtuber logos when I started to encounter them. They're very different from the "usual" logos of brands since they get animated for stingers or attached to stream overlays for newer audience that comes in the streams (for decoration most of the time) but for me, they don't really become memorable. You actually pointed out good arguments and tips to make a better vtuber logo here. Thank you very much for sharing this! Your logo turned out very well.
As an aspiring VTuber myself, I'm still in the process of designing my own logo. Your video gave me a lot of helpful insights, especially on the importance of creating a logo that is both visually appealing and memorable.
Vtuber COMPANIES have simple, recognizable logos. Cover corp and Anycolor are good examples, but they already had said logos before they became Vtuber agencies.
A better example would be the logos of Phase Connect and Idol, as well as Vshojo.
Sometimes the "myth" logo for hololiveEN myth is cool
I really like the one for KFP (not Kiara) that got designed by Spiritsnare. It is plenty versatile and us fans have used it in so many occasions ans variations as well. Looks nice on paper and design prints too
I do think that logo design is hella important, so thanks for pickung this topic up. Have you seen Kiara's first album, Point of View, cover yet? Cover design is another topic for itself, that may warrant a video essay (for instancd they forbid logos of streaming sides and many other rules apply to those)
Oh and another topic adjecent to this would be thumbnail design, because logos, thumbnails and such really do form an identity
Oo I had to look into KFP, and I agree, it's a really nice concise logo! I have seen her album cover though, I'm not sure what the consensus on it is but I think it's pretty solid aside from the text being a bit small. I'll put some thought into cover design, thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to look into some of those rules (:
@@squiiji3D thanks for the reply. About Kiara's album cover art, she wanted to not market it towards vTubers but be pretty generic to widen the appeal and interest a larger listenerbase.
Regarding the rules for album art, the easiest way to read up on those is Apple Music's cover art guidelines (you can find them if you search for "cover art - apple music", should be a support article).
They forbid any references to physical media like CDs, any brand (advertisement) and much more
2 out of the 3 new Hololive girls seem to have a simplified logo on top of their regular full name logo. Otonase Kanade use a stylized character as background elements of the full logo but it can be use separately like in her cover song, Ichijou Ririka have a fictional company logo for her Ichijou corp. which is attach to her full logo but can seen decorating various part of her model and background. Any opinion? (Special mention to Laplus Darknesss who seem to be the first Hololive member to use this style of logo)
I'm taking notes so hard right now. Thank you so much for this breakdown and analysis. I can tell you're experienced designer!
Yooo it's yam
Fantastic video! I have been studying graphic design on my own for almost a year, and a lot of what you mentioned is exactly what goes into making logos and logotypes. I would really suggest you make a video on Vtuber mascots, as it's something that is very similar, and a lot of new Vtubers are probably interested in it.
Thank you! Oo a video on mascots sounds like a great idea, thank you for the suggestion!
Gossh Squiiji, thanks for this amazing Vtuber starter pack..
Though some of us would probably not go Vtuber route, these designs and techniques are still very helpful!
Kindaaa wish you'd also stream on RUclips hahaha but a man can dream, thanks again!
Excited to see what's next from the model to logo.
Color, shape, style, symbols, semiotics etc within the logo is very highly important i actually do have a good idea on graphic design due to myself doing a ton of research into this stuff. I've never done this yet but already got the idea i need including motifs are very important for a Vtuber within my logo!
Successfully redesigned a commission for a vtuber logo because of this, the old one was too cluttered but we couldn’t figure out what they wanted removed. Thanks a ton for your help!
great video..gotta agree with it all… when designing anything, from logo to characters … i personally always take my image and limit the amount of color to 3 (white,black and gray) if the logo or character details are recognizable if i stand 2 meters or more away from the screen after being away from it for 15 minutes.. the design is a success..else back to the drawing board.
VERY good assessment, echoing many of my own thoughts on v-tuber logos. So often I simply cannot read their logos when they're used on their own streams, especially at the smaller sizes, with all of the wacky color and contrasts inside the letters. There's a point at which visual personality overwhelms readability and becomes a detriment. I've designed a lot of logos in my career, many for fan-related media like podcasts and comics, and all of your advice is pretty solid. I think you're a better graphic designer than you give yourself credit for ]:)
theyre supposed to look like visual novel logos and similar Japanese style logos, and I love them.
Good video, I like your 🍄 logo. Thanks for the tips. 👍
Interesting, seems like the full name logos work for streams (makes them easy to identify from a glance from a clip), though the smaller box logo is still useful.
Also no offence but I can't tell (I assume they are i's) what the letters in your logo are besides the J, it reminds me of the clip with a Vtuber yelling at a different dyslectic Vtuber "WHICH ARE THE I'S (upper case i) AND WHICH ARE THE l'S (lowercase L)"
Lmao you're right that they're I's, and I agree that full name logos are good for that purpose, they do need to be legible when they're small too though
I genuinely thought this was a big channel😅 Keep doing what ur doing - very nice video's to listen to and would love to learn more!
Nice video! Though I'm struggling to understand why Vtubers even need a logo in the first place. I think it's far better to invest in something that has shown better branding results in the past: a strong character design motif (Kizuna Ai's ribbon) or a mascot/viewer character (Takodachi, Koronesuki).
gearing up to step into the scene and this video came at a perfect time. Ive been trying to vectorized my logo and found many design flaws so stumbling across this video helped me go back to push the design and I wound up finding something I like 10x better so TY!
thank you for including and reviewing the vtuber logo I made for Rin Penrose! I learned a lot from just 10 minutes.
I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since I made that and I agree I have so much more to learn when designing logos. this is why when clients prefer a lot of details on their logos, I would always provide a simplified version without the details in case they need it for anywhere else - although they always end up using the one with a lot of details 🤣 I always believe with less is more!
i like the more complex logos cause they look more intresting and eye catching
The thing is, corporate logos are meant to be more… umm merchandise-type look. But by making a logo just a symbol, you defeat the purpose of tuber logos, it’s meant to display the name, and the colors are meant to be recondizeable so by justbi glance I can go- oh! It’s them. Soo… by making it just a symbol you make it the opposite, it fades to obscurity,” is this a vtuber? A company?”. We won’t know, but vtuber logos have a distinct way of appearing, which is why they are like that. I agree with the points of how it shouldn’t fade into the background. But mainly, it’s best to just keep it looking how it looks, those motifs help to see who it is, the colors push that, making a notable. It’s like turning a vtuber model into text.
Thank you so much for these videos, while I'm not a 3D vtuber I'm inspiring png vtuber, doing everything myself is halla confusing and complex. These videos help so much with my branding and future/present concepts I need to seriously work on
I have an actual logo that I've been using since before I ever got my first avatar. I got it back when I was a webcam user.
The idea was to be a vague "S" and "F" in twisted together into a helix shape, to thematically go with my design. A design which was inspired by nicknames I've been called throughout my life.
Though, recently, I've been thinking of seeing if I can get it revamped a bit, in order to make the "S" and "F" shapes more obvious.
love this simple yet accurate analysis, iji! i came across this video while trying to do some research on vtuber assets and this is probably one of the most concise one i’ve watched. i think it’s important to have fun and be creative with your design, but some “rules” are great to help you get the boost out of what you have. having been in the design industry for years doesn’t make me immune to overcomplicate my explanation sometimes, and i think i could learn a thing or two from the way you get your message across. great video iji. would love some more design related videos if you’re planning on more in the future.
The reason many bands have that super simple logo is thanks to 1 major invention... the Smartphone. If you look at brand icons back in the 80s and 90s you will see they used to be far more elaborate. But with the smartphone, the companies had to have an icon that was distinguishable when squished down into a 1"x1" square. So they got very simplified.
THANK YOU!!!!
SO many vtuber logos are based on their name with Decals and images and it isnt incorporated into a useable symbol or motif!! Your video summed it up perfectly!!!
Hi. Former graphic design student here. Your logo is amazing. And has a strong sense of silhouette. I personally struggle with this kind of thing. And your colours are really nice too, I like how it ties in with your model and character design without much clutter.
Though I do have one issue with it. I get you were trying to make the letters looked like a mushroom stem but other than the S that was part of the cap I had a hard time figuring out what the letters were. But other than that great job!
There's an S in the cap? Where? I initially thought her name was Iji upon seeing the logo. (yes, I failed to look at the channel name before I watched the video).
Thank you! I was really trying to prioritize silhouette! I have gotten a couple comments about what the letters are (it spells "IJI" so I probably need to revise a bit), thank you for your feedback!
My name is Squiiji, but it's often shortened to just Iiji. I can 100% see where the confusion is coming from, I may need to hit the drawing board again a bit haha
I always felt odd with my logo since i didn't want it to be my title, but i find resemblance with it. I would like to capture the essence of fading in the shadows and struggle of mental health, but i don't see what that may look like. (Regardless, this was interesting to think about)
I'll always STAN Kson's logo; simple colors, to the point. It looks less like an anime logo and more like an actual company/enterprise logo
Kson has a really strong logo, I agree!
at the end of the day every graphics are made with their use cases in mind.
vtubing is a pretty new thing, and their logos are very rarely used for other than an overlay for their streams, in which a striking multi-color choices and complexity actually benefits them and make them stand out on top of the other stream elements.
those tests/rules like thumbnailing (seeing if the logos are still legible in small sizes), silhouette, etc precedes vtubing by a long mile. they are good guidance in making logos generally but one shouldn’t follow these rules to a T, after all rules are meant to be broken as long as you understand why the rules are there in the first place.
I make logos myself since way before vtubing become mainstream and it has been a fun challenge learning new ways to make logos for unique use cases
This is a GREAT video, not jus for vtubers but also small buisnesses of any kind designing their own logo! Thanks!
Oshi marks (emotes) are essentially the logos for most vtubers. Not the logos you get on merch and maybe on a loading screen.
I also see a lot of RUclipsrs/streamers have some recognizable logos associated with them: Jacksepticeye, VanossGaming, Game Theory, Half as Interesting.
I wonder if a good (albeit, not perfect) litmus test for a good vtuber logo would be to have it as your RUclips/Twitch/Social Media profile pic as a test. Not permanently, but to gauge how well it works on its own. If you can look at it and it’s recognizable, and see it works just as well as a pic/art of your vtuber
Such high quality content, and hugely informative videos! Keep up the good work!
Different use cases. Corporate logos need to be slathered on everything, especially in places where there's no room or time for text, and the logo is the primary form of identification, to which all your knowledge of the brand is linked.
Vtuber logos get used sparingly, mainly as a feature image, as opposed to a signature or watermark, and the logo does little to no lifting in terms of actually identifying the subject, being more a decorative accessory than the actual memory hack.
Tips to making better logos: *GOLDEN RATIO*
I actually took all this into account when making my logo. I probably have one of the most simplistic ones.
by kinda using this video as a reference, i was able to make a logo that i like, and that really stands out! thanks, can't wait to start streaming.
I think Vtuber logos act as more of a seal. I’d argue that the emoji they select is closer to a logo
Vtuber logos looks more like a media logos(ex. Games, novels, movies, etc) than a product or company one.
I like the more simple designs vs the more detailed designs because some of us dont have the resources like professionals do and we have to compromise with free programs that give us limited options to use im currently trying to work on my own Vtuber logo and vtuber design I wanna be a 3D vtuber one day but there is ALLT to still do
the fact that you said screen printing you have my full attention
Wooo screenprinting!!
One advantage of iconish logos is that you can make stealth merch- merchandise that proclaims to other fans that you're a fan, but isn't embarrassingly anime and looks like a motif or an athletic clothing brand. Having multiple logos helps for that.
your videos are so well-made and informative
I'm working on mine for a Twitch channel and 2nd RUclips channel which is inspired more off of how racing drivers have their names over their rollcage in NASCAR in either a signature or bold letters. I aim at hybridizing both which is kind of a unique design style for a logo in the VTubing space as there's no collage, there's no image of the VTuber often seen in the smallest budget indies, etc.
I’m not a graphic designer but I have an idea why vtuber logos look exactly how they look. Regular logos are recognizable and minimalistic because they serve to present established brand that you will probably already familiar or come across many times already or will come in the future. It should be something simple that your eye doesn’t spend a lot of time on it. But for vtubers logos serve to attract new people and introduce them to a vtuber they might hear for the first and the last time. So, this logos should contain all the crucial information like name. Because if your name is always out there it helps to make it recognizable even if particular person doesn’t watch you they might still know your name and this counts for a lot. And a big background image that quickly establishes what is your theme for people who are already spoiled for choice and you need to interest them with something from the get go.
I thought the whole point of Vtuber logos was to mimic the style of visual novels and Hello Kitty
You could totally use your logo as you little watermark image in the corner, it’s the type that you could change sizes and still know what it is
Since your logo is so good and rarely seen, you should add it as your Video Watermark! Go to RUclips Studio, Customization, Branding info, and then upload it under Video Watermark! Then you can set the duration it will show. I think it's super useful
Graphic designer here: your whole "deal" really shines through in the logo! I love how you could recognize the icon even without noticing the text at the stem of the mushroom. Colors contrast well and it would work wonderfully in print. Your tips are absolutely solid and accurate to the current understanding of the industry. Great work!
Ah thank you so much! I'm glad it's recognize able and that I've got a graphic designer's seal-of-approval on the tips!
This is only a criticism of the first part of your video, as I more-or-less completely agree with the last 60-70%.
You compare VTuber logos to corporate logos, but this is not a like-for-like comparison as the VTubers aren’t the corporations. In fact, the actual corporations themselves (Hololive/Cover Corp., Nijisanji/AnyColor Inc., Idol) have good, professional logos that meet the requirements you discuss (some being shown in the video).
VTubers, especially agency VTubers, aren’t the company - they’re the product. Because of this, you should be comparing them to other product logos.
As they are media products it’s probably best to compare them to over media logos - band names, TV shows, movie franchises, video games, manga/anime. The VTuber logos still lose in this comparison (and lose enough that the argument that is the meat of your video is wholly unaffected), but because the gap is reduced the differences are easier to see.
You briefly mention light novel title marks, which I agree are good comparisons. But you only show English translation titles, which are usually low-effort interpretations of the more stylised original. For example, *checks leaflet from yesterday’s bookshop haul* “Uketsukejou Saikou” has a jumbled title that altogether took me too long to read!
Some examples of products from the genres I mentioned above with distinctive logos might be - Babymetal, Friends, Batman, Final Fantasy XI (maybe the worst of all the Final Fantasy logos, but still better than VTuber logos), Madoka Magica.
Corporate logos need to be easily identifiable from afar, at a mall/ high street, as a pc/mobile app icon etc... vtuber logos are used in banners and the stream waitroom, not to say that they can't be better or more distinct, but I think they were designed with the larger screen estate and closer viewing distance in mind. I do also wonder if these corporate logos are iconic themselves, or if it was the trillions of dollars and decades of marketing and sponsorships that made them such, like I don't think I would remember or be drawn to the nike logo if they weren't the biggest shoebrand in the world worn by everyone's favourite sports players, celebrities and influencers.
That logo you made looks cool
i think there's a major lack of disambiguation in this video, which seems to be an extension of the same lack in the industry at large. what bore the brunt of criticism aren't logos, but nameplates, which are designed primarily for use on channel banners, merch catalogues, stream overlays and brb screens. they usually appear in the same frame as who they represent, and serves the role of telling people who they are with a dash of flare. y'know, nameplate stuff, which a logo, no matter how good, can't do. this excuses them from following logo design philosophies and explains that of their own. they don't need to work small, or have readable silhouettes, for example, because they are never shown small or far away. they have the vtubers' full name in them because that is sort of the whole point.
while there are criticisms to be made towards them still, doing so in the framework of logo design is rather moot and unfair on top. obkatiekat 's logo is being used to criticize nameplates, even though she has a nameplate of her own which never gets brought up. it is almost quite literally comparing apples and oranges.
when the need for actual logos arise, the industry fulfills it just fine, with examples such as hololive's recent Dev_IS logo. indie vtubers tend to not have a real logo because, just like us regular fleshsuits, individuals rarely have a need for them. even for corporations, logos lose their luster on the internet, mostly because they can't be googled. when you see a vtuber clip on youtube, you can google what it says on the name plate to reach their channel without having to navigate the clip description. you can't do the same if that's replaced by a logo.
If you look at the Nijisanji en (and idrk if other agencies do this too) wave/gen logos, they are literally silhouettes, which makes them really identifiable, I personally like them and thb i didn’t even know that individual talents in niji even had logos- lol
Nijisanji's wave logos are really great! When I was working on this video I was wondering why their logos for their talents aren't more like that, but it's also true that their talents rarely use their logos, so it might not be a worthwhile investment
I got lucky by being heavy metal themed, simple angular typefaces and iconography are the order of the day
It's not like the VTuber needs to design their logo into something you use as an app.
Ive gotta say your logo is great my only real critique is that the first letter isn't as eligible as the others and could be misread as Tji or Ji with a decal over it and I think that either capitalizing the I or separating it from the cap some more would greatly increase the readability, the only other thing is that the halftones might be complacted to put on to certain products but that is mostly because I mainly studied the product side of graphic design
I think a good idea is to seperate the "title/name" logo and the "motif" logo cause having a stylized namecard is important but sometimes logo and stylized namecards get mushed into the same thing when they shouldn't be. (the motif one would be similar to how walmart and amazon have seperate logos for their entire name vs their signature logo)
I never thought about this, but the logos for vtubers look more like anime title cards.
This video is a great eye opener!
Very helpful video! I'm rebranding, and doing everything myself. So this video was perfect. I did originally try the collage logo but it just didn't click with me. So this was perfect, thank you!
Compliments to your logo. Good readability, you got your main colours into it, your initials, and the oozing droplets makes it stand out from other mushroom logos that I've seen ^^
You also have a very cool vtuber dressing. It makes my fingers itch and reach for my stylus haha ^v^
I hate those postmodern minimalist corporate artstyle logo so v's more 'expressive' logo is OK to me.
i feel like calling them a "logo" is a bit of a misnomer, they feel more like title cards than an actual logo. but yeah, they really are a lot
... My logo is just black text with a dark-grey shadow on white background...
Logos have been such a struggle for me since my wrists are too wrecked for graphics design now. T_T These are all great tips, though!
Your model is sick! Haven't seen one like yours before 😮 Just wanted to put that out there lol
Thank you!
One thing I learned from a girl whi does creative makeuo and I use it on my graphic design career is that I always design the base idea in black. ALWAYS. Because if it's good in just black and the shapes are good in colour will be good too
Btw you say that you are not a graphic designer but you have a very good base of knowledge and do quite better that plot of ppl that say it out loud
7:25 just these in big size are hard for my dyslexic adhd ass to read because my eyes are drawn to the darker colours making it hard to focus on what the actual text says. I only know the green one says something like "ce" and "faun" maybe but even thats after you flashed it on screen how many times? If nothing else, they need to take into account disabilities like this that will absolutely affect their audience
10:37 I’m curious if you took how your head is placed typically when you talk into account with the design or adjusted the rigging at all for it because I realized just towards the end that you look upwards a lot to show more of your face (but also I think looks unique to your mannerisms and is great tbh)
I would love a logo critique video, graphic design is.. not my passion lol. I'm not great at identifying what makes logos good besides the feelings i get when looking at them. I just know i don't feel great looking at mine 😅
Neat insight :D
Yes I love GwGa from Hololive Myth.
User here, I find flat boring logos annoying and demotivating. Fun logos of fun VTubers are more memorable to me. I go "Oh, that's the funny person!" not "Damn, is it another mobile app bullcrap?"
Thank you! Great video!
Even when i usually compare the logo more to a thumbnail, instead of an emote, you are summarizing many important points very well and i think its even kinda brave to criticize the logos of big Corpo-Vtubers. :D
I personally am going for a logo that is detailed on the close, but has all important elements big enough to be very readable from the far. That has the reason, that i want to use my logo for my starting/BRB screens and change it (when i get the money) for events like christmas or maybe even the four seasons (it has a tree included, so that would work). :)
Aw that'd be so cute to have seasonal variants!!
@@squiiji3D Yeah, i cant wait to reveal it together with my real models art. :)
I already love this video :)
The way i gasped when i saw the Riro Ron
I made this in a different time hahaha
@squiijivt yeah i know I know it's just always a bit surprising to see anything Riro Ron related after what happened😰
Homegirl made a German mushroom as logo xD
the idea that "simpler logo makes it easier to remember" is kinda false, the fact that we know alot of the other famous logos is how much the brand depend on it and how much they brainwash us with constant commercials popping up everywhere. even with the most iconic logos if u ask any random people to draw it out of their memory they will most likely only going to make it to 80% or less similarity, it is not that the logo is iconic but as to how much brainwashing u've experience, vtubers on the other hand, u rarely see or didnt pay attention to the logo, but u can instantly remember how the vtuber looks despite how complex a 2d model is compared to a logo.
sooooo, after all the long bullshit ive just spat out what is the conclusion? the answer is; what makes a logo or a brand memorable isnt how impactful the logo design itself is, but it is the marketing, and marketing includes how much u brainwash the public (spam ur logo and brand everywhere), make people care about said brand (vtubers does this by having unique personalities), make sure ur logo is not awful looking (just mid will do the job). trust me, nike's logo can be just as forgettable if the brand marketing didnt do its job, there are soo many simple logos out there that we dont give a shit enough to memorize.
thanks for all who attended my ted talk, and for those who "i aint readin all dat" feel free to pass if ur not into design and branding theory
I'm refining mine~
Big thanks
very insightful video
bgm is a little loud tho
You should make a video on vtubers that have a too loud background music while yapping... 😁
But great video anyway.
There's nothing wrong with vtuber logos. They're bold and colourful unlike corporate logos which are bland and soulless. They're fine how they are.
Bless your heart. You deserve success.
I'd love a logo critique, where do I properly inquire?