Creating a sense of dimension does not mean creating a sense of reality.
It involves giving the viewer the tools they need to detect volume or space.
When we look at a sphere like this one,
we will always see a perfect circle from any angle.
But what lets us imagine this has depth is
the cross section that would appear as an ellipse.
In this case, the center of the logo indicates a fluid
wave, but it too defines a space as a three dimensional sphere.
This wine glass is defined in the very same way.
The winding of swirls curving down on the front and up
in the back help us recognize this as a three-dimensional object.
All of these marks are created without gradation.
They beautifully define space and transparency, but they
only use flat color to achieve the effect.
This group of marks is also transparent, but look
at how they seem to define dimensionality with greater realism.
The designers here have introduced gradient color to the surfaces.
This allows us, as designers, to let two factors work for us at once.
Even though the surface is transparent, it has a reflective quality.
The licks of these flames are curvilinear.
We can tell that because of their shape.
But we can also see the color of the surface is lighter
on their fronts and grows darker as they curl away from us.
This is just like light reacts to a curved surface in reality.
Now, look at what's occurring here.
Not only do we see light reflecting on the front surfaces,
we see shadows creeping into those areas that receive less light.
And still, we have transparency where surfaces cross over each other.
Wow.
When I look at these, they have transparency, dimension,
gradients, shadows, reflections, and highlights pinging off of them.
As we add more and more tricks to give the impression of reality, we
ultimately come to a point where our logos have really turned into an illustration.
These start to look like we're trying
to fool the consumer into buying into realism.
Though these may capture someone's attention,
this technique is seldom used for
larger identities and could even make your client feel a little bit boutique-ish.
You need to be cautious here.
As with these logos, it starts to become more
about the technique than it does about the concept.
Before we leave the discussion of realism, I think it's worth recognizing
how stunning a dimensionally transparent logo
could be by actually using photography.
In this identity for E squared, multiple photo images of
a flower have been overlaid to create great depth and interest.
The real strength of this mark comes from the
contrast of knocking the letter E right from the middle.
Something hard and something soft are the perfect complements for this logo.