Let's consider this rabbit designed by Ty Wilkins for Visual Quickstart.
Just looking at the rabbit, we don't know if he's laid down
for a nap, or if he's just standing around taking a break.
That is, until the designer introduces a shadow.
Suddenly, we can tell that the rabbit is in mid leap.
And that probably means he's traveling at a pretty good clip.
When a logo is to convey motion, a shadow can be a great tool to define action.
This star is not just awkwardly upside down,
but it's standing on point, keeping its balance.
It literally becomes a performer.
Look at this diver.
I can, tell he is diving, and not flying, because
the shadow shows me, how close he is to the surface.
No one can turn away from someone in mid dive.
It's almost magical, how this logo, and the tension, of
someone just about to hit the water, captures your attention.
Another way shadows serve a magical purpose
in logo design is when they become transformative.
They can forecast the future or help you
tell the beginning and the ending in one image.
I love this logo which starts out as no more
than a child's bucket full of sand and a shovel.
Not much of a story here, until you introduce
a little fantasy with the shadow of a castle.
Now we can see the potential of something so
simple when you reveal the future with a shadow.
These logos take liberty too, by breaking the rules of shadow land.
They're actually casting the future, or another reality.
By looking at these marks, you can read a
huge amount into stories they tell about your client.
A building with a lightning shadow tells about the energy of a place.
A man's shadow becomes an eagle, forecasting the wings
this company provides their clients that learn to soar.
Another way designers take advantage of shadows, is to help
demonstrate duality for those clients that have a dual message.
Like, we're this, but we're also this.
This mark from Richards Brock Miller and
Mitchell Design, is for the Lone Star Park.
It's a racetrack, but, it's also in the Lone Star State.
And what better way to say that, than a single star.
Or you may know us as Tremaine
Construction, but we're true craftsman with a hammer.
Or from this stick pin, you may just think
of us as a place, but we're really about people.
One of the designer's favorite tricks is to allow a shadow to misbehave.
Remember the scene in Peter Pan, where his shadow goes
rouge and he has to have it sewn back on?
Interactive shadows can be just like that.
There is a touch of whimsy when a mark starts to interact with itself.
Imagine this mark, from R&R Design, when the
mark reaches out to shake hands with himself.
We know you can't do that.
But it is exactly the reason this logo will burn itself in people's
minds, and why the consumer will spend more time with this mark than the next.
This interaction between a shadow and the caster may
help to tell the story of a company's inner dialogue.
Think of it as a self-effacing way for a
company to tell their story without really seeming braggadocious.
Not every logo calls for a shadow.
But know that this can be an amazing tool in your arsenal.
If you're designing a logo and it just seems to be flat.
Think about letting it live on a totally different level.
Let the shadow introduce action, emotion.
Show that a mark can be transformative.
Let the shadow demonstrate the depth of a client through duality, or better
yet, create some real hang time for the mark when it becomes interactive.
And while all of these defy the laws of
light, more importantly, they'll defy the possibility of being ignored.