If I may recommend some texts to the budding designer.
Neubau Welt
It's German. It comes with a cd of the most intense and comprehensive vector system that I have ever seen for purchase. If you're not farmilar with vectors, the ipod people (all black, cut out, frolicking) are vectors, negative space versions of shapes. This book has buildings, plants, strange german people, vehicles and plenty else. The below design was completed using vectors...
If you want to create a vector file (no background) from a simple image, you can use this software (if you have a mac if you don't, get one)
Los Logos, Dos Logos, Tres Logos
You might be alright with one, but you probably need them all. There are tons of logo sourcebooks, it seems to be a new excuse for people to put out books that will sell to wannabe graphic designers. Nowhere in these books does it discuss such things as a "winning logo formula" or any such nonsense, but they do offer clever anecdotes and simple interviews in between MASSIVE amounts of well organized and executed logos. These aren't your father's logos either, this is real deal contemporary stuff, innovative, sometimes stupid, and inspiring to designers. I got my first Los Logos when my girlfriend of the time stole it from a borders, because they never PRICE the books, or wrap them or the like. I'm not advocating theft from corporations by any means (to wink? or not to to wink?), but this event could be responsible for my continued streak of decent logos. Such as this, one of the new UF logos (the rest plug different patterns inside the letters, I call this one "Goulde").
Sigh.
