For my logos I used several different pieces of software, depending on the complexity of the logo. For two of the logos I used PowerPoint, presentation software to group together a combination of pictures, text and clip art and make a logo. It has simple drawing tools like text boxes, word art too… The main reason I had used PowerPoint is that when you copy the slides in thumbnail format, the pictures are vector pictures meaning they can be enlarged and made smaller without blurring the image. For one of the logos, the pictures had to be edited, transparency had to be used and there were more complicated layers to the logo so I used some picture editing software.
I used Microsoft Word as my word processing software as it is feature-full, well laid out and overall easy to use. It has table functions, lots of different fonts, colours of fonts and backgrounds, and you can manipulate image settings easily. I could also use other word processing software, such as Google word processor, Microsoft Works, Apple iWork (for Mac)… There are also less advanced word processors like Notepad but they don’t have the ability to add tables and images and so on… Therefore, they would not be suitable for my system.
I used a spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel, because it is a simple, easy to use spreadsheet with good help and troubleshooting support from Microsoft. Other spreadsheet software I could use range from online spreadsheets such as Google Spreadsheet to more feature-full ones such as EasyOffice, Framework and Apple iWork Numbers (Mac). They’re similar on the whole but Microsoft Excel has better functionality with the other software I’ve already chosen, because the Microsoft software prefers to use features such as mail merge with other Microsoft software. Apple iWork Numbers is completely incompatible with the OS I’m using so that’s not really a valid option. Excel is much simpler and quicker to use, however. You can merge cells, edit field widths and cell properties and data types with ease.
I used Microsoft Publisher, there are many other DTP packages that are just as easy and effective to use as Microsoft Publisher but Microsoft Publisher can easily mail merge with the Microsoft Excel that was mentioned earlier, another Microsoft product. Other DTP’s I could use are Adobe InDesign, InPage, iStudio Publisher (Mac) and many more. Microsoft Publisher edges out other software because of the vast array of design layouts you can use as templates and the fact it is part of a package meaning it works easier together with Microsoft Excel.
For my logo Powerpoint was used for being simple, and the fact that it comes as a software package with the other 3 previously mentioned used software. Other presentation software that exists include Apple Keynote (Mac) and Corel Presentation. Corel actually has much more detailed functions such as image affects, the use of layers, transparency and complex selection tools, but when functions like these were needed I turned to Adobe Photoshop Elements as previously stated, choosing this over Corel Presentation software like CorelDraw because Photoshop is much better laid out and the quality of the software is just better overall.
