Not so fast. I’ll refer everyone to Page 23 of the comprehensive guide, the portion of the document referring to decorative graphic elements. I quote:
Graphic elements may be used as decorative
components in various communications, but
should be combined with one of our standard
logos. In exceptional situations, such as event
banners for example, or other “under the tent”
applications, graphic elements used alone can
add a festive air. Graphic elements are not logo
versions, and therefore must never replace
our official mark.
Now, don’t consider this by any means official, but I interpret that last sentence to mean that decorative graphic elements (which is basically the triangle, circle, and square without the FIRST lettering) are not subject to the logo standards. My suggestion would be to have a mentor email FRC Team Support ([email protected]) for an actual answer.
As to your original question, most people would recommend Adobe Illustrator for its ability to produce vector images, which does wonders for when you go to get things printed. (In essence, vector images define where a line should be, as opposed to raster images, which defines each individual dot. Vector images trade off ridiculously small detail for small file sizes and a great degree of scalability, allowing your logo to look the same on a pen or a banner without any jagged edges.)
If you want to get your feet wet with vector graphics, I’d recommend looking at the free (as in open-source) program InkScape. Not quite as fully-featured as Adobe Illustrator, but you can’t beat the price.
Above all else, do not use MSPaint or Photoshop or any flavor of raster-based image editing software.
Use Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Fireworks to create vector-based artwork. You’ll have a much easier time having things printed from your logo if you create it based on standards of the graphic design industry.
If you have Photoshop available to you, it has a very intuitive vector drawing tool called the pen tool that is much easier to use than the one in illustrator. I would suggest tracing your logo at the current available resolution, and then increasing the size of the image to however big you want it. Raster images are fine, a lot of companies just require that they be on a 20ft canvas, but that is hard to do on a lot of consumer PC’s. So as Madison said, try to stick with vectors; and work with small vectors at first.
If you are looking for logo inspiration or photoshop vector tutorials, Worth1000.com is a wonderful resource.
Believe it or not, our logo was originally drawn in AutoCAD. One day, a bored team member was sitting in technical drawing and playing with a crescent wrench. Since he didn’t know how to use any real graphic software, he drew a very simple 2D sketch that the team loved.