Designing a Logo — Things to Consider
There are many pieces to think about when deciding on your logo. It is essential to distinguish your logo from your competitors and consider unique selling point(s), features and the benefits of your product/service. It's also critical to think about the following;
- Logo application — where it will be used.
- Colour choice — there is an entire science behind colour choice.
- Fonts — again, an entire science behind font choice.
- Longevity — design fads come and go, but a classic logo lasts forever.
- K.I.S.S. — Keeping it simple silly. Simplicity will serve you best for years to come.
Choosing Colour
Adobe Colour Tools are indispensable in helping decide on colours — but more importantly, why colours work together. You may love purple and brown – but it doesn't mean you should use them in a logo.
Wordmark
Letterforms
Letterforms
- A wordmark is a freestanding word(s). Logotypes are just uniquely styled text logos that spell out the company or brand name in a characteristic typeface.
- The best wordmarks imbue a legible word with distinctive font characteristics.
- In a recent study of logos belonging to the top 100 brands in the world, 37% of them consisted only of text, often stylized using a unique font.
Letterforms
Letterforms
Letterforms
- A lettermark is a symbol representing the company through the use of its initials or the brand's first letter. These marks are exclusively typographic.
- A letterform is a single letter used as a mnemonic device for the company name.
- The McDonald's logo represents the ideal marriage of letterform and symbolism.
Emblems
Letterforms
Pictorial
- An emblem is a mark in which the company name connects to a pictorial element. And what differentiates them from other brand marks is that the elements are never isolated.
- As mobile devices continue to shrink, the emblem presents the biggest legibility challenge when miniaturized. That’s why Starbucks dropped the symbol in favour of a pictorial mark in its recent rebrand.
- Emblems are often used to increase consumers’ feelings of brand quality, reliability, and longevity.
Pictorial
Combination Marks
Pictorial
- A pictorial mark is an image that is immediately recognizable and that has been simplified and stylized in a unique way.
- Pictorial marks use literal and recognizable images.
- Pictorial marks are very popular because they communicate more about a brand than an abstract mark (next). A pictorial mark features a graphic image or illustration of something that clearly represents a specific company, product, or brand.
Abstract
Combination Marks
Combination Marks
- An abstract mark is a symbol that conveys a big idea in an interesting shape. Abstract marks are highly conceptual. They might represent an idea or value rather than provide a direct message.
- These marks, by their nature, can provide strategic ambiguity, and work effectively for large companies with numerous and unrelated divisions.
- Great abstract marks, such as Chase’s (designed by CGH), become a valuable asset over years of consistent use.
Combination Marks
Combination Marks
Combination Marks
- As the name suggests, a combination mark involves a combination of wordmark and brandmark. Some well-known examples include Adidas, Lacoste and McDonald’s.
- Brands like Adidas have become well-known, so the word mark is unnecessary – they work with and without the name.