Company Logo Design

A Webmaster Theory on Logo Design

Not knowing anything about logos doesn’t stop me from creating one. Nor does it stop me from writing an article that flaunts my ignorance as I publicly muse about the meaning of company logo designs. Nor does it stop me from coining the word, logology, which I shall declare is the study of logos. As best I can tell, a logo is a symbol used by a business, government, religion, family or any institution for the purpose of communicating their mission with utmost efficiency, maximizing simplicity and speed of transmission.

I read that the logo dates back to ancient times when merchants traded largely with illiterate populations. So, businesses targeted their largest market with logos that symbolized their companies. Medical professions still use the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius, the Greek and Roman god of healing. Every country has a flag, a unique symbol of their national identity. The star of David on the Israeli flag unambiguously signifies the nation of Israel. The cross became the natural symbol of Christianity. The crescent moon heralds Islam. In medieval times, a coat of arms was used as a royal familial emblem. Ranches in cowboy movies were always called “the circle” something or another. Superman wore an “S” logo. Zorro drew his “Z.”

Dialog of illiterate plebeians in the Roman forum:

Plebeian 1:	“Hey, that smells good. What is it?”
Plebeian 2:	“The sign says they’re selling Caesar salads.”
Plebeian 1:	“But, you can’t read!”
Plebeian 2:	“Yes, but I’m sure of it. Look at the imperial logo above those fancy salad bowls.”

The logo has not become obsolete with the modern literacy explosion. Its use has proliferated. The logo is more present in modern times than you may think. The average American must view hundreds of thousands of company logos during a lifetime. From the car, living room, mailbox, or shopping mall, those who live in a commercial society must bear it’s advertisers. Good company logo design is benefiting large numbers of literate consumers, it would seem.

Most companies want a logo to build name or product recognition over time. To do this, they create a visual jingle. The famous psychologist, Carl Jung, theorized that symbol interpretation in the human psyche may extend to the unconscious. I suspect that the human mind is wired to efficiently process the symbols it detects, perhaps in the same way a web server waits to receive a client request, then sends a response. A logo establishes a connection.

Company Logo Design Approaches

Though logos are everywhere, most people probably do not give much conscious attention to them in their daily routines. I decided to take note of logos that I saw in my everyday life for several months. I condensed my observances to four basic approaches.

1. Symbol

This design approach is a standalone symbol with no text. The symbol must communicate the message all by itself, so it’s important that the message be clear. The symbol design approach is rare in the business world. It’s more common in flags, religious, civic or regional logos. Perhaps the Rolling Stones tongue and lip design would fall into this category. Remember the Prince album?

2. Text

The least inspiring logos I saw were the ones that consisted of the company’s name or initials in text. 3D font effects were common. Even many strongly styled fonts fonts such as in the Coca-Cola logo seemed tired. One that did appeal was Futurus Bank, in which the company name is spelled out with the first “U” in a strong modernistic style.

3. Text Plus Symbol

My favorite logo design approach is one that uses a symbol with text. This logo design is ideal for marketing when an anthropomorphic symbol can be developed into a character like the Cingular “Jack” or the Pillsbury dough boy. The US Post Office logo is a beautiful example of the text plus symbol approach.

4. Text Symbol Fusion

The morphing of text into a symbol of a real product can be an effective company logo design approach. The beloved Enron “E” taking the shape of a power plug is my favorite example of text symbol fusion. I’m going to miss this one.

Other Points Learned About Company Logos

• A logo should be recognizable at a distance like a coat of arms or flag.
• When a logo image is resized or altered, the colors and size proportions remain the same.
• The background color, not just the foreground symbol and text is part of the logo style and normally remains the same throughout the logo’s life.
• A logo can become a registered trademark.
• For an expert’s opinion on business logos, read The Logo FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Company Logos, by Marcia Yudkin.

Evolution of the Clickfire Logo

I looked at the very first logo I created for Clickfire and how the design approach evolved from text (company name) to text + symbol (company name with mouse and flame). I’m afraid the evolutionary process may not be complete yet because the final logo doesn’t specifically communicate Clickfire’s mission of providing viewpoints, tools, and content for webmasters.

Original Clickfire Logo Design

Design Approach: text. Done when I knew even less than I do now about logo design (I know nothing now).

 

Second Generation Clickfire Logo Designs

	Design: text
	Design: text + symbol
	Design: text + symbol

 

Third Generation Clickfire Logo Designs that Didn’t Make it

	Design: text + symbol
	Design: text + symbol
	Design: text + symbol
	Design: text + symbol
	Design: text + symbol

 

The Keeper?

Design: text + symbol

 

To be continued? The jury is still officially out on the above logo design “candidate.” There must be more to life than changing logo styles. If you have ideas to improve this logo or thoughts on company logo design or “logology,” I’d very much appreciate.

Clickfire logos designed with JASC Paint Shop Pro. Hmm… I don’t think I used Photoshop with these logos. I can’t remember :)

–Emory Rowland

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