What type of logo suits your brand?

Logos.

Logos.

Logos.

They help form that identity you want to create for your brand. They tell the story, the vibe, personality, and type of company you are.

As a designer, when creating a logo, we consider aesthetics, ubiquity, and brand values among other things. As a client, you desire to see the symbols/marks associated with your brand everywhere, and your brand recognizable to all. There are some logos that no matter where or what culture you come from, you know and understand what they mean. It is this type of recognition and application a good logo brings to a brand.

So what are the types of logos and what types of brands can a logotype be applied to?

There are 10 types of logos. I’ll be listing a few in this 3 part article so keep up as I post the rest.

Wordmarks/logotypes: this is the company’s name written in a certain typeface.

Sometimes, a designer creates a custom typeface or uses an already existing typeface that suits your brand vibe for logotypes.

Brands like Coca-Cola, FedEx, Wix, and Ebay use logotypes. Brands who use this type of logo tend to have catchy names or push aggressive marketing and advertising (wonder why Cola-cola is so ubiquitous.)

So if you are seeking longevity and consistency in the message/brand’s product, this would work for you.

Letterforms: this is a one-letter logo often consisting of the first letter of the company’s name. What comes to mind? Facebook? Netflix? Beats by Dre?

You are right!

The thing about brands like these ones is that they had previous logos (like the one we previously talked about). They were already known before they changed their logos to letterforms. I’ll always advise that new/young brands avoid going for this type of logo. This is because you need the public to know and identify your brand name.

Lettermarks/monograms: these are logos made of a brand’s initials/abbreviation Eg IBM, NASA, hp, and many fashion brands like D&G, LV, and Ck. TV and Media also like to use monograms, Eg CNN, HBO

In certain industries as I earlier mentioned, it is commonplace to use monograms as the choice of logos. If you are in that industry, you may consider this type of logo. Also, if you have a long brand name, monograms are a great way to keep it simple and attractive.

Logo symbols/brand marks/pictorial marks: some logos are just icons or images that reflect the brand identity or activity.

The moment you see these icons or images, you immediately identify the brand. I particularly love this type of logos because it is symbolic and can be used to subtly pass other messages asides from the main message.

For example, why is the apple in the iconic Apple icon perfectly bitten out? What’s the story behind that?

According to urban legend (lol, actually according to the designer, Rob Janoff), this was done to make sure the apple won’t be confused with a cherry and to also, more subtly conveys that it’s a computer brand because a bite can also sound like a ‘byte’, get it? Lol.

How interesting.

How about the Twitter logo? What’s the message behind the icon?

You can share your thoughts on this in the comments.

I hope this article has been helpful. If you need branding and video content for your brand then you should check out studio8_agency for your brand identity needs. We are also on Behance