I Need a Logo Design: Part 1
For anyone out there wondering what it takes to go from nothing (like “I have no idea what I’m doing” nothing) to a properly executed logo design, I would tell that person it’s more of an art then a science. And then, after that, I might immediately tell you that it’s more of a science than an art. I mean, both statements are pretty much true.
It’s confusing. I know.
In my very first blog entry I stated “a logo is not a brand.” And this is 100% accurate. But I also realized that embarking on a logo design assignment can be really confusing if you’re not experienced in this area (for both business-side clients and designers). I’ve been to countless design conferences where I’ve listened to creative leaders making the “logo is not a brand” statement again and again. Some of these folks were even a bit sanctimonious as they delivered this message. But in all honesty making the distinctions between effective brand execution and effective logo design execution can be confusing if you’re not familiar with this stuff. And this goes for both businesses and designers alike.
So I’m breaking things down into very simple bits to help any of you looking for clarity. This is Part 1 of my “I Need a Logo Design Series” where I’ll be exploring the ins and outs of this very unique craft. To begin I want to break logo designs into 2 simple categories. Those categories are; 1 - logos created to represent brands and 2 - logos created to state the fundamental organizational function. Read below to get a bit more detail:
Logos created to represent brands
Some examples of logos that represent a brand’s essence are Nike, Disney and Apple. These logos are highly recognizable. But, ironically, it’s a little harder to explain how they function. For example when the average person sees a NIKE swoosh (WITHOUT the word NIKE included) they recognize it and immediately their unconscious mind begins searching for mental and emotional associations to the ‘mark’ that they’re viewing. If I think about what happens when I see a NIKE swoosh, my mind will actually say the word “NIKE” and I start thinking of running sneakers because I did a bunch of marathon running in my past and went through shoes like crazy. Then I start thinking of NIKE commercials with people running and playing other sports. Then my mind goes to NFL football because the swoosh is all over the NFL. Eventually I get to Michael Jordan and then finally I may think about Kanye West and that whole debacle with NIKE… this is a snapshot of a few moments in my mind while I’m looking at a NIKE swoosh. I don’t think I’m very unique. And this is why the NIKE brand is so powerful. All of these kinds of associations people have about NIKE is what we now refer to as its “brand.” This company is “in us” whether we like it or not and we carry these associations around with us everywhere. This illustrates the potential power of a well orchestrated, well funded, highly successful brand strategy. The logo, that swoosh, is only the psychological tip of the iceberg. Its strategic placement over decades of advertising and marketing has resulted in the majority of the world’s population projecting their personal connection onto it in Pavlovian fashion. I happen to find this stuff absolutely fascinating if you can’t tell.
Logos created to state the fundamental organizational function
BUT now let’s reel things in a bit and say you want to design a logo from scratch and you want it to “look like” NIKE’s logo because NIKE is so successful. My knee jerk reaction would be to advise not to do this because I would immediately suspect that you were confusing the logo creation with the psychological power of NIKE’s brand design. Which brings me to the second kind of logo design I will be exploring in today’s post. And that is the kind that serves more of a functional purpose. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is an example of an acronym that has become a name which eventually became a brand. This logo essentially tells us what the organization is. If you’re launching a business and no one’s ever heard of you or your product, this is definitely a solid option when creating your logo. If this is too bland of an approach for you and you want a name and a logo that convey a feeling or hint towards a story then integrating a functional aspect to the design is another solid option. If this isn’t feasible because the name just plain won’t lend itself to this kind of execution than it may be time to come up with a fitting explainer slogan or tag line. Slogans and tag lines do verbally what the logo’s name, symbol or image can’t. And a well executed logo with these components can be highly effective.
I’ll summarize this post with a few more examples. McDonald’s “I’m Lovin it!” slogan communicates a brand feeling. We are already familiar with McDonald’s brand and this slogan is more about communicating brand’s emotional connection it wants with us. The IRS’ logo tells us it is the Internal Revenue Service. This logo just flat out says what it does. No real “fantasy grab” there! And then there’s the ‘hybrid’ option like Tide’s slogan, “Tide’s in. Dirt’s out.” This slogan succinctly describes what the product’s function is in a catchy way but also relies on TIDE’s branding to convey a pathway to psychological association similar to what I described above with the NIKE swoosh.
Whew.
I told you this was a bit confusing… I hope I brought some clarity to this for you though! Let me know if I did or not in the comments.