The Importance of Logos and How They Represent a Brand

Your logo is one of the first things a new consumer uses to rate your business. A strong logo design should foster curiosity within the consumer to look into what a company offers, while a poorly designed logo can easily make them run the other way.

Your logo says a lot about your brand. It should represent not only the products or services you offer but also your company values.

This is exactly why it is essential to put careful thought and consideration into what type of logo design you choose, as well as what you incorporate into that design.

Not every logo design will work for all businesses, so it’s important to be aware of the many types of logos and whether or not they would work for your business.

Types of Logos

Wordmark Logos

Wordmark logos are designs that include only text – think Coca-Cola, Google, eBay, Disney, and Sony – that make it easy for customers to identify your brand. You may be thinking, “How is a simple text going to make my logo stand out from the others? Won’t that be bland?” Our answer is this: it sure doesn’t have to be! You can easily create personality using a unique font or color.

When choosing a particular font, consider how the font makes you feel, or what it is usually associated with. For example, modern, structural fonts are common for tech companies, while script fonts are typically associated with more creative industries, like beauty or retail. Granted, this rule does not apply for every brand, but it gives a great starting point for those still brainstorming logo ideas.

You should also think about how you can incorporate different colors and capitalization to create visual interest. Maybe you could accent one letter with a different color or use all lowercase – there are no rules!

Can’t decide what colors to use? We’ll be discussing colors and how they can affect consumer behavior shortly, so hang tight!

Combination Logos

Just as the name suggests, combination logos use a combination of two features: text and imagery. With a combination logo, you can combine your business name with a graphic or icon that represents your company. For example, if you are a shoe retailer, you could include a graphic of a shoe alongside your company’s name.

Burger King is a great example of a combination logo, with their name literally sandwiched between two hamburger buns. This visually demonstrates to consumers what type of products they offer without having to say so outright.

Here are a few tips for designing a combination logo:

1. Don’t overcrowd the design
2. Stick to no more than 3 colors
3. Use plenty of whitespace

Lettermark/Initial Logos

McDonald’s yellow “M” and the red “ESPN” are both perfect examples of lettermark logos. Instead of using their longer business name (i.e. McDonald’s and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network), these companies use acronyms.

These are ideal options for well-established businesses. It’s best to give your consumer-base enough time to familiarize themselves with your company before you attempt a lettermark logo design. We suggest incorporating your full name below your lettermark logo until your company starts to build recognition, at which time you can switch to just the lettermark.

If you do decide to go with a lettermark logo, try to keep your design to one or two colors and incorporate extra design elements whenever possible, like HBO did by using a different graphic for the letter “O”.

Pictorial Logos

What do Target and Nike have in common? They both use pictorial logos – with Target using the red and white “target” image and Nike using their classic black “swoosh”. Starbucks and Twitter are also perfect examples of this type of logo.

Just like lettermark logos, pictorial logos are best for well-established companies. We recommend beginning with a combination logo style and, once established, gradually move towards a pictorial version.

Emblem/Badge Logos

Not to be confused with combination logos, emblem logos also incorporate text and icons, but are instead enclosed within a geometric border – often a circle, square, triangle, or other shapes – which makes it look like, well, a badge. These types of logos are popular within niche markets, such as wildlife, coffee or brewery, and athletic industries.

Emblem logos generally incorporate multiple colors into their design, so if that’s something that interests you, consider creating your logo in this style. There are many ways you can tailor your name and icon to fit within the border of your choosing. Try wrapping text around, above, below, or both above and below your chosen icon.

Colors and How They Afflogotypemer Behavior

Once you’ve narrowed down the logo type and font style that you like best, it’s time to incorporate colors into the design. Color psychology can play a critical role in how consumers perceive a brand. The following are some of the more popular logo colors, and the emotions they are often associated with.

Red

Red is known to symbolize strength, passion, and power. Many brands who use the color red are usually associated with financial, healthcare, and legal industries. Can you think of any of these types of businesses? How about CVS, Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo, or MasterCard?

Red is also believed to stimulate appetite, which may be why McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Arby’s, Wendy’s and so many more have incorporated the color red into their logo.

Yellow

Yellow invokes cheerfulness, energy, and freshness, making it perfect for brands looking to promote happiness. What better example of the use of yellow in a logo than Cheerios, who literally have the word “cheer” in their name?

The color yellow is bold and grabs a viewer’s attention. McDonald’s, Best Buy, and Post-it all use yellow to catch the consumer’s eye.

Orange

Orange is associated with success, joy, and creativity. Because orange is a mix of red and yellow, the color itself represents a mix of strength (red) and joy (yellow). It is a high-energy color that people may either love or hate.

It’s often found in the logos of companies within the food industry and industries targeted towards children, but is also used in retail industries. Nickelodeon, Fanta, Cheetos, Amazon, and Etsy all have orange logos.

Green

Green is a color that is popular amongst all sorts of industries. It represents nature, energy, and harmony, but is also associated with money. Starbucks, Whole Foods, Spotify, John Deere, BP, and so many more incredibly successful businesses use green in their logos.

Green is an extremely popular color within the lawn and gardening industry. If you sit down and think about it, you’ve probably seen countless local lawn care businesses use green in their logos, which makes perfect sense considering the color represents nature!

Blue

If you’re looking for a calming effect, blue is your color. Blue also represents trust, stability, and productivity. It is one of the most non-threatening colors that is favored by many. However, it’s believed blue is one of the “least appetizing” colors, so if your business revolves around food, you may want to consider a different color.
Ford, GE, Wal-Mart, AT&T, Facebook, and Lowes are some of the most well-known companies that use blue in their logo.

Purple

The color purple is often associated with royalty. Along with royalty come feelings of luxury and wisdom. While not the most popular logo color, many brands using the color have found lasting success. Well-known brands that have incorporated the color purple into their logo and created longstanding customer loyalty include companies like Hallmark, Cadbury, and Yahoo.

Pink

Because pink is often linked to femininity, some also associate it with kindness, calmness, and nurturance. While pink definitely isn’t one of the most popular brand colors, some companies like Victoria’s Secret, Barbie, and Lyft have found vast success using the color.

The feelings these colors represent are different for everyone and therefore are not set in stone. Even different shades within a color can evoke different emotions. Play around with and research how different shades are perceived from a consumer standpoint before you choose.

A Great Logo Is Just Around the Corner!

Many factors play a role in great logo design. Font, style, positioning, scale, color… The list can go on and on!

Not sure you have what it takes to create the perfect logo on your own? That’s okay! Companies like US Logo can design your company logo for you. Whether you’re starting from scratch or just looking to bring your current logo up-to-date, our graphic designers are ready to help!

Call or come see us today to see what we can offer!

(316) 264-1321
520 N. West St.
Wichita, KS 67203