Wednesday 3 July 2013

Logos

Our week 6 assignment included identifying 5 top logo designs and why they are effective.

I haven’t thought about logos for over 20 years, so I thought I’d do a refresher. According to Jacob Cass of Just Creative, a good logo has five components.

Simple: Follow the KISS principle – Keep it simple, stupid. (That’s also how we were taught to write in business school!)

Memorable: It turns out that distinctive, memorable and clear (or simple) is probably more important than its subject matter or even its appropriateness.

Timeless: The example used here is Coca-Cola. Its logo has not changed since 1885. It’s too bad they didn’t remember this when they played with their recipe! On the other hand, the Pepsi logo has evolved, but is still very recognizable. This characteristic might be difficult to judge until years have passed.

Versatile: It’s very useful if the logo can be printed in colour or black and white and can easily change size.

Appropriate: somehow related to the product or service, its image or customers. The obvious example is the logo of Toys R Us – it’s colourful and fun which is appropriate for a toy store.

One way of appreciating a great logo is to look at really bad ones. On the worst logo designs, the logos look like something I might create using clip art in Word or PowerPoint. Many of the logos are probably from very small companies, such as the local hairdresser. I guess the question then becomes – is it better to not have a logo than to have a bad one? And also, do they really need a logo? For a small business with little to spend on marketing, that is a very valid question.

I checked out the Logo of the Day website. They feature many logos that people can vote on. Some are very good, even out of context. If a logo is not appropriate (i.e. it doesn’t obviously show what the company is about) it doesn’t mean that it’s not good, but it is hard to judge how good it is when there’s no context.

Here are my examples of effective logos that I’m familiar with (sorry, more quilting examples to come).

I like the Kobo logo. It’s simple, memorable, appropriate (includes a book) and probably versatile. What appeals to me are its simplicity and the inclusion of a book.


I like the fact that the Mad about Patchwork logo is colourful, fun and includes patchwork in the heart. I like the font. I think that it’s relatively simple, memorable and appropriate.

I like the use of colours in Flare Fabrics’ logo. The colours and the circles show movement and fun. I believe that it’s simple, memorable and appropriate.
The All People Quilt website's logo is just their name. I love their use of colour since that’s what quilting is all about. It also makes me think of quirky and fun. This is a simple, memorable and appropriate logo.

 The Craftsy logo is simple. The font, colour and shape make it memorable. It doesn't hurt that I see it in almost every web site that has advertising. Those darn cookies!

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