What is Logo?
Key Takeaways
- A logo identifies; it does not have to explain. Its job is to be recognised and remembered, not to describe everything the business does.
- It is one element of a brand, not the brand itself. The meaning people attach to a logo comes from their experience of the company behind it.
- Good logos are simple, distinctive and legible at every size, from a building sign to a browser tab.
- The main types are wordmarks, lettermarks, pictorial marks, abstract marks, emblems and combination marks, and each suits different names and uses.
Understanding Logo
A logo earns its value over time. On the day it is launched it is a shape; after years of consistent use it carries a business’s reputation, and people respond to it before they read a word.
Because of that, the brief for a logo should come from the brand strategy rather than from taste. The questions that matter are who needs to recognise it, where it will appear, what it has to be distinguished from, and what character the business wants to project.
The most common mistakes follow from asking a logo to do too much: crowding in detail that disappears at small sizes, following a trend that dates quickly, or copying the conventions of a category so closely that the mark could belong to any competitor.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between a logo and a brand?
The logo is a symbol. The brand is the set of beliefs and expectations people hold about the business, which the symbol comes to stand for.
How many versions of a logo does a business need?
Usually a primary version, a simplified mark for small spaces, and single-colour versions for light and dark backgrounds, all set out in the brand guidelines.
Should a logo show what the business does?
Not necessarily. Many strong logos say nothing literal about the product. Distinctiveness and recognisability matter more than description.
This term is treated at length in What is a Logo Anyway, Why Does it Matter?.