GRAPHIC DESIGN
10. Describe various advertising symbols. (Trademarks, Logos, Historical Content, Cultural Content)
Designing Logos
Logo design is commonly believed to be one of the most important areas in graphic design, thus making it the most difficult to perfect. The logo, or brand, is not just an image, it is the embodiment of an organization. Because logos are meant to represent companies and foster recognition by consumers it is counterproductive to redesign logos often.
When designing a logo, practices to encourage are to
- avoid being over-the-top in an attempt to be unique
- use few colors
- avoid gradients (smooth color transitions) as a distinguishing feature
- design using vector graphics, so the logo can be resized without loss of fidelity
- be aware of design or trademark infringements
- include guidelines on the position on a page and white space around the logo for consistent application across a variety of media (a.k.a. brand standard manual)
- not use a specific choice clip-art as a distinguishing feature
- not use the face of a (living) person
- not use photography or complex imagery as it reduces the instant recognition a logo demands
- avoid culturally sensitive imagery, such as religious icons or national flags, unless the brand is committed to being associated with any and all connotations such imagery may evoke.
Examples
Some well-known examples are: Apple Inc.'s apple with a bite out of it started out as a rainbow of color, and has been reduced to a single color without any loss of recognition. Coca Cola's script is known the world over, but is best associated with the color red; its main competitor, Pepsi has taken the color blue, although they have abandoned their script logo. IBM, also known as "Big Blue" has simplified their logo over the years, and their name. What started as International Business Machines is now just "IBM" and the color blue has been a signature in their unifying campaign as they have moved to become an IT services company.
There are some other logos that must be mentioned when evaluating what the mark means to the consumer. Automotive brands can be summed up simply with their corporate logo- from the Chevrolet "Bow Tie" mark to the circle marks of VW, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, to the interlocking "RR" of Rolls-Royce each has stood for a brand and clearly differentiated the product line.
Other logos that are recognized globally: the Nike "Swoosh" and the Adidas "Three stripes" are two well-known brands that are defined by their corporate logo. When Phil Knight started Nike, he was hoping to find a mark as recognizable as the Adidas stripes, which also provided reinforcement to the shoe. He hired a young student (Carolyn Davidson) to design his logo, paying her $35 for what has become one of the best known marks in the world (she was later compensated again by the company).
An interesting case is the refinement of the FedEx logo, where the brand consultants convinced the company to shorten their corporate name and logo from "Federal Express" to the popular abbreviation "Fed Ex". Besides creating a shorter brand name, they reduced the amount of color used on vehicles (planes, trucks) and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in paint costs. Also, the right pointing arrow in the new logo is a subliminal hint of motion.
Logos can represent any organization or entity, not just corporations. Perhaps the most recognizable (and possibly the oldest) of these is the emblem of the Olympic Games: the Olympic Rings, five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red) on a white field.
*TO DO*
- Go to and choose 10 logos and explore their history. For each logo, you need to
- Copy and paste that logo into your document
- Give brief history of its design
- Explain its purpose and/or what it is meant to represent
- Point out any graphic elements used such as mass, color, line or shape
- Does the logo display anything that can be tied to the culture in which it was designed? If so, what is it?
You should create an appealing design when you are creating this informational document.
- Now go to and see what was predicted to be “hot” as far as logos and designs of the future. Choose three of the eleven design examples and explain why they would be popular in today’s culture.
STOP HERE!
History of Trademarks and Logos
Originally, trademarks were used to identify products only. However, over the years, the uses for trademarks have grown to include identification of organizations, corporations, companies, institutions and services. Designed correctly, trademarks can be an extremely powerful tool – approximately 95% of the people in the United States are able to immediately recognize the McDonald’s trademark. Action: Can you name some others that are immediately recognizable? The FirstUnitedMethodistChurch has a logo that is used all over the world. Find it on the web and see if you can explain the message the designer(s) were trying to convey about the church.
Classifying Trademarks
Trademarks can be classified into three general groups: descriptive, symbolic, and typographic. These three types of logos can be found individually or in combination. Descriptive logos are those that visually describe an organization’s product. These are generally used by companies that produce only one type of product. The logo should be simple and easily recognizable.
Symbolic trademarks may be more appropriate for organizations that provide skills, services, information, or a wide variety of products. If a symbolic logo is designed correctly, it will provide a positive message and immediate recognition. The key to a well-designed symbolic logo is to list as many desirable qualities and characteristics of an organization, product, or service as possible and incorporate them into one simple design.
Typographical logos are probably the most common form of logo used throughout the world. Typographical logos make use of letterforms. Letterforms can be a word or words, initials, modifying letter shapes, or creating original letter shapes.
An important consideration for the design of a good logo is the ability to be reduced or enlarged and still be recognizable. A designer must pay particular attention to the logo’s design to be sure it does not lose its message or become confusing when it is reduced or enlarged.
*TO DO*
OK. Now go back to your 10 logos and identify each one as descriptive, symbolic or typographical.
It’s time to design your own logo. It should be representative of you and include at least two design elements we just studied. It can be symbolic, descriptive or typographical. You will be able to use this logo on all of your work as an identifier. While ideally you would create this logo in a program like Adobe Illustrator, we do not have access to enough copies of the software to do so. Therefore, you can use any available program that has drawing tools such as Word, Powerpoint or Publisher. If you want to try your hand at Photoshop Elements to design your logo, you can do that as well.