Identity Design: 5 Basic Types of Logos

It is not a secret that people are mostly visual creatures. They are often driven by what they see faster than by any other sense. That is why an effective visual identity is so important for quickly making a company, brand, or service recognizable and memorable over time. Investigations of the way to prosperity and fame of the most successful businesses will inevitably prove how vital it is to choose a good representative sign, which is well-known as a logo, and which is always the basis of the whole branding strategy.

We have already published several case studies detailing the logo creation process and have also provided deeper considerations on the correlations between branding and user interface design. Today, drawing on diverse practical experience, let’s look more closely into the types of effective logos.

What Is a Logo?

According to Merriam-Webster, a logo is “a symbol that is used to identify a company, and that appears on its products.”

Even this quite broad definition conveys the obvious message: the logo becomes the first visual association that comes to mind when people hear or think of the brand name. Like any other visual element, the logo can convey the nature of the goods or services the brand offers, the tone and voice of the company’s communication with customers, and the overall brand image.

Logo design usually forms the basis of the whole brand strategy, which is often codified in a set of rules and guidelines called a brand book. An efficiently designed logo can definitely increase the recognizability of the brand or company, which enables the business to achieve its goals, be it selling more goods, involving more customers, getting more subscribers, or obtaining wider recognizability. In addition, a logo is a sign that makes the product or service different from its competitors, which is also an important precondition of the company’s fast and successful development.

Most logos look like a simple sign, and that makes people think the process of its creation is fast and simple, not needing too much effort or special skills. And that is quite a mistake. Efficient logo design is a complex strategy that includes all the stages of the design process and marketing process, such as:

• user research,
• marketing research,
• creative search,
• choice of style direction,
• choice of color palette,
• testing in different sizes and environments,
• creating a style guide setting right and wrong cases of logo use, etc.

That is why many companies, including startups just starting out in the business world, prefer to entrust this essential task to professional designers. Practice shows that a logo thought out to the slightest details is a worthy investment.

Types of Logos

Historically, companies have experimented with different visual elements to strengthen their branding: some preferred images or mascots as the primary attention-grabber, while others favored lettering that immediately signaled the brand name. Over the decades, designers have identified five basic types of logos.

Icon/ Symbol

The logo of this type is represented with a visual element of high symbolic potential. The image can represent the company name, its mascot, or a sign that symbolically conveys the nature of the product or service.

Logotype/ Wordmark

This is a widely used type of corporate identity mark, characterized by artistic lettering that displays the brand’s full name. It is well known that different typefaces and fonts can immediately convey messages and whole stories to readers, and this technique is frequently used by logo designers and marketers.

Lettermark

This type of logo uses technology similar to the previous one but displays only the first letter of the brand name in an artistic manner. This sort of logo is often effective in small sizes, for example, app icons, when reading the whole word is difficult. However, they need special attention in terms of originality and recognizability, as it can be a complex task to make this one letter different from the other letters representing other brands.

Combination mark

A combination mark is usually the logo that combines two techniques: a symbol or lettermark and a wordmark. In this case, observers receive two sources of information: they can see the image and read the word that represents the brand identity.

Emblem

This also combines visual elements. The difference in this logo type is that it inscribe the wordmark or lettermark presenting the brand name into the symbolic image instead of placing it over, under, or beside the symbol, as in the previous case. The logos of this sort, when thoughtfully created, feature an integral, compact identity sign.

Features of an Effective Logo

Whatever the choice of the creative direction in the logo design for a particular brand, any logo should include a basic number of efficiency features:

• simplicity
• originality
• versatility
• recognizability
• consistency of use
• appeal to the target audience
• informativeness
• memorability
• longevity

The provided set of logo design features doesn’t seem simple to combine into a single sign. That is why this job is best done by professional designers. Even minor inconsistencies, inappropriate color combinations, illegible small-type lettering, and numerous other invisible mistakes can significantly reduce profits and customer trust in the brand. A logo is the sign that can connect or disconnect customers and sellers in split seconds, so its creation is definitely food for thought and an object of thorough attention.

Useful Articles

Here’s a bunch of articles about usability and user experience design.

5 Basic Types of Images in Web Design

The Anatomy of a Web Page: Basic Elements

6 Elements of Efficient Company Website Design

UX Practices on Product Page Design

How to Design Effective Search

Web Design: 18 Basic Types of Web Pages

Guide to 6 Effective Types of Web Animation

Directional Cues in User Interfaces

Negative Space in Design: Tips and Best Practices

Error Screens and Messages: UX Design Practices