The 5 Types of Logo Design: Which One is Right for Your Business
A logo itself is an image that represents your business. As in most cases, it is the first thing your customers will see when getting to know your brand, it is important to tailor-make a logo that will represent your company in the best light and give the audience an impression of what you offer. The primary purpose of the logo is to build positive associations and inspire trust between your company and target audience in the form of a visual cue. There are many aspects you should consider while creating a logo: font, layout, images, color palette, text effect, etc. This list of 5 logo styles can help you decide which one you should choose to represent your brand.
1. Wordmark Logos (Logotypes)
Wordmarks, as the name says, consist of the text-only — company name, initials, or monograms. It is a perfect logo for a company that has a catchy, succinct and distinct name as it can highlight that. Also, it is a good decision for a newly built company to get its name out there. Typefaces are the power of such logotypes, meaning that choosing or creating the right font with a highly reflective style of your brand’s personality will draw your customers’ attention right to your logo.
Wordmarks are especially popular among fashion and tech companies and food brands. Their strength is that just by looking at such a logo, your audience doesn’t need to do any guessing — they will understand what company it represents as soon as they see it. For example, Google’s logotype. The name of the company itself is memorable and combined with a strong font, the logo helps increase brand recognition. At the same time, fashion labels usually stick to clean, elegant fonts, while government agencies tend to use traditional, “heavier” text that feels secure.
2. Monograms (Lettermarks)
Similar to wordmarks, monogram logos, or lettermarks, are typography-based. However, they only consist of the abbreviated initials of a company name. Such logos are usually used by brands with rather lengthy names that will be hard to put on small objects or read at a small scale. Such logo choice is made for company-identification purposes: two or more words of the name may be hard to remember, so abbreviations increase the brand’s recognition.
As the monogram logos are all about simplicity and the focus is on abbreviation, it is highly important to choose the typeface that does not only suit what your company does but also looks legible while being printed on business cards. Also, if you start a new business and your company’s name isn’t that popular among the audience, it will be a good decision to put the name in the full form below your logo so people can familiarize themselves with it right away. These days monogram logos are often associated by the customers with personalization and wealth so they can be suitable for brands aiming at the high-class audience or offering homemade items.
3. Pictorial Marks (Logo Symbols)
A pictorial mark (sometimes also called brand mark or logo symbol) is an icon, graphics-based logo that usually consists of a real-life object. This image most of the time represents what your company does, for example, a play button that gives you an insight into YouTube’s functions right away, or plays with the brand’s name. There are many advantages of pictorial marks, and the main one is that they are easy to remember. So, if you offer a specific service, such a logo can send a real quick and clear message to your potential customers. Moreover, due to its design simplicity, brand marks are a good option to be printed on letterheads or business cards.
Logo symbols are perfect for a business that specializes in one service or one product and can easily be represented by an image. Also, it is a good choice for companies whose names are related to real-world items (the great illustration of such a case is Apple) that can be used as a logo. Pictorial marks work the best with established companies as it communicates well with your followers.
4. Mascots
Mascot logos are the ones that consist of an illustrated character that becomes a visual representation of your brand. Being one of the most family-friendly types of logo, it will be your company’s “spokesperson” that much of your advertising will be centered around. Mascots are the logotype that creates a memorable brand and inspires trust from your customers, giving them a warm, cozy feeling. Such logos have an especially positive effect on children, as most of the time, mascots are colorful and cartoonish. Humanizing your brand if it has a long name or one that is difficult to understand from the first reading can also help make it more appealing to the audience.
Mascots are most popular among food brands because such a heart-warming, trustable logo suits the concept of sharing a meal with the nearest and dearest as well as possible. You can also use your representing character as a barker in front of your cafe or restaurant — not only will kids go crazy over it and beg their parents to eat there, it will draw adults’ attention as well.
5. Combination Marks
The name speaks for itself — a combination logo includes both words and images in their design. They incorporate any combination you choose: you can pair a mascot with a letterform, an abstract image with a monogram — whichever combination matches your brand identity the most. The text and pictures can be placed as you like, too: stacked on top of each other, integrated together to create an image, or they can be laid out side-by-side. These logos are usually easier to trademark as the combination of a symbol and text create a solid image together.
Combination marks are another excellent decision for a brand new business. Such logos will give your potential audience more visual cues that will help to remember your company itself and what service or products you offer. It is also easier to create a clear brand message that sticks when you use both letterforms and symbols. The combination allows you an easy rebranding in the future — your company name, for example, combined with an image, will be associated as one, so when your customers only see this symbol, they will immediately think of your brand.
Logos surround us everywhere in our daily lives, so creating the one with its own flavor and uniqueness will significantly increase your brand recognition and success. Think of your brand’s values and how you want to show them to the world while brainstorming ideas for new logo design, try different styles and find the right one that will help your brand be remembered the way you want it. Though all of the logo styles mentioned above are a combination of letterforms and images, each of them gives your brand a different feel, and finding the right one may take time, it is worth it.