The importance of a logo

A business logo is an image, text, shape, or a combination that is used to represent a represent a company, institution, or organisation in the market or outside world.  Coming from the Greek λογός, logos meaning word, it is an abbreviation of logotype. It is also known as an ideogram, symbol, emblem, or icon.

Why is a logo important?

They are central to a trademark or a commercial brand. Corporations will spend millions of dollars on creating a logo that will help give them a strong brand identify that is easily recognised.

• The City of Melbourne design cost  $625000 in 2009.
• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had their logo redesigned in 1997 for $1.8M.
• Accenture‘s logo, an accent on top of the word Accenture cost them $100M.
• British Petroleum changed their 70-year-old logo in the year 2000 for $211M .

Different types of logo

A logo is more than an identifying symbol. It conveys a company’s brand message in a simple way. Sometimes being simple can be difficult to achieve. There are several different types of logo, which can loosely be described as:

• Wordmark—the business name presented in a unique way
• Letterform—use of just some letters to represent the business name (eg as an acronym)
• Emblem—use of a recognised object that has some symbolism (eg an eagle for strength)
• Pictorial mark—use of a recognisable picture to represent an organisation’s business (e.g. a house for a builder)
• Abstract mark—a creative design to represent the sense of a business
• Combinations of different styles

Sense of brand

The best logos conjure a sense of brand and trigger positive reactions at both emotional and rational levels. They should be memorable and easily recognisable. A great one conjures up intimacy.  An effective design should be:

• unique (if you copy someone else’s design you will be guilty of breaching their trademark)
• simple and attractive (it needs to be easy to recreate)
• scaleable (it needs to work on a page and on the side of a vehicle or building)
• representative of your product, service and character
• easy to publish (work in different places on a page or in a document)
• compatible with product materials (for instance it may need to be printed, embroidered and painted at different scales)

When you have a logo that meets these criteria you should be very protective of it. Don’t let it be used badly and definitely don’t let it be modified.

Do you need help with a logo?

A logo is an important part of you businesses communications. If you need help call Madrigal Communications. We help our clients to create their logos and brand identity.