During the workshop of Digital media we looked at different kinds of logos and discussed what makes a bad or a good logo. The task was to find one bad and one good logo and explain why it’s good/bad. In this blog I will show some logos that either work or don’t work.
What is a good logo?
Before I’m going to show some logos I’ve done a small research about what a good logo actually is. It is not (all) about taste or beautiful design, there are actually “rules” for it. Huge thanks to Webdesigner depot for providing these “rules”:
- A good logo is powerful. Whether it includes imagery or only type, a good logo has a certain power to it that makes it stand out.
- A good logo is unique. It won’t be confused with logos for other companies, particularly a business’s competitors.
- A good logo is recognizable. It can become associated with a specific business quickly and easily.
- A good logo is timeless, too. It should stand up and still look current 10, 20, or even 50 years down the road. That’s a lot easier said than done.
- A good logo also re-inforces your brand. It should convey the appropriate mood, tone, and feeling for your business. Whether you choose to make your logo literally represent your business type is up to you, as there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. But in either case, it needs to support your brand.
- A really good logo also conveys the core message of your company. It relays the qualities, skills, and values that your company believes in.
Logos that work
I kept those rules in mind and was searching for logos that were working according to these rules and found the following logos:
The Beats by dr Dre logo is a very powerful logo. Nowadays they don’t need the line of text under it to be recognized. They are internationally well know and therefore the circle with the B in it alone is enough. This logo is unique, there are no other brands with this type of logo so they can’t be confused with other brands. Because they’ve used one colour and also used negative space inside it, it is a timeless logo and you can still use it in 30 years without changing it. Everyone knows that Beats by Dr. Dre is an audio brand and they did a very good job with the logo by making it look like a person is wearing a headphone. It empowers there brand and it’s a well thought through logo.
There is something very powerful about the WWF logo. They actually made use of the Gestalt Principle Closure:
Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people percieve the whole by filling in the missing infomation.
Because they’re also internationally known, they don’t need to use the typography under it. As soon as you see this panda you will know that’s the World Wildlife Foundation. They have used this logo – as is shown above – since 2000. It’s 15 years old and still going strong. It’s recognizable, it’s simple, it’s clean – it’s a very good logo.
Logos that don’t work
This logo straight away doesn’t work. Why? Because it’s inappropriate. The U should represent a mouse and a U but none of that applies. You get a weird idea of this and that’s because the mouse has to much space on the right side and it’s drawn the wrong way around. It’s not a strong nor simple design and because it’s inappropriate it’s not working as a logo.
I found this logo on a Spanish website that was probably telling about logos that didn’t work out. I understand the idea that the image should represent a chef with a moustache but it didn’t really turn out that way. This is an example of leaving too less space in your logo and therefore it becomes something else. Though the typography is ok, the overall logo isn’t strong enough to regocnize the brand from just the image.