As a symbol of brand recognition and distinctiveness, logo has being one of the most important components that makes a brand. It originated from the ancient Egyptian civilization in 3000 BC. The quest for identifying one’s properties brought about the usage of hieroglyphics in the ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphics is a combination of two Greek words “hiero” which means holy and “glyphic” which means marks or writings. The combination of the two Greek words means sacred mark, relating this to branding means that logo is a sacred symbol that represents a brand and distinguishes it from other brands. The first modern logo was the brass triangle logo which was designed in 1870…..
The History of Logo
As a symbol of brand recognition and distinctiveness, logo has being one of the most important components that makes a brand. It originated from the ancient Egyptian civilization in 3000 BC. The quest for identifying one’s properties brought about the usage of hieroglyphics in the ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphics is a combination of two Greek words “hiero” which means holy and “glyphic” which means marks or writings. The combination of the two Greek words means sacred mark, relating this to branding means that logo is a sacred symbol that represents a brand and distinguishes it from other brands. The first modern logo was the brass triangle logo which was designed in 1870.
The Seven (7) Types of logos
Logo has revolved from what it looked like to what we see today, bringing the types of logos to 7 different types. For a logo to be effective, it must be unique, attractive and easily memorable. Here are the 7 types of logo we have in the 21st century;
Emblem logo
Abstract logo
Letter mark
Combination mark logo
Mascot logo
Word mark logo
Pictorial mark logo
In these modern times, most successful brands usually have two logos. One could be pictorial or abstract logo while the other one could be word mark or letter mark. Although, customers don’t actually notice since the two logos are closely related most times. Facebook, Instagram and Google are good examples of brands that have 2 logos. Below, I’ll show you what the aforementioned types of logos look like.
Emblem Logo
Emblem logo is a type of logo with a distinctive badge which mostly have a motto or set of verses which are somewhat traditional. An emblem logo consists of symbols and letters; it could have symbols which are connected to pictorial that are either descriptive elements relating to the establishment or the environment of the establishment like flower, shield, animal and so on and it is mostly used by countries, states and schools. Unilorin, A.O.S Academy, Starbucks logo are examples of emblem logo.Abstract Logo
From the word abstract, we can get what abstract logo literally means. Abstract is an existing thought or idea that does not have physical or concrete appearance. In a simple word, abstract logo is a type of logo that is created from an idea that does not exist before. Pepsi and Microsoft logo are very good examples of an abstract logo; the symbol is attractive and easily memorable.
Lettermark Logo
Letter mark logo is a type of logo that consists of letters and colours alone; the letters are always the initials of the brand. It is mostly used by brands that have long names like British broadcasting cooperation (BBC) because of the need to convey their brand in a memorable way. Apart from BBC logo, IBM, CNN and HP logo are good examples of letter mark logo.Mergemark Logo
Mergemark kind of logo is similar to that of emblem but they are still different due to the fact that emblem logo consists of symbolic objects that are related to realistic pictorial elements while mergemark logo could be the combination of abstract and word mark or the combination of pictorial element(s) and word mark. Dara expressions logo is a good example of mergemark. It consists of an abstract object (a circle with line drawn from inside to the outside of the circle which symbolizes thinking beyond this world and flexibility to creative ideas) with words (the brand name) that are carved from unique fonts. Intel logo is also a good example of mergemark logo.
Mascot Logo
Mascot logo is a type of logo that is created with a cartoonized image of something related to the brand. It is often the image of a living thing. For example, Michelin brand logo was designed like a human comic that is made up of tires. Pringles is also a great example to mention when talking about mascot logo. It was designed with the hand drawing typeface of a man that has a moustache wearing a bow tie.Wordmark Logo
Google brand logo is a good example of wordmark logo as it was designed with a word alone (the brand name). Wordmark logo is actually different from lettermark logo because lettermark is made up of initials alone while wordmark logo is designed with the name of the brand itself and not initials. I talked about Cadbury logo in one of my articles, Cadbury brand logo is also an example of wordmark logos.
Pictorial Logo
Pictorial mark is out rightly different from abstract logo in the sense that abstract logo is derived from existing thought or idea that does not have physical or concrete appearance and pictorial logo is derived from an existing thing like fruits, objects or animals. Instagram, twitter and Apple inc. are very good examples of pictorial logo. Instagram logo is a camera icon portraying it as a picture and video social media; twitter logo is a bird icon communicating a bird that tweets, apple logo is of course derived from an apple. Pictorial logo is always an iconic logo that is derived from a real thing.Effects of Logos in 21st Century
Like I always say, a lot of revolution has occurred in the market of today, your logo is a representative component of your brand and it speaks a lot about your brand, it is an asset. Your logo has a psychological effect which gives the first impression about your brand so it pays to have a unique, attractive and easily attributable one in the sense that it’s pointless to have a logo that can’t be attributed to your brand. If your brand is a new one, it’s advisable not to use an abstract or pictorial logo alone. It’s better to use lettermark or combination mark. Wordmark is the best for brands that have long name. If your brand is a school, it’s better to use an emblem logo to convey the idea behind it and the motto also if necessary. If you want a professional logo for your brand, don’t hesitate to send an email to daraexpressions@gmail.com. Thank you for reading this article. If you have learnt something from this article or perhaps you have a question, feel free to make comments via the comment section below and you can also subscribe to our newsletter to receive alerts on my subsequent writings on branding.