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The Best Logos and Some Tricky Psychology
Back in the early days of advertising, coming up with the best logos used to be a pretty easy matter. All you really needed was a good font, a competent designer, and a catchy idea. Because advertising was so new to people, they were not yet jaded by. A pretty picture really could sell items, and quite easily at that.
Nowadays, things are more difficult. The top logos have come to saturate our national consciousness. Things like the Coca-Cola logo and the Nike swish, culturally recognized icons, are hard to duplicate. The more time that passes, the more people tend to resist new logos. In the same way that the best clip art is all over the web while new attempts are quickly forgotten, so the top logos tend to forestall new innovation in logo design.
Part of the problem is that the best new logos have to employ some tricky psychology that older ones didn’t. People are so sick of having things sold to them that they often don’t really want to see your company name in your logo – at least not in a clear and straightforward manner. Most older logos incorporated the brand name in a fairly easy to read text, but newer ones often obscure it. The challenge for a logo designer is to both associate the image with a company while at the same time obscuring the fact that one is doing so.
Of course, this principle isn’t universal. The best logos for food service companies are often pretty direct and straightforward. If you look at local coffee shops or small bookstore chains, for example, you will see the name spelled out in quite clear, classic lettering. This demonstrates an important principle for designers. What makes the best logos depends on what you are selling. You only want to be cutting edge if you’re selling cutting-edge products. The best logos for food service should not look high-tech and futuristic. Instead, they should look wholesome.
The idea of “the best logos” might be flawed in itself. As a young designer, I wanted to put my mark on the world. I was always studying what I thought to be the top logos, and trying to outdo them. What I did not realize was that logo design has a lot to do with what you are selling. The best logo might look quite conventional, but still fit the product very well.
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