Does your brand new business need a brand new logo design?! Maybe your current logo needs a refresh? Creating a logo is arguably the most crucial step of building a business, since it is the most public facet of your brand. The most successful logos are universally recognized by their ubiquity and simplicity—a hard combination to achieve. While we can’t all embody the charm of the Disney bubble font or create the hidden arrow inside the Fedex logo (genius), learning the basics will give you a head-start when it comes to designing the next facade of your business.
Whether you are DIY-ing it or working with an expert design team (like YellowDog), the language of the nine logo types will help you understand the possibilities and communicate your vision.
Monogram logo
The simple monogram logo uses the letters from your business name to either create your logo or simplify your business title. HBO is easier (and catchier) to say than Home Box Office. However, for new brands it’s hard to solely rely on the monogram to create recognition. Instead, like with the logo example below for BetterCertify, the monogram “BC” can be added to your wordmark logo (the business name) to help build recognition.
Wordmark logo
The wordmark puts typography to work to make your business name itself into a logo. It’s a great option when your name is unique on its own and you just need that visual element of a characteristic font to make the word stand on its own. The type of font does a lot to express what your business does or the personality of your brand.
Pictorial logo
A pictorial logo is the use of an image or graphic in the overall depiction of your brand logo. The most successful pictorials can identify the brand from the image alone, but this is trickier for a new business to pull off. Eventually the picture can even live on its own without the brand/business name, ideal for branded stickers!
These images can mean different things to different people in different contexts. It might play on your name (the John Deere deer, the YellowDog dog), your vision/values (the famous Apple logo of a bitten apple symbolizes the bitten apple from Garden of Eden’s Tree of Knowledge), your location (like Coors’ embrace of the Rocky Mountain landscape), or what your company does (think Instagram’s camera icon). Choose your meaning wisely.
Mascot logo
A close cousin of the pictorial, a mascot logo is an unambiguous use of imagery where what you see is what you get. A mascot logo uses a character to represent your brand identity. So if your eyewear company is called Otter’s Optometry, we really hope you use a cuddly otter wearing glasses as your logo mascot, because that would be doggone adorable.
What’s the difference between a mascot logo and a pictorial logo? So glad you asked. Mascot imagery tends to be cartoonish and illustrative, like a personified peanut (Planters’ Mr. Peanut), while a pictorial logo is a simpler, evocative design, with less figurative detail and more clean lines. But, like with all these logo types, the division isn’t always so clear. Learning the different logo types should help you to realize and communicate your creative vision—not put you into a box.
Abstract logo
An abstract mark is similar to a pictorial logo, but we make it funky. Instead of a recognizable image, like a shell or a chicken-peddling colonel, we’re going to go abstract with shapes and geometry. We’re talking about the BP starburst logo or Pepsi’s… circle thingy. Color is crucial here, since it might be more recognizable than shape (excluding the Nike swoosh of course).
Using an abstract shape also benefits your brand identity since you’re defining your own meaning, like AirBnb, instead of attaching yourself to already culturally significant imagery. If the whole world decided to suddenly hate dogs, for example, our brand would be in pretty ruff shape. Good thing that’ll never happen.
Emblem logo
The emblem logo type consists of a font inside a symbol, badge or icon. Emblem logos typically convey a traditional or commanding personality, common among car brands (like Ferrari’s prancing horse). These striking visuals make for a clean, cohesive package to represent your business. They also translate well into embroidery, stickers and life-sized murals.
Monoline logo
Monoline! In which “mono” means “one” and “line” means… “line.” This popular logo type offers a sleek and modern look. They often incorporate thin lines, sometimes in an uninterrupted flow, to spell out your brand name or create a memorable shape or icon. The uniformity in line weight gives the monoline its distinctive look.
Negative space logo
A negative space logo refers to the purposeful omission of certain areas within the design to create a shape, symbol or picture to depict information about your brand. With enough creativity, these logos offer two opportunities within limited space to create visuals: the main image and the encapsulated space, which becomes the negative. Again, we’re looking at you, arrow hidden within the Fedex logo.
Combination logo
Since you’ve read this far, we’ll let you in on a little secret–there are no hard-and-fast rules to logo design. If there are multiple aspects of the aforementioned logo types that tickle your fancy, then consider combining them to create your mark. We might be biased, but the YellowDog logo is one shining example of a pictorial-wordmark combo that we happen to love.
So go ahead and craft your monogram initials into the shape of a little creature. Do it all in a single stroke to check the monoline box, too. Could the monogram O’s in Otter’s Optometry become the frame for mascot otter’s glasses?! Boom. Brilliant!
No matter the type, all great logos are clean, distinctive and memorable. Usually, less is more and simplicity will serve you well, which is easier said than done. Invest in a high-quality logo design that speaks to your vision and serves your brand. Luckily, we know some people who can help. The YellowDog design team is here when you’re ready to create a new logo (or teach your old logo a few new tricks).
by YellowDog.