Consider These 3 Logo Design Styles For Your Corporate Identity
There are basically 3 different styles when it comes to logo designs or corporate identity designs - logotype or woodmark, abstract mark and pictorial mark. Each style has their own advantages and disadvantages associated with them. We see these logo styles being used everywhere in logos across every industry. Often, you will find logos with a combination of two styles.
Logotype Style
Logotype or woodmark is quite a commonly used style in logo design. It is also the most straight forward of the 3 styles because of its text usage. Take for instance the IBM logotype. With one look, a viewer will immediately know which company that logo represents because it is clearly spelled out. Not surprisingly, this style has found its way into many of today's most easily recognizable logos - e.g. SONY, ICI, Opera, and of course Google.
The constraint with woodmark is that designers do not have much to wok with aside from a few of letters or words. Within that constraint, designers must find a way to promote instant brand recognition, communicate brand identity and differentiate it from other logo designs. Designers achieve this with the use of colors, customized fonts and other design elements.
Abstract Mark Style
An abstract mark is a stylized design often used to reflect the most important attribute of an organization. It is mostly used by firms whose business concept is not easily described. So instead of focusing on its products or services, the logo depicts the main attribute or attributes of the organization such as speed and networking.
Pictorial Mark Style
A pictorial mark resembles an object it depicts. Examples of this style are logos from Shell, Starbucks, Firefox, Target and Ferrari. Designers use pictorial symbols to help the public easily identify a logo with the help of easily recognizable images or illustrations.
Some pictorial marks are not only easy to recognize but also associates seamlessly to the company it represents. A perfct example of this are the Shell and Target logos. Those two are as good as it gets.
Combination Marks
There are times when combining different types of logo styles can be very beneficial to a re-branding exercise. You will notice that early renditions of Starbucks logos used both logotype as well as pictorial marks to good effect. The use of logo type in Starbucks' early logos was necessary as no one knew who they were when they started out, hence the inclusion of the words Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices. However, in late 2010, they got rid of their logotype and smoothed out3their pictorial symbol as they were expanding their product and service range to offering more than merely beverages.
Logotype Style
Logotype or woodmark is quite a commonly used style in logo design. It is also the most straight forward of the 3 styles because of its text usage. Take for instance the IBM logotype. With one look, a viewer will immediately know which company that logo represents because it is clearly spelled out. Not surprisingly, this style has found its way into many of today's most easily recognizable logos - e.g. SONY, ICI, Opera, and of course Google.
The constraint with woodmark is that designers do not have much to wok with aside from a few of letters or words. Within that constraint, designers must find a way to promote instant brand recognition, communicate brand identity and differentiate it from other logo designs. Designers achieve this with the use of colors, customized fonts and other design elements.
Abstract Mark Style
An abstract mark is a stylized design often used to reflect the most important attribute of an organization. It is mostly used by firms whose business concept is not easily described. So instead of focusing on its products or services, the logo depicts the main attribute or attributes of the organization such as speed and networking.
Pictorial Mark Style
A pictorial mark resembles an object it depicts. Examples of this style are logos from Shell, Starbucks, Firefox, Target and Ferrari. Designers use pictorial symbols to help the public easily identify a logo with the help of easily recognizable images or illustrations.
Some pictorial marks are not only easy to recognize but also associates seamlessly to the company it represents. A perfct example of this are the Shell and Target logos. Those two are as good as it gets.
Combination Marks
There are times when combining different types of logo styles can be very beneficial to a re-branding exercise. You will notice that early renditions of Starbucks logos used both logotype as well as pictorial marks to good effect. The use of logo type in Starbucks' early logos was necessary as no one knew who they were when they started out, hence the inclusion of the words Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices. However, in late 2010, they got rid of their logotype and smoothed out3their pictorial symbol as they were expanding their product and service range to offering more than merely beverages.
