9 Types Of Logos For Brand Design & Strategy (44 Top Examples)

What's up brand builders Stephen Houraghan here of BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video you're going to learn 9 types of logos for your brand strategy so you can align your strategy with your visual identity and communicate strategically from the very first touch point now a logo is one of the visual elements within brand strategy that plays an important role in attracting customers to a brand it creates the initial appeal that sets the tone for how the brand is expressed and experienced as the older Dash goes a brand is not a logo though the logo does play

a vital role in attracting attention and increasing the memorability of a brand and evoking that memorability and recognition is the primary role of the logo now look there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the types of logos Brands can consider when setting out on their branding project however choosing the correct type of logo is important in a pin visually to your audience and increasing the chances of being Remembered in that buying decision great logos tell stories and that's why your brand strategy she should be the foundational pillar on which your logo

is designed now of course that logo is about that memorability but where there is an opportunity to align strategically with your brand that opportunity needs to be taken up so in this video we're going to consider the different types of logos with examples and how you can design the right type of logo to align with your brand strategy so let's start off with the different types of logos number one brand marks or pictorial marks also known as logo symbols brand marks are made up of a graphic symbol or icon that represents a real world object

and it reflects the Brand's Identity or what the brand does so when you see such symbols you can easily match the logo with the brand that owns them and you can start to identify what the brand actually does through the logo for example Apple's logo is an apple while Twitter's logo is a a bird other examples include Target shell Instagram and YouTube as well so it's very literal in the image that they're representing through the logo and what they do now again there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to creativity and the

logo can represent the brand name or it can represent what the brand does so for instance Apple's logo literally represents the apple and the brand name while the YouTube logo depicts a video play button and it represents the video service they provide now these types of logos tend to be popular with startups because startups don't have any awareness out there and they want the market to understand as quickly as possible what they do and these types of logos can be very descriptive in telling the market either who the brand is through the brand name or

who the brand is through what they do and that visual representation can help the market to understand what the brand does or who they are two examples of Brands using this type of pictorial Mark are t-shirt elephant and metal horse now these logos depict what these brands do t-shirt elephant obviously it puts forward the idea that they are a t-shirt company and they produce t-shirts while metal horse they produce metal artwork so that represents exactly what they do so it helps the market to understand what these brands are all about and it gives them meaning

which is really important for startups and brands that don't have a huge amount of awareness in the marketplace if you are considering using a brand marker pictorial Mark for your logo ensure that there is a direct or abstract alignment to the products or services that the brand offers brand marks are a good choice for brands that specialize in one product or service that can be easily represented by an image or some kind of pictorial Mark number two word mark logos now a word Mark logo is essential actually a type based logo brands use strong typography

to create logos that use their business name to express their brand identity now the disadvantage of a wordmark logo is that there isn't some kind of visual image to represent what the brand does or represent the Brand's name but what it lacks in that visual representation it makes up for with the name sitting front and center now there are a number of different reasons that Brands might do this and depending on the style of the brand and what they do would depend on the typography that they choose the typeface that they use for a word

Mark logo to be effective the choice of typography and its characteristics must align with the strategy and the attributes that the brand has defined for example a brand that aims to celebrate its long-standing Heritage might do well to consider a more traditional type from a relative period now if you can't find a relevant font or an existing font to align with the look and feel that you aim to achieve you can create a custom typeface which would add to the uniqueness of the word Mark examples of brands that use word marks include Coca-Cola Uber Tiffany

and Co Subway Kellogg's and eBay number three abstract logo marks now abstract logo marks are the type of pictorial logo that doesn't have a recognizable image they're usually abstract geometric forms that are custom made for a brand to express its uniqueness now one advantage of this type of logo is that it gives Brands enough room to design and create a logo that showcases and communicates their brand personality and their uniqueness some popular companies using abstract logo marks include Pepsi Adidas Nike and Airbnb now of course alongside the advantage of that creativity there is the disadvantage

of this type of logo mark that I can be too abstract and if it is too abstract then the main not be any type of meaning there whatsoever which could be a missed opportunity now at the end of the day the job of the logo is to be memorable but there is also an opportunity to create meaning as well so if you can create an abstract Mark that gives some kind of meaning and some kind of creativity about the uniqueness of the brand then make sure you take that opportunity to provide that meaning alongside the

uniqueness and memorability as well number four mascot logos now mascot logos are Illustrated characters as visual representations of their brand such characters can be fictitious or real people that are usually referred to as the Brand's spokesperson or Ambassador the characters use in mascots can be a great tool for communicating with the audience and they can take on this kind of human Persona whether they're human characters or their animal characters they can take on these human personas and actually talk the directly to the audience through marketing campaigns or throughout the brand experience examples of Brands using

mascot logos include KFC comparethemarket.com Pringles Geico and MailChimp now look mascots are a great way to add personality to a brand and really embody the attributes that the brand sets out within the brand strategy but only brands that want to communicate a lighthearted approach should play in this space if your brand brings an element of fun into the lives your your audience or you simply want to communicate that you're a lighthearted approach within your market then a mascot logo could work for you number five combination marks now combination marks are probably the most flexible option

when we consider what we've looked at so far considering that we've looked at the pictorial or the brand Mark we've looked at the word Mark and we've also looked at the abstract Mark now this combines or gives you the ability to combine buying all three of those and that gives you the best of both worlds because you have the visual aspect of the image or the pictorial Mark and you also have the benefit of the word Mark as well now these can be used in combination they can be stacked differently formed differently but it also

gives you that flexibility to use just the icon in some circumstances to use just the word Mark in other circumstances and to use the combination of the two to communicate who you are as a brand the brand name and also the potential meaning of that brand into the marketplace to give the audience an understanding of who the brand is and what it's all about as well examples of Brands using the combination mark logos include Lacoste Burger King Adidas Chanel and Mercedes-Benz number six emblem logos now emblems are crests Badges and seals used by Brands to

promote their Traditional Values emblem logos are designed by placing fonts and icons to provide unique logos in a unique or traditional looking form famous Brands using Crest logos include Starbucks Harley-Davidson BMW Juventus and Volkswagen so organizations like schools government agencies sports clubs the Auto industry and brands with long Traditions tend to use this type of logo if you want to communicate a sense of tradition or high standard the emblem logo may be a legitimate option for your brand as a bonus tip keep your emblem logo as simple as possible to avoid clutter remember the primary

job of the logo is memorability number seven Dynamic marks now as the name implies Dynamic mark logos are created in different forms so that they can easily adapt to different branches or segments of the brand or different sub Brands as well now for each variation of the dynamic mark an element of the low go changes so this might be the color the text the shape or the icon examples of Brands using Dynamic marks are FedEx Google Nickelodeon and virgin now this type of logo can be a viable option for Brands operating across multiple market segments

or multiple markets it's also a viable option for a branded house setup where the parent brand has a brand portfolio and that portfolio of Brands is serving different markets such as FedEx and virgin as an example now although Dynamic marks are flexible by Nature it is key to keep an element of consistency across a board so that the logo variations are aligned number eight letter marks or Monograms now lettermark logos are created using the letters of a Brand's initials think of Brands like International Business Machines also known as IBM Cable News Network CN n Hewlett-Packard

HP and Life's good LG now in most cases the majority of the market don't know the real names of the brand and only identify them by their initials now you might not know a company called buyerisha mutoken virga but no doubt you know the name BMW I'm sorry to my German friends listen I absolutely butchered that now obviously creating a logo with the original name would make for a much more difficult challenge than creating a logo for BMW and this is the beauty of this type of logo being able to communicate that Simplicity and being

able to make the brand more memorable but obviously this is a strategic decision that comes from the very top within the brand strategy now just a side note on initialism it's not always the best option and there are definitely some other options out there that will allow you to provide the market with more meaning and memorability for your brand as well because for the most part most people don't understand what the letters represent and as I said that is a missed opportunity to provide the market with some kind of meaning as to what the brand

does so again this is a decision that comes from the very top within the business and the brand strategy so take your time to consider whether initialism is right for you or your brand and finally we have number nine letter forms now letter forms are one letter logos and miniature versions of letter marks the letter in the logo is usually the first letter of the company's name sometimes companies create this type of logo as a complement to an existing logo and as a supplement or a team player in the overall brand identity successful letter forms

however can go on to become the preferred choice of logo use over time as it becomes more recognized examples of Brands using letter forms are Netflix McDonald's and Facebook now of course if you already have a brand that's popular in the market and you have some awareness out there you can create a letter form logo for your brand if you're able to take that and make it memorable if your brand has high levels awareness introducing a letter form Mark may help to increase levels of brand recognition and Recall now one thing that sets iconic Brands

apart is the memorability and effectiveness of their logos consider Brands like apple McDonald's Twitter Netflix Facebook and even Toyota each one of these Brands boasts a simple and immediately recognizable logo such logos are often products of a rigorous design process though many organically evolve over time memorable logos with high levels of recognition all adhere to these principles simple the simpler your logo the easier it is to recognize and remember whether on a billboard or a bottle cap in this digital age where people interact with brands on their mobile devices logos need to be clear no

matter what the size of the screen someone is viewing from number two attractive your logo has to be visually appealing in a way that easily attracts the customer when creating a brand logo be clear about what your message is and which visuals can help you to communicate that message there are certain emotions and feelings you want to evoke and knowing the right shapes sizes colors tones typography can help you to evoke those feelings it needs to be distinctive the job of your logo is to make your brand easy to remember and recognize when stacked alongside

competitors and other non-competing brands as well when creating your logo for your brand look to your competitors not for what you should do but what you shouldn't do your logo should be timeless when planning your logo don't follow Trends what's trendy today will look dated in a few years time think long term a change of logo is synonymous with a major brand strategy overhaul so this is not something that you should do often it certainly shouldn't happen often for your brand your logo design should remain relevant despite emerging Trends and Market changes your logo should

also be relevant so it should be relevant to your business and what you do the shapes the images and the typefaces used in the logo should be in line with what the brand is about and how that brand wants to be perceived in the market a relevant logo gives people an internal feel of the sense of meaning that brand represents an understanding of the value of that brand and what it could mean in their lives and of course your logo should be memorable your business is just one out of millions of businesses vying for the

attention of your customers and that's why you should carefully create a logo that people can easily recall from their memory and as always Simplicity and distinctiveness are the key to memorability and it goes without saying that your logo should look professional in modern markets today it's easy to go ahead and get a logo for five dollars but cutting Corners within business and branding is not something that's recommended and it's certainly not recommended when it is your very first touch point this is your opportunity to make an impression on your audience and if you undercut this

job if you cut corners on this job then that's what's going to be representing your brand so make sure that you take the time to engage a professional designer to be able to help you to design something that is going to be able to represent your brand in the way you want to be perceived in the market your logo should also be scalable now logos are used in different media from mobile ads to billboard ads to car wraps bottle caps and everywhere in between the final Vector of your brand logo needs to look sharp at

every size and on every single touch point the logo is a part of your brand visual identity and the overall brand strategy and it's usually the first thing that people see when interacting with your brand it only takes a few seconds for customers to make a judgment about your company based on what they've seen so tune up your brand strategy to create logos that will convey the right message about your brand to your target audience now look when it comes to logo design and creativity as I said before there are no rules but certain designs

portray different attributes and when you understand the message that you want to put out in the marketplace then you're better prepared to choose a design or a logo form that is going to best represent you in the market so take the time to First Define the strategy of your brand brand the message that you want to put out there into the marketplace and then engage a designer to work alongside you to make sure that you're putting out that message into the market from the very first touch point now if you want to dive deeper into

brand strategy then this video here will help you out before you click it if you want to become a master of brand make sure you hit the like And subscribe to get more videos just like this until next time Brian like a master and I'll see you in the next video