Historically, logos were not a necessity for businesses since they were usually alone on the market. But that’s no longer the case. With an intense competition between industries, the logo became a priority firstly to distinguish companies from their competitors, but mostly to define their brand identity towards they customers. Therefore, if you are now launching your own business, be aware that your logo is one of the most critical components of your brand. But how to choose your logo ? Which form(s) should your logo take? What colour? How to make it impacting? These are all the questions we will try to answer in this article. Take a look at the 5 main different types of logos to find out!

#1 Symbol or Icon

Symbols take the shape of a recognizable object. They usually are an abstract representation of a business. Easy to remember, they downsize well and are great for recognition. In addition, symbols are universal since they represent an object, they don’t have a language barrier! That’s also the reason why businesses tend to use them a lot; symbols express ideas more effectively than text.

However, if your business is new, it might be difficult for people to identify a symbol with your business name if it’s used on it’s own. Symbols take some time to develop recognition.

All in all, when designed correctly, symbols are usually a lot more memorable, easier to recognize, and express ideas efficiently.

#2 Lettermark

Lettermarks are also symbolic, but they’re exclusively typographic. They are usually formed by the initials of the company’s name. This type of logo is frequently used by businesses whose name is hard to pronounce or too long.

However, like symbols and icons, recognition takes time if your business has just started. But if they are well designed, lettermark logos can be very impacting and also useful as secondary/ alternative logos.

Designers will usually arrange them in a creative way to make them unique to the brand and more recognizable.

#3 Wordmark

Wordmarks literally spell out the name of a company. They represent 37% of the top 100 brands in the world (source). If the name of your company is relatively short, you might be tempted to use wordmarks since they work best as primary logos.

Although they might seem simple, they involve a lot in terms of graphic design mostly when it comes to create a specific font.

However, wordmarks are highly efficient in terms of recognition since they include the name of your company.

#4 Combination mark

If your company’s name is long, using a combination mark might also be a right choice for your logo. Combination marks spell out the company’s name while associating it with a visual icon. Therefore, they combine wordmarks with symbols or lettermarks… and each of their benefits! That’s the reason why they’re the most common  (56% of the top 100 brands in the world). 

They are also easy to use since their components might be broken apart and used separately. In addition, they are easier to trademark since the combination of all the different components differentiate them more from other brands.

However, as they involvle several components, combination marks take time to design and require more expertise.

#5 Emblem

As combination marks, emblems are also made of different components. The difference is that instead of placing the text next to the symbol (beside, below, above…), emblems include the company name within the design.  These logos are often used by governments or sports companies.

This type of logo is usually really compact (like a badge or a seal) and for that reason, it can’t be split apart unlike combination mark. This can explain why emblems are often the least used type of logos. However, when it well designed and used in the right context, it can look very professional and valuable.

Conclusion

Logos are the abstract representation of your brand, it is your signature and for that reason, it needs to be well thought and designed. Hopefully this article would have helped you to understand the main characteristics of each type of logos and to create your own.  If you need, our design team will be pleased to help you!

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