LOGO DESIGN

Brand Quick Start: Choose from Four Logo Types

You want to establish "brand equity," but where do you start? By creating a logo. A professional logo represents your company in a form that can be protected through trademark law. Let's take a quick tour of the main types logos.

Image Logos

Graphic logos are composed entirely of non-textual elements. An example is the set of five rings that form the Olympic logo—without any wording, you always know what the rings represent.

Text Logos

A wordmark logo consists of text only. Think of Revlon®, the manufacturer of hairspray, shampoo, and other products for women. Microsoft® uses a bold faced, italic, sans-serif font with slight modifications that make it unique. If a company's logo is only an abbreviation, it is a lettermark logo.

Image with Text Logos

Perhaps the most common type of logo includes both image and text. The text in these logos may include the entire company name or an abbreviation. Image and text should belong together. One design sometimes cited for including elements that do not belong together is the Sun® Microsystems logo, in which the text and sun—an odd square shape—lack cohesiveness.

Logo with Slogan

A custom logo can include a "brand slogan." For example, EMC® Corporation includes the phrase "where information lives" with its logo. A slogan may be used with any of the logos discussed here. Often the slogan will be tied to a particular advertising campaign.

Next Step

Now that you understand the main types of logos, decide which approach is best for your company or service. For more guidance, see "How Your Company Knows It Needs a New Logo" and other articles on this site.