A Logo is the first and most important aspect of your brand, it symbolizes your brand it represents your brand and that logo is what world we know you I may be gone a little overboard but having a good logo for a brand is very very important. In this article, we are going to know about 9 different types of logos.
A logo may look simple and easy but it’s not. And may look like they are just a combination of some images and text it has a lot more than that. It has a lot of different types, use cases, and complexity. Each type of logo gives a different feel to your brand. Let’s understand all the different types of logos.
1. Pictorial Mark
A pictorial mark (also known as a brand mark or logo symbol) is a graphics—or icon-based logo. This type of logo consists of a single logo which usually represents a real-world object. When you think of a logo you probably think about the iconic Apple logo, the Twitter bird, the Target logo.
As you can see in the image above all three of these images are single graphics and these are so well established you don’t need a name to recognize them. These types of logos are very easy to remember and make a huge impact on brand recognition.
While choosing a pictorial mark for your brand you need to keep few things in mind, your logo should represent what your brand does such as youtube’s play button shows a video player or twitter’s bird represents tweets.
2. Abstract Logos
Abstract logs are somewhat similar to the Pictorial logo but instead of using real word recognizable objects, they consist of the abstract image which tries to represent what your brand does. Like Microsoft uses a variation of a window or some consider them square boxes to represent itself.
As you can see in the above image all of these brands’ logos have a single graphic but they don’t represent any real-life objects. These logos are specially tailored for your brand and usually very hard to come up with.
While choosing this type of logo you need to have a clear picture of your brand what it does and what it will do, else later your brand doesn’t even relate with your logo.
3. Mascot Logos
Mascots logos are consist of an image of a person or some imaginary character that acts as a brand ambassador or representative of your brand. Companies such as KFC, Mr. Peanut, and Pringles are perfect examples of mascot logos.
As you can see in the above images these logos consists of some famous characters and these are usually targeted toward families and children. Children used to love friendly characters and remember them as their friends.
If your brand’s prime audience is families and children you should always consider Mascot logos.
4. Monogram Logos
Monogram logos also know as Lettermarks are typography-based logos that consist of letters, usually, these letters are brand name initials such as HP, Warner Bros, CNN, LG, and so on. The logo is completely based on these few characters with different variations in typography.
As you can see in the above image all of these logos’ are quite popular and most of them are known by their brand names and not many people know’s the full name of these brands. For example, HP’s full form is Hewlett-Packard, IBM’s full form is International Business Machines but you only know them with brand initials.
Usually, a Monogram logo is used when your brand name is very big and hard to remember, a perfect example of that is NASA. Imagine remembering or talking about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration vs NASA.
5. Wordmarks Logos
Similar to Monogram Wordmarks is also a typography-based logo but instead of using initials or characters, it consists of a full brand name such as Coca-Cola, Uber, Google, and so on. These logos are the complete name of the company and are usually very easy to remember.
As you can see in the image above these logos are simple and usually don’t have too many characters. These logos are not recommended when your brand name has more than two words in it however, one word is the best choice.
6. The Combination Mark
As its name represents A Combination Mark is a logo design which is a combination of two logo design types usually a combination of wordmark or lettermark with a pictorial mark, abstract mark, or mascot. Brands such as Burger King, Red Bull, Doritos are the example of combination mark.
As you can see in the above image these logos have their name and some graphic in them. For a newcomer and lesser-known brand, these types of logos are the best option. Because they can properly represent your brand with its name and can make people relate your brand logo with your brand name.
7. Emblem
The emblem is the most complex type of brand logo they usually consist of some typographic text inside some graphic. They usually look like a badge, seal, or crests.
As you can see in the above images all of these logos have too many words and abstracts in them. These logos have some authoritarian vibes in them but people can’t usually remember these types of logos.
These types of logos are usually used to represent collages, authorities, sports clubs, or some authority. However, some modern companies also use them such as Starbucks and Harley Davidson but most of the companies, avoid using emblems.
Tips for a good logo
Along with logotypes, I would like to share a few tips for your logo so that when you try to design your logo you get the best result.
- Always think your logo is your brand and it has to represent everything about your brand.
- Use few but vibrant colors, too many colors can ruin your logo.
- Minimal is a new modern standard, most of the companies around the world switching toward minimal logos you should too.
- Always design your logo in a vector format such as SVG, never in raster image format.
Conclusion
Now you know different types of logos and who uses them. We have also tried to share examples so you can know what shouts best for your brand. We hope you are able to decide which type of logo you want for your brand.
Credits: All the logos which have been used in the article are the property of their respective owners.
