Designing Brand Identity – The Key to a Powerful Logo

Designing Brand Identity – The Key to a Powerful Logo

Logos are definitely not a new concept born out of the 20th Century but can be traced back through all ages of human civilisation. Many different cultures throughout time have used images as a vital form of communication. From cavemen scratching marks into the stone. The Egyptians with their unique Hieroglyphics or early Roman coins bearing monograms of rulers or cities.Logos have the ability to inspire confidence, trust, admiration and loyalty. The Logo is the ‘keystone’ to a successful brand and therefore must be well thought about and planned. In our world of ever growing visual stimuli, a logo can be used to represent pretty much any modern entity.Logos to inspire confidence share these key elements:

  1. Easily recognisable and relevant to its cause, entity or sector. Invariably a strong logo will instantly tell the viewer its purpose and meaning. Many modern day logos such as the Nike tick or the BMW propeller are instantly recognised without the company name attached.
  2. Bring about past and present associations of power and presence. Many logos will use well known images or icons of past times to re-affirm and strengthen its modern day meaning. A logo using a flag or city symbol within its logo will instantly be associated and will add weight to the logos interpretation.
  3. Simplicity and Clarity, the most successful logos tend to be the most simple. These logos are to be seen everywhere today. The apple logo is a clear example of this in action for over 30 years or the Shell logo which has remained pretty much the same throughout the 1900’s.
  4. Complementary colours, although generally no more than 3 colours. Colours have the power to summon emotions within us. Red for danger or excitement. Green, a colour associated with nature and healing. In regards to a strong colour for a logo to inspire confidence it would have to be blue. Blue is a stable and dependable colour. As with the sky and seas that are always constant. Blue inspires confidence, commitment and a sense of calm.
  5. Use of Natural shapes and curves. I make reference to the Fibonacci sequence that can be seen throughout the natural world and as Da Vinci believed could be used to paint the perfect picture. The golden ratio can be seen  within the famous Fibonacci spiral. 

A well thought out combination of these elements hold the key to creating a logo its user can engage with, feel part of and ultimately inspire confidence. Logos are key to designing brand identity.


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