This is part one of my series on what makes a logo really good, which I introduced in a previous article. Here I’m talking about why a logo should be iconic.
What do I mean by this?
Sometimes logos can feel a bit awkward, or look like a number of elements have been forced together. The ideal logo design is when its whole (name and symbol/s) feels like an icon in its entirety, like it all belongs together.
Simplicity too
Being iconic is also about being graphically as simple as possible, while at the same time being unique and distinctive. This means shapes, colours, composition and general detail need to be as simple as they can, while retaining something that makes them unique.
This is not an easy combination to achieve, as by its nature ‘simple’ doesn’t equal ‘distinctive’. For example, a circle is one of the most simplistic shapes there is but it’s not unique in any way, unless you do something different with it.
It’s always possible to create something iconic with a logo, but sometimes a bit of extra time and effort is needed to get there – good ideas are rarely immediately obvious. It can also depend on the name of the business. Having a short and simple name or an acronym will help the design of an iconic logo, such as with brands like O2.
Examples
The examples I’ve shown above are a small collection of logos which I think achieve an iconic style. Each one manages to incorporate the brand name and some kind of symbol or unique graphic styling, while at the same time being extremely simple in shape. They also feeling like an icon rather than a collection of elements.
In the next article in the series I will talk about how a logo should be memorable.
