Logo Design By LogoGuru.co.uk » Business Logos

Which Famous Logos have been more Effective – Simple or Complex?

Sam Anderson — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:36:18 +0000

Every now and then, logo designers come to a standstill as to which logo is more effective…simple or complex. Are the minimalist logos that express more with fewer elements effective or the descriptive and detailed logos convey the company message more successfully?

If you look at the famous logos in UK logo design market, you will notice that both types of logo designing are being used. For example, most of the UK fashion brands like Marks & Spencer have simple logo designs. On the other hand, an example of complex logo in UK is the London 2012 Olympics logo.

For a logo designer, the benchmark to follow is always the industry standard that is being followed. The type of logo design that you employ varies from one industry to another. There is no unilateral decision when it comes to simple and complicated logos. Both have their fair share of pros and cons. So let’s compare the positive and negative effects of both simple and complex logo designs.

Aspects of Simple Logos:

• Simple logo designs are considered to be easily recalled by the customers.
• Some logo designers hold the adage “simple is better” and assert that simple is beautiful.
• When you employ logos with simple design, it takes less time for the audience to recognize and understand your brand identity.
• Simple logos avoid any chances of clutter when being advertised on different mediums.
• In some cases, a simple logo does not sufficiently express the company meaning.

Aspects of Complex Logos:

• In some cases, details are necessary to communicate the company’s purpose in the brand identity.
• Some logo designers contemplate that making highly detailed logos will impress clients.
• Logos with excessive design elements are always hard on the customer’s eyes.
• They are not easily remembered by the intended audience and take time to recall.
• Complicated logos can create confusion in the customers who cannot distinguish different brands.
• When you employ too many design elements in a logo, it causes clutters the important information.

Comparing Simple and Complex Logos – Famous Examples:

Simple Logos

VS

Complex Logos

Apple Logo Design

Nike Logo Design

Amazon Logo Design

FedEx Logo Design

Gillette Logo Design

Google Logo Design

IBM Logo Design

McDonalds Logo Design

ABC Logo Design

Nokia Logo Design

Cadillac Logo Design:

Porsche Logo Design

Harley Davidson Logo Design

Heineken Logo Design

London2012 Logo Design

BMW Logo Design

Starbucks Logo Design

Toblerone Logo Design

Unilever Logo Design

Walt Disney Logo Design

New NBCUniversal Logo – The Peacock Flies Away!

Sam Anderson — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:01:54 +0000

NBC Universal is the result of a merger between NBC Network and Universal Studios formed in 2003. It was jointly owned by General Electric and cable giant Comcast. Following the majority takeover by Comcast on 26th January 2011, the new administration changed the name to NBCUniversal without spaces and also launched a new logo design.

The new logo design abandons the prominent peacock symbol that has been associated with the company for over five decades. It was designed by renowned logo designer Wolf Olins. The typofont used in the logowas designed by Mike Abbink.Explaining the new minimalist logo, NBC Universal’s chief executive Steve Burke told his employees that the old logo “seemed kind of busy.”

Evolution of NBC Logo – Rise and fall of “Peacock” Logo:

The Peacock logo has been linked with NBC since 1956, designed by John J. Graham. Over the decades the NBC logo has evolved into many forms, with the peacock logo being redesigned three times in the span of decades. Here is an illustration of how the NBC logo has evolved over the years:

Do you think that NBC rightly scrapped its old logo with the signature “peacock” for the new minimal logo? Considering the Gap logo fail, will the new NBCUniversal logo live up to the customer’s expectations?

When clients don’t pay for your logo design – 6 Practical Solutions!

Sam Anderson — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:44:25 +0000

Client trouble is commonplace and logo designers are not spared of this agony either. The worst that could happen to you is that you don’t get paid for your hard work. Getting stood up in the middle of a logo design project is an increasing dilemma nowadays and designers are finding it hard to tackle this quandary.

But as promised in my earlier post on “warning signs that clients won’t pay”, I will be giving you useful solutions to counter this menace of defaulting clients. You must have heard of the old adage “prevention is better than cure”, this is exactly what I wish to explain to my readers. Following are 6 practical and viable ways on making your client pay for your logo design:

1. Don’t work without a legal contract:

Trusting anyone on spoken terms is not feasible nowadays. You simply cannot work on oral agreements with clients, as you cannot claim anything in the end. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that every business dealing with your clients is bonded with a legal contract. Dealing with a contract lawfully secures your hard earned reimbursement. Set the deadline dates, complete project details, mode of payment and all other terms and conditions.

2. ‘You’ll pay later, I’ll design later…’:

Another thing you need to learn is never take excuses from the client on payment issues. When the client does not accept any excuses from you on meeting project deadlines, then he must also be advised to do the same on money matters. If your client says “Hey, I’ll pay you later”, your reply should be “Hey, I’ll design for you later”. This is the only way that hoodwinking clients will be inclined to pay you.

3. Start with a down-payment upfront:

The best way to secure your remuneration is to get a down-payment or an advanced fee for the project. This way even if the clients decided to run away, you will be left with some compensation for your hard work. Insist on the fact that some overhead expenses for the project will be incurred that needs to be reimbursed immediately. You can work out a plan at the time of contractual agreements and lay down the terms and conditions beforehand.

4. Run a background check on the client:

You may voluntarily give a discount, but working gratis is something logo designers would never desire. So in order to get paid, you need to make sure is your client capable of paying you for the project or not? Irrespective of the size of the client you deal with, run a background check on his financials to see if he has defaulted in other projects elsewhere.

5. Don’t give the work till your dues are cleared:

Sometimes you really need to get rough with clients who don’t pay. You need to adamant on payment issues and adopt a “show me the money” attitude otherwise you are most likely to be robbed of your hard earned money.

6. Work on hourly basis:

Another practical solution to counter the logo design payment issues is to work on hourly basis. Billing your clients on regular basis is feasible for logo designers who sweat day and night trying to create clever logo designs for their clients. When you work on hourly basis, you have leverage over your client, the moment he falls short of payments, and you can halt the project till he clears his dues.

I hope these practical solutions will help you alleviate the problem of client not paying.

Redesigned Logos of 2010 – An exciting round-up!

Sam Anderson — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:36:25 +0000

When a famous logo remains unchanged in the market for a significant time, it leaves a long-lasting impression on the minds of customers. For any corporate brand, an established logo design generates brand awareness and fame, which contributes immensely in making a company successful. But when a brand gets a logo redesign, it has two pronged effects on the corporate image.

A successful logo redesign can help a firm’s reputation to the skies, while a bad redesigned logo can spell disaster for a company. This year, we witnessed a host of new logos entering the UK logo design market…a lot of old ones were revamped while some were the outcome of different UK company mergers. One of the most controversial and debated was BP logo redesign, a parody by Greenpeace UK to ridicule BP. While elsewhere, Gap had its moments of redesigning blunders as well.

As the year 2010 comes to a close, we pay a tribute to one of the most enthralling year for the logo design world by featuring all redesigned logos that have taken place this year:

1 ) Airbus logo:

The new Airbus logo adds a more gradient effect to the colors and the signature circle has been shifted in line with the ‘AIRBUS’ text to make it more compact.

2 ) Airtel logo:

This year, we witnessed a complete revamp of the old and famous Airtel logo. Right from the fonts to the symbol, the airtel logo has been revamped to give a new and fresh look of the Indian telecom giant.

3 ) Wembley Stadium logo:

The Wembley Stadium logo design has been made by London-based agency Bulletproof and is inspired by the new Wembley Stadium design and goes with the tagline “Inspiring memories”.

4 ) Argos logo:

Argos, the largest general merchandise and home retailer in the UK, redesigned its logo this year. The new design shows a smile beneath the ‘ARGOS’ typography.

5 ) UEFA Euro 2012 logo:

The new official EURO cup 2012 logo was unvieled this year. The logo has a flower that represents both the host nations and a ball in the center symbolizing the emotion and passion of the competition.

6 ) Dodge logo:

Dodge, after many years, changed its famous ram shaped logo design to a simpelr and sleeker design. The new logo has ‘DODGE’ written in grey gradeint color with two red stripes in the end.

7 ) Doctor Who logo:

The popular BBC TV show Dr.Who decided to revamp its logo for future seasons. The new logo has been stripped down to just the initials D and W with a siren on top.

8 ) EU organic logo:

This was officially launched through a logo design contest by EU in mid June. The new design portrays a green leaf, signifying organic products.

9 ) Gap logo:

A series of online controversies forced Gap to revert back to its decades old logo within days of its revamp. The new proposed gap logo redesign was considered naive and inappropriate by the customers.

10 ) Gmail logo:

Although slightly, but Gmail logo design was revamped a few days ago. Minor adjustments were made to the color gradient, bevel and little tweaks were given to the placement of "by Google" from left to right.

11 ) Skittles Logo

This logo redesign was done by London logo designer Miles Newlyn, who gave the impression of a rainbow colored tounge in the new logo design.

12 ) London Science Museum logo:

The London Science Museum logo contains the words “Science” and “Museum” in a computer code style font with the letters piled up in a stack of three.

13 ) Windows Live Hotmail logo:

WIndows Live logo design was revamped this year to a simpler version of a golden envelope. The old Microsoft Windows symbol was dropped out from the new Hotmail logo.

14 ) Turkish Airlines logo:

Turkish Airlines logo has been given a modern touch by adding bright gradient red colors. The major difference is that the red and white colors of the bird shape and the empty space have been inverted.

15 ) UK Space Agency logo:

UK Space Agency logo includes the typical UK color scheme including blue, red and white. While there is not much difference in its typography, the “UK Space Agency” part has been made more prominent.

16 ) Virgin Atlantic logo:

Virgin Atlantic, in their new logo design, decided to add ‘Virgin’ in the form of text and reduced the size of their signature Virgin symbol.

17 ) WTA logo:

After many years, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) decided to five a facelift to their identity. The new logo excludwes the female tennis player and has a tennis ball between the letter "A".

18 ) Yellow Pages logo:

The Yelow pages logo redesign conveys the brand’s move from a paper phone book platform to a digital one. It exemplifies a wide and ambitious increase in the brand’s scope and business strategy.

What do you think….which of these redesigned logos were really required while which seem to be unnecessary ones?

The 6 Ways a poor Logo Design can damage your Business

Sam Anderson — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:05:25 +0000

Let’s suppose, if your business meets a natural disaster like an earthquake or a fire, still you will be able to assess the cost of damages…..right? But if your business image meets a disaster, you won’t be able to figure out the cost of failure even. This is the price of having a low-quality logo design.

Every business failure is not attributed to the business itself. Sometimes the business in itself is great but the logo turns out be a complete disaster. Having a low quality logo design for business is equivalent to committing suicide. Poor quality tops the list of reasons that cause logo disasters.

The Unbearable Costs of Poor Quality Logos:

It is believed that a disaster can be changed into an opportunity. But when the disaster turns catastrophic, there is nothing much we can do. Same are the results of adopting a poor quality logo design for your business. The costs are unbearable and irreversible. Hence one must be aware of them before business start-ups:

1. Cheap Logo represents Cheap Business:

Nowadays, customers don’t only see the product attributes but also check the business image. If your logo is of low quality, it will create false impressions that your business is also inferior and substandard. In a way, cheap logo design is equivalent to cheap product or service.

2. Your Business dies slowly and silently :

Nothing kills your business reputation more than a poorly designed logo. A low quality logo design works like a poison for your business, killing it slowly and silently. Your sales gradually decline, customer reputation falls, and eventually the business goes out.

3. You become the clown of the market

One thing is certain that criticism is widespread in the logo design industry these days. Logo design mistakes are ridiculed so much that the whole business gets affected. The best example of this in the UK market would be of the BP logo parody.

4. You miss out on Potential Customers:

It’s obvious, the more sugar you add to a cake, the sweeter its gets and vice versa. Similarly, a poor quality logo has less potential in securing targeted and potential customers. Your message will deviate from its intended purpose and you may not be able to reach the targeted customers.

5. Scares away the customers:

Your business lifeline is your customer. Without them, you have no business and with a poor logo design you will only succeed in scaring your existing and potential clients. This is because a poor quality logo depicts that the company is insincere and unprofessional.

6. You lose your valuable image

One of the most priceless assets of any firm is its business image. Your logo design is the true representative of your business image. Any compromise on quality of logo will directly affect your brand image. A recent example is the gap logo redesign.

Reading all the above mentioned damages which a poor logo design can make to your business, don’t you think it is the high time to get a professional logo design.for your company?