Logo? Why is it important for your company?

A logo is a group of letters, symbols, abbreviations, figures, etc., that are fused together to make a typographic composition easier. It is your company name which can be used on all kind of printed or visual material. A good logo design will reflect the company corporate identity and will be an extremely important factor in the company’s success. An appropriate logo design will help your business to be recognizable and remembered by its clients. The logo will appear on the company stationery, such as letters, newsletters, envelopes, invoices, business cards, ads, etc.

Logotype (typography) is a logo that is formed by only a unique and original typography which is generally the name of the company or the brand. Some examples are Siemens, Panasonic, Sony, Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, etc. The isotype (figurative or abstract image) is an icon (drawing, scheme, line) that makes a brand identity different from the rest and that disregards the use of typography or logotype. Some examples are Nike, McDonald, Ferrari, Apple, etc. And the isologotype is the one that comprises the isotype and the logotype, the typography and the icon, for instance: Shell, Walt Disney, etc.

Most large and medium sized companies require a commercial image that will appear on every printed piece of material. The prime objective is to establish a distinctive and appropriate label that separates the company of its competitors. A logo is usually applied to letterheads, invoices, postcards, receipt book and business cards. It can be also used on uniforms, packages, products labels and press banners.

There is no point in measuring the success of a company logo design because it looks good in a business card or in a website; these signs are not supposed to be decorative: they must fulfill the prime function in the companies’ current scheme. After all, what is a company today? It is not the people that it comprises. It is certainly not the building in which it runs: if it moves it will continue to be the same company. It is not the products and services they offer, since the company could change its products and still exist. A company is an abstraction; an image that is built in the minds of the people that operates with it for any reason. The existence of a company is recognized only when the company is perceived. This is why the signs that characterize this abstraction are so important; these signs are more stable than any other activity the company may carry out. If the signs are carefully developed they will contribute to the construction of an efficient and long-lasting image.

A company image is related to its consumer’s way of thinking and to the way they feel about the corporation. A high quality logotype provides the company with professionalism. It does not matter if the company is new or if it is not well known; consumers will always give a chance to any business that looks professional. It is important to know that logotypes will end up operating on other supports and means besides the ones that are showed as examples at the moment of the presentation of the design. Will this developed sign continue to be legible after being scaled down? Will it work in black and white to be used, for instance, on fax paper? What if it is transferred to a shop window? Can it be embroidered on uniforms? Before starting with the developing process of a sign, it is essential to know the elements of communication and the reproduction systems it will have to deal with. All basic signs just as a logo design should be prepared to support its success whatever the circumstances.

To develop a sign that can be identified with the products or services of a company, it is necessary to know all about the universe of signs. Brands must take all the values of the company and communicate them. Twenty years ago the brand was thought to be the logotype. This was twenty years ago. Today everybody knows that a brand comprises a lot more than a logotype and that one sign is not enough to support all the content of a product or service.