I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t seen a logo in some shape or form, they are literally everywhere. In fact one of my earliest memories featured a particular brand of orange squash and it was the logo and the shape of the bottle that I remember (I do have better memories than that but I’m just making a point). Logos are a company’s signature or stamp to let us know that they are here, but what makes some logos work better than others and what makes a successful logo?
The very best logos throughout history have been simple designs; easily recognisable and easily remembered. Take for example the Nike swoosh or the McDonalds famous golden arches, both easy to visualise and both easy to replicate by hand. I can remember the kids in my school drawing the Nike swoosh on their text books, one crazy individual even had it cut into the back of his hair.
With many of these simple and memorable logos they work just as well without their written name. Again the Nike and McDonalds logos are good examples but so are many others. Take for example the Apple logo, it appears more often than not as a stand alone icon of an apple, no description necessary. Facebook is often seen as a white ‘F’ on a blue square.