Logos: Framework For Evaluation of Logos

Logos
Framework for evaluation of logos

A logo is to a business as face is to a person. It is how one is recognized, it reflects
ones personality, or in case of business, values and principles of the company. The
effectiveness of the logo lies in its visual nature. Studies have shown that people
recognize and relate to images easier then text. In todays digital world of multimedia,
this is truer than ever. It is also the most powerful marketing tool known. Designing a
great logo is one of the most important things one can do for ones business or website.
A logo is designed based on a brands attributes. It personifies the company. A company
would want people to see the logo in their minds when they think of the company or
vice versa. Therefore the logo needs to be unique and simple enough to remember.
There are 3 most important aspects to be considered while designing a logo:
1. Typefaces: for the name of the organization. Fonts can be elegant, fun, modern,
and more. Type styles evoke emotion, so they should be carefully considered.
2. Imagery: if used, an icon or other graphic should enhance the name of the
organization, not overshadow it.
3. Color: perhaps the most important consideration, color has been shown to have
measurable psychological impact, and is often affiliated with a specific industry.
For example, blue is calming and often used in the health care and financial
sectors; green is natural and healthy; yellow is youthful and cheerful; white is
cool, clean and fresh; and red is powerful and energetic.
A good logo should convey the intended message to your audience without additional
explanation or context. As the companys major graphic representation, a logo brings a
companys entire brand together, and works with elements such as your website,
collateral, brand promise, and marketing efforts to set the tone for your company as a
whole in the public arena.
The following framework can be followed while evaluating a logo:
Attributes
Parameters
Name
1. Is it easy to read?
Simplicity of design makes a logo easier for customers to remember and
recognize. A great logo will contain only one graphic idea, one gimmick, one
dingbat. Thus if there's a symbol, the accompanying name should be plain and
unadorned. If it is a wordmark, one idea or device should make it special- like the
Brand Management: Logos
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stripes in IBM. The more unique the name, the simpler the graphics can be. Think
clear contrast and simple shapes, with limited colors and tones
2. Is it meaningful?
Is the logo design relevant to your business? Is it consistent with the corporate
personality and tone that the company wishes to convey about their business?
The content has to be right
3. Is it scalable?
Does it look as good at 1 inch as it does at 10 feet? Successful logos can be used
on any media at any size without reducing in quality or readability. However
scaling your logo can cause distortion if it hasnt been designed in vector format.
If you do not have your logo in vector format you might want to consider getting
it redesigned this way as it will save you time and money in the future.
Unlike JPEGs, GIFs, and BMP images, vector graphics are not made up of a grid
of pixels. Instead, vector graphics are comprised of paths, which are defined by a
start and end point, along with other points, curves, and angles along the way.
Because vector-based images are not made up of a specific number of dots, they
can be scaled to a larger size without losing any image quality. This makes vector
graphics ideal for logos, which can be small enough to appear on a business card,
but can also be scaled to fill a billboard.
4. Will people easily remember it?
One of the main reasons to have a logo is for recognition. You want people to see
your logo in their minds when they think of your company or vice versa.
Therefore your logo needs to be unique and simple enough to remember.
5. Does it stand out amongst competitors logos?
A design idea doesn't need to be unique to the world, just distinctive enough so
that the company can "own" it in your particular marketplace. The logo should be
completely unique in terms of color and imagery.
6. Does it work in Black & White or in Colors?
Color has been shown to have measurable psychological impact, and is often
affiliated with a specific industry. For example, blue is calming and often used in
the health care and financial sectors; green is natural and healthy; yellow is
youthful and cheerful; white is cool, clean and fresh; and red is powerful and
energetic. The logo at some point will be printed out in black and white and the
logo always represents the company in the best way possible. Therefore it must
look as good in black and white as it does it color
7. Can it be used across different media?
Since, the logo will most likely be used on a variety of platforms such as website,
business card, letterhead, stationary, etc. Therefore it must compliment the rest
of the brand identity on all types of media.
8. Is it timeless?
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Will it stand the test of time, and look just as fresh in several years as it does
now? Does the logo need a tagline and if yes, will the logo be big enough to
accommodate one? An effective logo should endure the test of time. The logo
should be future proof, meaning that it should still be effective in 10, 20, or 50
years time. The bottom line is, an effective logo should be timeless. Will yours
stand the test of time? Rebranding should not be considered a normal part of
business, nor should it become a habit. Trends come and go, and when youre
talking about changing a pair of jeans or buying a new dress, thats fine, but
when it comes to your brand identity, longevity is most important. Dont follow
the pack. Stand out. To create a timeless logo, avoid trends and unnecessary
effects, and keep it simple.
9. Does it look authentic?
Does it feel genuine and appropriate for what you do, who do it for and who you
want to reach?
Application of the Proposed Framework for a New Brand Lauch vs. Relaunch
Evaluation of the logo of Cocoa Cola using the above framework
Coca-Cola was first served in 1886 and even then, the first official logo of Coca-Cola
was not the script logo. It first appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1886 as
both a slab serif and chunky sans serif it wasnt until mid-1887 that Frank Robinson,
Coca-Colas bookkeeper, drew the first traces of the Spencerian script logo that we all
know.
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For the first ten to twenty years you could probably find a dozen different executions of
the Coca-Cola script as the logo was probably drawn over and over for different
applications. It isnt until the 1930s and 1940s that a clear interpretation of the logo
appears and is used consistently. During the late 1950s and early 1960s the script logo
is placed within a shape, referred to as the fishtail logo, which is as off-brand as
anything that Coca-Cola has ever done.
In 1960s the wave was introduced, a ubiquitous visual today, when Lippincott Mercer
was in charge of making the Coca-Cola identity more consistent.
New Coke introduced in 1985 had a new formula marketing and its own set of logos
that completely ignored the script logo that left a bad taste in their consumers
mouths. Around the same time, in 1986, Landor began rolling out an even more
developed brand identity that modified the wave among other subtle changes.
Todays Coca-Cola logo is amazingly similar to what it was 124 years ago
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Framework for evaluation of logos

Brand Management: Logos

Brand Management: Logos

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