Branding: As long as it makes sense to you
When designing logo’s for businesses I find that the owner sometimes has a lack in confidence and courage to be daring and different. A logo should communicate a representative image of that particular service. (E.g. I would not hire a life coach whose logo contained an illustration of the grim reaper) but rarely do I find a client who is willing to go against the norm and use a logo which is not so obvious. The reason being is they want to play it safe by letting customers easily know who and what they are. That is the goal of a logo but a not so obvious logo can generate an even stronger brand. This idea has been proven and preceded by many corporate companies. Being corporate does have the advantage that the business and brand is already established but even they were SME’s at one point. Examples of successful but not so obvious logos:
Nike – What does the word Nike with a swoosh have to do with sports apparel? Nike is
actually the Greek Goddess of Victory and the swoosh is a check mark to symbolise positivity.
Daimler Benz – What does a silver triangular shape have to do with cars? Actually a silver three pointed star symbolising excellence in air, land and water engineering.
Shell – What does a shell have to do with petrol? The founder actually sold sea shells in a small shop before buying boats to eventually import petrol/oil.
As you can see, the logos have a meaning stemming from the root and history of the company although not so obvious. They are world famous established brands so they don’t have to be obvious but in most cases they stuck with the same thought provoking logo idea from the beginning and just modernised it as times changed.
Why do they work? There are many factors why the above businesses were successful but in terms of branding they had the confidence to be unique. Many businesses worry that their audience do not understand or even like the logo which represents their company. At the end of the day it comes down to you, the owner, partner, director, founder or proprietor. If you are having a logo designed which is not so obvious but you like it and fits your business image effectively, have faith in what it represents and have the confidence to push the brand forward. Not everyone will ever like your logo but what revolves around it can make it a world famous icon.
