Home » Archives » August 2007 » Ideas for Design Essays : Things That Don't Belong in Logos [Previous entry: "Directions to Nicole's Wedding/Reception"] [Next entry: "New Rejected Work: ACEP 40th Anniversary Logo"] 08/29/2007: "Ideas for Design Essays : Things That Don't Belong in Logos" listening to: Don and Mike

So, I keep thinking that I am going to design myself a new site for my business, and that it'll have a section for me to write on Design news, thoughts on design in general, and essays on topics such as "10 Mistakes that People Make When Hiring a Designer" and the like.

Anyway, here's an idea for one that I don't want to forget:

Things that don't belong in your Logo:
1. Your Slogan. What's a slogan, you ask? It's the little one-line remark of copy that imparts some information about your company's product, or corporate culture, or mission. (IE - GE's "We Bring Good Things to Life" or Quizno's "Mmmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. Toasty.")
Why don't these belong in your Logo? Well, that's easy. They complicate things. Logos need to be simple, concise, and easily applicable in a variety of situations. Adding a slogan make things infinitely more complicated by the pure virtue of the fact that type needs to be readable, and slogans are always added to a logo in a much smaller type size than the name of the company. Because of this new, much smaller text, you cannot make the logo small enough for practical application in a variety of circumstances.

Add to (or subtract from) that the fact that logos are not supposed to explain what you do, but rather act as an identifying system for things that are associated with your company (people, products, publications), and all you've done is weakened the effectiveness of the logo by turning it from a recognizable symbol to a big block of text!

That reminds me: I need to write and essay on other ways people ruin the effectiveness of their logo, like: Putting so many restrictions on its use that you hamstring your creative efforts and reduce the possibility of clever application to Zero.

Maybe that's what this'll turn into instead, Top Ten Ways You Are Ruining Your Logo.