Logos are symbols that represent a company, a product or a brand. Logos are a unique way of pictorially representing what can be said in a few words or a sentence. They can range from a simple symbol, like a dot, to a complicated maze of colors and patterns. The basic idea of a logo is to etch a lasting impression on the mind, since colors and patterns are retained much longer than names or other words. Logos are thus absolutely essential for branding.

Every business organization has a logo. The main purpose is to attract attention, and to leave an impression. For instance, the “Swoosh” is famous as being Nike’s symbol across the world, as well as Adidas’ “Three Stripes.” McDonald’s Golden Arch and Yahoo’s “Y!” are other popular logos. A logo need not necessarily contain the brand’s name (like Kellogg’s or Pfizer), although this would be an added advantage. Logos help to differentiate one company from another, or one brand from another. In most cases, logos represent what the organization stands for.

Artists, graphic artists, admen and other professionals do logo designing. Logos can be categorized as: combination (icon and text); logotype/wordmark/lettermark (text or abbreviated text) and Icon (symbol / brandmark). A good logo should be unique, functional, effective regardless of the size, attractive regardless of the color, and flexible enough to retain its shape when printed on certain materials that tend to crease or fold. It should also represent the brand/company image well. Logo artists should abide by the principles of color, space, form, clarity and consistency while designing logos. It is advisable to use as few colors as possible, or use spot colors. The use of gradients for distinguishing is also not desirable. Vector graphics is one technology that can be effectively used for logo designing. Designers should be aware of copyrights and trademarks, and should be very careful not to copy any other logo. Using a person’s face, clip-art, third-party fonts, imagery or photographs, and culturally suggestive imagery should be avoided as much as possible.