4 Types of Company Logo Design — What to choose?

A logo is the face of your business. With a memorable one you’ll be able to create instantaneous recognition for your brand, establish your credibility while playing a leading role in providing your products or services, and help you stand out within the market.

You have to weigh many variables while thinking about the type of your logo. It should speak what your business provides to your customers, in addition to who you are as a company, what you stand for, and what consumers should anticipate from your business. The colors you choose and the overall appearance must communicate with viewers on multiple levels

Before you plunge into a logo design, you should start with the basics and gain a know-how of the four main types of logo designs. Here are four types of logo designs to contemplate with examples of logos our design professionals have recently created:

1. Wordmark Logo

Google, eBay, and VISA all represent the most commonly used type of logo — the wordmark. It’s a type of logo design that includes only the company name — no symbols, mascots, or badges. Wordmark logos are also called “logotypes” and is all about keeping it simple. Wordmark logos are particularly hard to create as there is no imagery used in these logo designs. Typography and spacing are extra important because it depends entirely on stylized typefaces and colors that need to accurately and precisely convey the message behind an entire brand.

The type-only look is a popular choice across industries, especially tech, media, fashion, and food. Wordmarks work best for companies whose names describe what they do, or for those with an exceptional name, even if it’s not yet a general word. This type of logo helps establish name recognition, a must in the startup world to associate your brand name with your products or services.

Wordmark Logo Design for Online Concert Ticket Shop by ning32

2. Lettermark Logo

Think of a lettermark logo as a monogram for your business. Lettermarks are logos that consist of letters, usually brand initials to represent the brand. Lettermarks can be a simple monogram or an anagram. IBM, CNN, HP, NASA are the initials of a few famous businesses with rather lengthy names. With 2 or 3 words to remember, they’ve each turned to use their initials for brand-identification purposes. NASA for example, a monogram lettermark logo — it uses the initial letters of the company’s full name, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to create the logo.

Lettermarks are great for companies whose names are difficult to pronounce, or too long to work as a logo in most media. By utilizing just a few letters lettermark logos are effective at streamlining any company brand if they have a long name. Shortening a long company name to initials will also make it easier for your audience to recognize your logo and name, especially in global markets. Lettermark logos are better suited to companies that have a marketing budget substantial enough to allow them the time and money needed to educate the public on what their lettermark actually means. Furthermore, if you’re not an established business already you may need to add your full business name below the logo so people can begin to learn who you are right away.

Lettermark Logo Design For EC Apparel by ap

3. Brandmark Logo

Departing from the use of text alone, a brandmark symbol uses a robust graphic, which can be abstract, to highlight an aspect of the product or service the business sells. A true brandmark is only an image that comes to mind when you think “logo” — The Apple logo, the Twitter bird, the Target bullseye. Each of these companies’ logos is so symbolic, and each brand so established, that the mark alone is instantly recognizable. The symbol can also represent the company by association and relies on the design’s ability to evoke emotion in a viewer. For example, the Nike swoosh hints at motion, the perfect depiction for the company’s line of athletic shoes and athletic wear.

A brandmark can be a great way for audiences to form a psychological bond to your brand, as the brain responds on a deeper level to an image than written text, which needs to be decoded. Because of this, it can be a tricky logo type for new businesses, or those without strong brand recognition, to use. Using only a symbol to explain your brand also has obvious dominance when it comes to serving a global market, as it can be promptly understood all over the world. However, the success of a brandmark does rely on audiences knowing what the symbol means. The biggest thing to think about when deciding to go with a pictorial mark is what image to choose. This is something that will stick with your business its entire existence.

Brandmark Logo Design for Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign by Ajnabi Sahir

4. Combination Mark Logo

Also known as iconic logos, combination marks, as the name suggests, is a combination of brandmark symbol with wordmark. You can convey a visual idea of what the brand represents and making it explicit what it’s called, hence it’s particularly useful for new or less famous brands. The symbol and text can be placed side-by-side, stacked on top of each other, or integrated together to create a logo. Some of the well-known combination mark logos are Adidas, Microsoft and Toyota.

Combination logos can actually work well for startups and small businesses with less budgets, whose name may be unique but not yet widely recognized. Because a name is associated with the symbol, a combination mark is an all-purpose choice, with both the text and icon working together to reinforce your brand and people will begin to affiliate your name with your symbol right away. Combination mark logotypes are very effective in communicating brand identity, hence picking an iconic logotype may require minimal marketing to secure recognition for the logo.