The Wednesday weekly review series continues folks, and this week we go deeper on logos by busting a common misunderstanding that most of us have made, confusing a logo and a brand.
A good looking logo is not as good as a well thought visual brand, and if you are wondering “what!?” then you should read this article. Most of the time people request for a logo to be done and half of the time it looks good and can be used to identify your products. But that does not suffice because a logo is a single element of a visual brand.
Today we will talk about a visual brand which is the representation of your brand through colour, fonts, shapes, and other graphical symbols, which most people think is the same thing as the logo- which is not correct.
Simply put, a logo is the face of your best friend and the brand is the way he/she acts, dresses, speaks and most importantly responds to you.
One can recognize an organization by its logo but the question lies on whether all the other design elements are in line with it. Using the Netflix icon which is as creative as it is intentional because it visually represents a stack as an example. The agency Gretel stated that “The Stack is a visual metaphor and an identity system in one. It’s an endless, living catalogue of shows and movies. The stack implies two ideas at the heart of the service: selection and curation. Netflix is both catalogue and curator, calling forth and constantly updating selections custom-tailored to users.
As an identity, it is distinctive, clear, infinitely variable and easy-to-use. It can scale to any size and translate to any platform. It works in motion, print, digital and out-of-home. It’s just as effective on outdoor billboards as in Powerpoint. It connects everything the brand touches, internally and externally, and the brand ‘volume’ can easily be turned up and down as needed.”
So next time you want to get a logo done, STOP! and get a well-thought brand done. Take time to figure out within your organization what visual attributes you want your brand to be associated with. This all usually comes from your value system and the need that your brand serves. Also, it saves on advertising strategies and allows your brand to have a distinct identity. Till next time!