We are showered with a deluge of icons, symbols and images by screens that cover every previous unused inch of public space, and personal computers and the Internet continues the exposure in the privacy of our home.

Since the inception of logos as early as 500 BC on ancient coins featuring animal heads or profiles of kings and emperors, logos are often associated with money, commercial messages and profit. The economy of contemporary western societies, often cited as “consumerists”, heavily depends and relies upon the seemingly plain icon. Some logos are worth a lot of money as Adidas filed a suit against Wal-Mart. According to Financial Express on June 18, Adidas claimed that “Wal-Mart used a striped logo similar to the one associated with Adidas products, displaying two or four stripes whereas the German company’s trademark is three”. Adidas has already won a similar suit, receiving 305 million US dollars in refunds from another American company.

A lot of brainpower and imagination are being invested in logo design, which now takes up an entire niche in graphic design studios. Some of the principles include: avoiding going overboard in attempting originality, using limited colors, having awareness of trademark infringements, and so on. In a few words, modern logos must be clean, simple and catchy images that stay in one’s mind for a long time—preferably forever. Many corporations, organizations and institutions abide by these rules to vary degrees, some achieving more success than others.

Car Logos

In order to maximize recognition and empathy, car logo designers tap into familiar public associations. Many incorporate styled images of various hoofed animals—known for their swiftness, fierceness or stubbornness—to represent their products. The combination of familiarity and power is important to convince potential clients to buy products that cost considerable amounts of money and many determine the buyer’s image for next several years.

Dodge is known for its ram’s head logo. The animal is famous for its ability to find a safe path in precipitous rocks and stay on it without bringing any harm onto itself. With the ram sometimes being called “the King of the trail”, the company no doubt is trying to capitalize on this folk observation. Lamborghini literally went for the bull’s eye. Founded by Ferrucio Lamborghini, a passionate corrida fan, the sports care manufacturing company incorporated a charging bull in the logo—combining pleasure with business. Ferrari, the maker of arguably the fastest cars in the world, depicts a prancing stallion for its logo.

Country Logos

Latest global developments in the tourist industry necessitated the design of country logos. Many nations now have a symbol that includes some of the national flag characteristics but at the same time acts as an informal looking, fun-inviting image—an uninhabited alter-ego of the usually strict and linear flag. Often the designers add a feature for which the country is especially known: Spanish logo displays a sunny beach with a palm tree, Greek a big wave and a setting sun, Bulgarian a rose (evidently alluding to its agriculture), and Australian a kangaroo. Most of the logos boast a bright disk, alluding to the sun—the source of fun in any vacation.


Red Cross Logos

The Red Cross globally recognized emblem provides that logos can transcend money and serve as powerful symbols of rescue and help in times of need. There are several variations besides the Red Cross: the “Red Crescent” that substitutes the cross in Muslim countries, the “Red Lion and Sun” of the Iranian branch (no longer in use but still recognized in Geneva) and the Israeli “Red Star of David”. All empty similar aesthetics of pure white background on which the respective symbol appears in bright red.

Shoe Logos

Nike was the goddess of victory, usually sculpted of portrayed with large wings attached to her back; one of such wings served as a model for the famous logo. The logo itself—conceived as early as 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, a design student at Portland Stat University who was paid 35 US dollars for the gig—epitomizes the lightness and ease of motion that the company’s shoes supposedly provided. Although the symbol carries the official name of “Nike Corporate Logo”, many people call it simply “the Swoosh”—an onomatopoeic replication of sound of anything that passes very quickly through air.

Adidas (an acronym for Adolf Dassler, the man who started the company as a family business and designed the pair in his mother’s kitchen) took a different design approach to their logo. The three stripes and the trefoil represent versatility and stability. Moreover, the trefoil symbolizes the three continental plates, while the stripes link them as a unifying element. The latest design of bars depicts a mountain, suggesting a challenge athletes would overcome while wearing Adidas shoes.

A quick comparison reveals that Nike rely on the element of air, while Adidas on that of earth. The former could be associated with the individual success of a sole genius while the latter with a wider cooperation based on family values. Today, the competition between the shoe companies Nike and Adidas may be rightfully considered as one of the most high profile rivalries in recent commercial and advertising history. Both companies strive to accentuate their products and message differences, conveying them in a set of conceptions encapsulated by companies’ logos.

Logos permeate and influence our lives. We wear logos, we are being attended by logos, we drive them, we live in them and we rest in them. There is nothing a logo cannot encompass—no concept or idea is too big. We often ignore logos as bothersome pictures, forgetting that some of the most creative artists have tiled on their design and some of the wealthiest enterprises owe their rise to the succinct icons. As long as people have eyes to see and brains to process visual information logos are here to stay.

>Written by d/visible contributor Elijah Shifrin.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Business, Branding, Advertising, Art & Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.