Everyone knows that logos are the face of your brand.
It’s the “it” factor that helps you gain recognition in advertising your brand offline or via online marketing. Designing the right logo is important in building a successful brand.
And if you’re having trouble designing one, you can get inspiration from 10 of the most iconic brand logos that perfectly demonstrate how a symbol speaks a thousand words.
Top 10 Remarkable Logos and What You Can Learn From Them
Apple
Apple’s logo experienced a massive change since the brand’s conceptualisation. From the intricate design of Newton sitting under an apple tree to a simple apple with a bite (or might we say “byte”) mark, the present design is a nod to Apple’s sleek sophistication of its products.
With its “less is more” approach, Apple’s logo remains to be not only one of the most memorable, but as well as the perfect object to mirror its brand personality.
Amazon
Given the attention to detail in its design, Amazon’s logo surely gets fascinating the more you look at it. Even though the company started as a humble bookstore, it has now evolved into an eCommerce giant.
To illustrate, the logo features an arrow that points from A to Z, essentially indicating that they can meet all their customer requirements from A to Z. Plus, the arrow itself forms a smile that corresponds to the brand’s promise of customer satisfaction and fulfilment.
McDonald’s
The world’s largest fast-food chain logo features plain, golden arches in a cursive M. Interestingly, the logo design is derived from the arches of the first McDonald’s establishment in 1952 and has been a part of the design since. Some variants of the logo feature a red background – a remnant of the past designs.
While the company has rubbished the claims, theories that suggest that the arches are made of fries are too good to pass up on!
Wendy’s
Wendy’s may be outrageously popular for their Twitter roasts, but their logo also brings a lot to the table. At the outset, Wendy’s professional business logo is pretty straightforward. It contains a portrait of the original Wendy – Melinda Lou Thomas – the daughter of its founder, Dave Thomas.
The pigtailed, red-head with her smiling freckled face evokes a sense of warmth and homeliness typically associated with the brand. Oh, and have you noticed the “MOM” stitched on Wendy’s collar?
Starbucks
Starbucks’ logo has made news like no other, earning it a suitable spot on this list. While the brand now sports a sharp, minimalistic design, its original logo in 1971 was anything but so.
Starring a provocative image of a topless two-tailed mermaid, the intricate logo was quite a head-turner in its time. It attempted to make a re-entry in the last decade until the company reverted to a more cropped version in 1992
READ: 5 Reasons to Get a Professional Logo Design
Royal Dutch Shell
During its monochromatic days, Shell’s ‘Pecten’ logo may have been forgettable – some may even call it the worst design imaginable. But come late 1940, the splash of colour added vibrancy and made it stand out. It’s believed that the use of the colour red and yellow attracted Spanish customers.
The design also deviated from the anatomically correct design of a scallop’s shell and snuck in a crown to declare itself a leader in the industry.
FedEx
Once you notice the white arrow hidden between the letters E and X in the FedEx logo, you can never unsee it. And therein lies the design ingenuity. It makes smart use of negative space for a deeper, hidden meaning, with the arrow indicating constant movement, speed, and precision.
The company has been loyal to its design since 1994, a testament to the impact and applicability of its logo. Plus, it still maintains flexibility as the changing logo colours stand for the different verticals of the logistics company.
Volkswagen
Believe it or not, but the erstwhile logo of Volkswagen was a blend of the Ginfaxi, an ancient Icelandic symbol of victory, and the Nazi swastika. After World War II, the logo underwent a massive overhaul with a cogwheel encasing V and W.
With time, it embraced its well-known color scheme of blue and white/silver, with a flat 2D look making way for the 3D design. Volkswagen recently modernised its logo to make it sleeker and more futuristic, aligning its ventures into electronic cars.
Nike
Funnily enough, Phil Knight, one of the founders of Nike, was not very impressed with the swoosh logo designed by Carolyn Davidson and stated, “I don’t love it, but I think it will grow on me.”
Ironically, the symbol became insanely popular, encouraging the company to completely ditch the brand name for just the swoosh logo paired with the classic “Just Do It” tagline. This design has remained the brand’s official professional business logo since 1995.
Rolex
Rolex is a classic example of how some things stay constant with time. Apart from the colour scheme, not a lot has changed in the Rolex logo since the 1950s. As a symbol of class and affluence, the luxury brand denotes a royal five-pointed crown face that makes its presence felt in the logo and on all of its product’s elements.
And it is not a sheer coincidence that the brand logo for Rolex is “a crown for every achievement.” Talk about consistency!
Learn from the best
Professional business logos deliver a lasting first impression. They lay the foundation of your brand’s identity and offer you a competitive edge in the market. So regardless of whether you operate a small online marketing business or a large enterprise, solidify your presence with a compelling logo!
