Last updated on February 9th, 2019
When the Olympic authorities released the logo for London Olympic 2012, expert logo designers from across the world heavily criticized it. Why? Because the logo did not represent the moto of Olympics and was merely an example of a logo having style but no substance. At the first glace itself, the logo seemed nothing more than the numerical ‘2012’ designed in a hyperbolic arrangement. There were four big irregular numerical shapes, which were broken to give them style, a touch of modernity. The logo measurably failed to send any message to the athletes, spectators and the general public.
You can site many such logo designs that are embellished heavily with fancy design elements but do not help businesses to achieve their goals. These are unsuccessful logos as they do not communicate a company’s message to the target audience. Due to lack of communication, people soon forget the logos and ultimately the business also.
Importance of substance can be gauged from the fact that many global companies redesign their logos to suit their new business goals. We do not mean to say that style has nothing to do with logo design. Style has its place but it should not be overblown and business message should prevail over the design elements.
A designer should aim at creating a logo that has a purpose and not just a pretty logo. Do not forget that a logo is a visual means of achieving your business goal.
So, it is all about striking a balance between the purpose and the style. This delicate balance comes after the designer knows about the reason behind creating a logo and also the targeted audience. The style part of logo design has its significance but it should make the message memorable.
Here are some excellent examples of logos having a judicious combination of style and substance, meaning that they convey the business message in a memorable way.
A real estate agency has its logo designed in a bit fanciful way but it is also a good example of a logo successfully sending its business message to the targeted customers. The logo is in the shape of the earth but its shape is fully covered with fancy sketches of skyscrapers. The cluster of skyscrapers signifies a metropolis and conveys the realty business of the company. The style is in the form of colored buildings which gives the logo its dynamism.
Another example of the style meeting in logo design is a logo of Wiesinger music, which is a creative music offering company providing piano service. The company logo has letters ‘w’ and ‘M’, initials of the company name, designed in piano key, which clearly tells the viewers about the field of business of the company. The logo explains the business, nature and name of the company. The letters are designed using negative space.
Have a relook at your company logo. If it has fancy look that does not match with the purpose of your business or the logo does not carry the accurate message to your targeted audience, then you should redesign it with a perfect combination of business message and aesthetics.
