The importance of logos as corporate image

Logoes, as symbols that indicate the characteristics of things, are ubiquitous in all aspects of today’s social life, and they are inseparable from people’s lives. . With the development of my country's social economy and fierce market competition, logos have been pushed to a new stage of development. Logo is no longer just an identification symbol attached to a product. It has transcended tradition and become a carrier to express corporate philosophy and corporate culture. It has a decisive relationship with the success or failure of corporate marketing strategies and the creation of corporate and brand images. Logo is the most important means of creating corporate image. It can be said that the key to creating corporate image is to determine the symbolic logo.

Since a logo has such a great influence on the success or failure of a company, how should a company design a logo suitable for its own development?

Logo design principles

A logo is a representative symbol of an enterprise and a product. It is a graphic that expresses a certain meaning with a refined image. It is also a unique visual language generated by a super-condensed information carrier. The essence of a logo is information dissemination, which is the core of modern logo design. That is to say, when we design our own logo, we should start from information dissemination and functional needs, and make it clear what our logo represents? What should we tell consumers?

Generally speaking, a successful The logo should comply with the following four criteria:

1. Simple, easy to recognize and easy to remember

The essence of the logo is information dissemination, so a successful logo should first have good recognition Whether it is graphics or text, whether it is abstract or concrete, it should be clear at a glance and easy to remember. For example: McDonald's, which everyone is familiar with, uses M as its logo and its color is golden. It looks like two open golden double arches, symbolizing joy and delicious food. The big ?M? logo is very eye-catching and easy to remember.

2. Outstanding personality and clear connotation

The personality of a trademark, simply put, means its uniqueness. While we emphasize its identification, we must also emphasize its uniqueness and distinctiveness. This is also the requirement for trademark registration in the Trademark Law. Trademark design must be unique in conception and break through conventions. Furthermore, the symbols of graphic meanings must be clear and prominent, and can correctly convey the individual characteristics of specific goods and services.

3. Novel, unique and eye-catching

The creativity and shape of the logo should be novel, unique and original, with distinctive formal beauty and sense of the times, which can give people a sense of beauty. In recent years, there have been many trademark masterpieces that have broken through traditional constraints, boldly conceived, and are unconventional, such as Guangdong’s Jianlibao trademark, Hangzhou Wahaha Company’s Wahaha trademark, and Peking University Founder Group’s Founder trademark. etc.

4. Extensibility

A successful logo must also be extendable over time and widely used, and can be used on different occasions and media. Trademark design To have a strategic vision and consider the long-term development of the enterprise, it should be a far-sighted systematic project.

People often start to know a company from its trademark. Therefore, designing and choosing a good logo is crucial. We must abide by its due rules when designing. Some companies are eager to have their own trademarks. When registering, they will find a designer to create one. They may even find a graphic in a book that they think looks good and make a few changes before rushing to register it. It is very inappropriate to use it, because in the future we need to promote this trademark and expand its popularity, then we will need to spend a lot of money and energy. If the trademark is not designed and selected well at the beginning, it will be found that it is not suitable. When consumer tastes are not conducive to the promotion of products and services, changing the trademark will cause heavy losses to the company.

In addition to the above four criteria, we also need to consider whether the designed trademark is legal.

Our country’s trademark law and the trademark laws of other countries around the world, including the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, all have prohibition provisions on trademarks. If they are only used and registered in our country, they must comply with the provisions of our country’s trademark law. If the product is to be exported abroad, To use and register a trademark abroad, you must also comply with the provisions of foreign trademark laws.

my country's "Trademark Law" stipulates which logos cannot be used as trademarks, and companies must take them into consideration when designing their own trademarks.

Another successful trademark must also conform to the consumer psychology and habits of the target market, as well as the local social and cultural conditions, religion, and preferences and taboos. For example, Southeast Asia does not like green; Western countries do not like 13; Japanese do not like 4 and so on.

Trademarks must cater to the tastes of consumers and must not use words or graphics that are taboo to consumers. For example, owl is taboo in many places in my country. If you use the owl trademark on goods, then these goods will definitely not be sold in these taboo areas. In addition, a trademark that is suitable in our country may not be suitable in another country because the customs and habits of each country are different. Therefore, when companies choose a trademark, they must consider ethnic factors.

Formal rules in logo design

We understand the rules in logo design, so how to implement it, that is, how to design to comply with these rules? An excellent trademark The process of design cannot be separated from the laws of form. As for the formal laws of logo design, it is a general dialectical law. It requires that in the design process, the contrast between the various components of the logo should be rationally considered. Harmony, rhythm and other relationships. The general rule is change and unity, that is, seeking unity in change, seeking change in unity, and ultimately making the logo concise, clear, unified, and professional in expression of visual language.

For the formal rules in design, there are three main forms:

1. Contrast

Contrast is a kind of reverse foil, that is, through different The mutual contrast between the shapes highlights the differences between the parts of the whole, making the inherent personality of each part stronger and the image more unique. It mainly includes: shape contrast, positive and negative shape contrast, area contrast, mutation contrast and primary and secondary contrast.

2. Harmony

Harmony is a concept corresponding to contrast. In a broad sense, it refers to making the constituent elements of various shapes finally achieve a stable, complete and comfortable effect. It mainly includes: repetition, fit and balance.

3. Rhythm

The periodic changes in the length and strength of lines produce rhythm. Rhythm can not only bring a strong visual dynamic effect, but also make graphics more sporty. and a sense of organization. It mainly includes: gradient, arrangement and movement.

When we design trademarks, we often find many images of the same object. This image has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the conventional formula, so when most consumers see them, they are more likely to think of them than those images. Unfamiliar images are easier for them to understand and easier to remember. For example, the sun, eyes, hands, gestures, fire, heart shapes, etc. that everyone is familiar with can often arouse people's special interest. These symbolic images, even today with the tremendous progress of human intelligence and creativity, still have a certain visual tendency.