Typographical vs an Illustrative Logo

There are three types of logos, those type based, those graphic based and those that use a combination of both, which  most companies rely on.

Simple can go a long way -Text of Illustrated Logo

Often times when starting a new business or trying to brand a business, small business owners want extravagant logos but forget to look at the biggest companies. Coca-Cola for instance, has kept the same mark for most of their existence, with few changes made to the mark, it’s one of the arguably the most recognizable log in the world, and it’s type-based.

Iconic logo design

Whether it’s type based or not, a good logo is usually simple, recognizable and unique.  Apple is another big company, which relies on it’s iconic logo which rarely, if ever has any type associated with it, yet it is again, one of the most recognizable logos in the world. Sometimes part of a logo can be isolated to act as a stand-alone icon, but the true logo will be a combination of the type and illustration, take Mercedes-Benz as an example, you can picture the icon, but it often has the type along with it.

Text & Graphic Combination Logo

The third type of logos is both a combination of type and an illustration. More elaborate illustrations are usually reserved for different brands of big companies, think Disney, they have their Disney logo, but if you look at the Disneyland Resort logo, it includes a castle and a mountain among other things. Many smaller companies are looking for this type of logo, but it might not always be best, as you can see Disney has their main mark, then several more elaborate logos for different parts of their company.

Before you decide on the type of logo you should look into the market you’re getting involved in, you want to be unique but it would probably be ok to have a simple illustration for a technology company, rather than a complex logo.