#identityworks

Distinctive. The design idea need not be unique in the world, just distinctive enough so you can “own” it in your particular marketplace.

Practical. Can be printed small, in ink or pixels; works in black on white as well as in colors; works in reverse too, white on black. (Faces, human or animal, usually flunk this last test; the eyes turn white.)

Graphic. Communicates purely in visual terms, to the right brain hemisphere; doesn’t depend on verbal, intellectual interpretation. (Example: Tenneco seriously considered and rejected a “10ECO” logo design. Clever, but it’s not a mark, it’s a pun.) If a wordmark, it can be recognized by form alone (you don’t have to “read” Coca-Cola’s logo more than once or twice).

Simple in form. Contains only one graphic idea, one gimmick, one dingbat. Thus if there’s a symbol, the accompanying name is plain and unadorned. And if it is a wordmark, one idea or device makes it special–like IBM’s stripes. (The more unique the name, the simpler the graphics can be.)

One message. In content too, great designs try to express no more than one attribute (such as stature or speed or dynamism) and support a single aspect of positioning.

In general, consider a symbol only when:

Your name is too generic, too long, doesn’t translate well globally, or is hopelessly deficient in personality.

You need an emblem on the product, as on a car hood–or a sneaker. 

You need to link subsidiaries to the parent and can’t easily use the name. (The Bell symbol served this function for the old AT&T and its operating companies.)

You have (or can afford) ample media, to teach us what the symbol means.

Choose a wordmark when:

Your name is reasonably distinctive but not (yet) a household word.

You want to associate products or subsidiaries with the parent more clearly and directly than a symbol permits.