For the third and final installment in our three-part series on logo design, we’re taking a look at the simplicity of the logotype — a brand identity that contains only text.
Logotypes, like those of Facebook or Etsy, play on two important facets of design — typography and color — to the exclusion of other elements. They can be elegant and even clever, or they can fall flat. We’ll take a look at how a few examples walk that line.
Our panel of experts includes UK logo designer Graham Smith, designer and logo design blogger Jacob Cass and Raj Abhyanker, CEO of Trademarkia, a firm specializing in trademarks and logos.
Read on for their advice, and designers, please share your own experiences and opinions in the comments se ction.
How to Handle Logotypes
Smith is a fan of “strong and well executed” logotypes.
“We see them all the time in the fashion and retail stores, as well as the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. The latter [are] the bolder and vibrant online variations of type-only logo designs that work to cut above all the visual noise one finds online. The Facebook logo brings a calm yet firm aesthetic.”
Smith pointed out that at the time Facebook’s logo was being designed, the trend was toward the “Web 2.0″ look of funky fonts and lots of transparency layers. But the young company “showed that a type-only logo in just one color needn’t be dull or useless.” He says that several of his clients have looked to the Facebook logo as guide for their own branding.
Cass shares his own “very generic” rule of thumb about logotypes: “If your company has a unique name, then you...
