llogo or logogram or logotype - A name, symbol, or trademark designed by a graphic designer for easy and definite recognition. Short for logogram and logotype. Sometimes called a corporate identity, a logo typically appears on a company's letterhead, packages, signage, advertisements, Web pages, etc.

Because a logo must be effective in so many settings, crossing myriad language and cultural barriers, its design must be very flexible. To increase the number of formats in which a logo will be effective, each should be designed to be seen in a range of varitions -- sizes, color schemes, textures, animations, three-dimensionally, etc.

Although contemporary styling is often desireable in a new logo, designers are wise not to let a logo's design get caught in the style of a current trend, because one quality of a good design is that it will continue to function well over a long period.

(pr. loh'go)

 

Examples:

 

a drawing of a brown and white borzoi doga black and white borzoi doga black and white borzoi dog

see thumbnail to leftBorzoi Publications is an imprint of Alfred A. Knopf, a part of Random House, which is in turn owned by Bertelsmann. There have been many versions of the Borzoi colophon since the early 20th century. Colophons are the logos of publishing companies.

 

 

see thumbnail to rightCoca Cola advertising sign, enamel on steel. See circle and icon.

 

 

see thumbnail to leftFord Motor Company, 1928.

 

a black W in a black circle

 

see thumbnail to rightPaul Rand (American, 1914-), logo for Westinghouse Corporation, 1959.

 

a triangularly twisted set of five strands

 

see thumbnail to leftFrancesco Saroglia, Wool Mark trademark, 1968.

 

 

Saul Bass & Associates (Saul Bass, American, 1920-), Bell System "bell" trademark, 1970.

 

a drawing of the Nike swoosh

 

see thumbnail to leftCarol Davidson (American, contemporary), Nike "Swoosh" symbol, 1971. The US Patent Office calls the Swoosh "the Curved Tick." The version Ms Davidson designed when she was a student is on the left. She sold the design to Nike for $35.

 

 

 

 

see thumbnail to rightAmerican golfing star Tiger Woods is paid for his endorsements of Nike products. He is typically photographed wearing a hat emblazoned with the company's logo. It is not clear whether Mr. Woods authorized this manipulation of his mouth.

 

 

see thumbnail to leftAmerican, Starbucks Coffee, 1973.


2 stylized N's side by side

 

see thumbnail to rightThe USA's National Broadcasting Company (NBC) introduced a new logo in 1976, and immediately discovered it to be almost identical to that used by the Nebraska ETV Network.


Richards, Sullivan, Brock & Associates, Dallas Zoo logo, 1983.

 

Bass & Yager, AT&T digitized globe logo, 1984.

 

Landor Associates (Walter Landor, 1913-), FedEx logo redesign, 1994.

 

Landor Associates, The Document Company Xerox trademark, 1995.

 

 

see thumbnail to rightMTV, Music Television Networks, 1981.

 

 

 

 

see thumbnail to leftArizona Alliance for Arts Education, c. 2000.

 

 

 

Also see colophon, copyright, cuneiform, dingbat, dry transfer graphics, ephemera, font, glyph, graphic design, heraldry, hieroglyphics, icon, ideogram, lettering, monogram, petroglyph, pictograph, text, and typography.

 

 

 

 

 

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