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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
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A logo system is the foundation for brand consistency, allowing for adaptability and scalability in any situation while enhancing brand awareness, loyalty, recall, and standing out in a crowded marketplace.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
A logo is a symbol or mark that visually represents a company, its products, and its services.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Many mature brands usually don’t just have one static unchanging logo, but instead are made up of a logo system.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
This is graphic framework that can shift, scale, morph for different uses or situations, allowing for flexibility of use while maintaining a cohesive, recognizable visual identity.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Oftentimes, a logo system is made up of a few different types elements or “marks”.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
1. A lettermark - think coca-cola, a logo defined by it’s unique script typeface or google with its rounded, colorful letters.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
2. A brandmark - or an icon, a drawing, or letter that stands in place of the lettermark. The McDonalds’ golden arches or Apple’s bitten apple are perfect example of a brandmark.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
A lockup - A fancy word for the combination of a brandmark and a lettermark. Target is a good example of this, they have a couple versions of their lockup that displays the target icon + the lettermark.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
There also might be variations of a lockup within a logo system, where orientation of a logo may shift from horizontal to vertical.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Or even versions that reduce in complexity as the logo scales down in size to increase legibility.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
An effective logo system is adaptable, scalable, and memorable and feels seamless to the consumer in varying situations.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Take McDonalds for example, its golden arches are so recognizable they are interchangeable with the lettermark but allow for more creative applications.
The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Another effective use of logo systems, is to create variable logo treatments to your base logo, creating infinite versions that can speak to your values as a business.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Take MTV as an example, who in the 80s gave artists & designers free reign to personalize their logo - celebrating the brands core values of individualism & creative expression.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Or Google’s doodle, which highlights important things like anniversaries, a cause, an individual through their logo overhauls on their home page.
The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
These logo systems remain recognizable despite their immense variability and signal to their audiences the things they care about most.
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The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
All in all, a well-designed logo system is the foundation for brand consistency for the long-haul, ensuring your visual identity can can stand the test of time.
The Art of Logo Systems: Crafting a Memorable Brand
Want to build out a more sophisticated logo system for your brand? We can help. Reach out to us at hello@greaterstudio.co.