Draw that Logo!

Logos are a critical part of a branding portfolio. Logos are graphic marks or symbols that help to market specific products and companies. They can convey tone, feeling, energy, strength, and utility. Logos are also global in scope and help with cross-language marketing around the world. No matter where one is at in the world, certain logos are instantly recognizable.

We can all identify our favorite logos even if they are not on a package or are unnamed. For example, consider the swoosh, apple, golden arches, and more. (You can probably guess these companies from just the word description – even without seeing an image.)

However, being able to recognize a logo is quite different being able to draw it from memory. In a recent study, 156 people were asked to draw some of the most iconic logos from memory. The results were not good. But, being able to draw a logo is not as important as the consumers’ ability to recognise the logos.

In another study conducted for Ad Age, 1,296 brand experts and 2,201 consumers were asked their opinion of some of today’s best-known logo. Top choices from marketers and consumers (in order) were fairly similar:

What’s your favorite logo?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss the important role of branding and logos in marketing.
2. Ask each student to write down the company name of their favorite logo (don’t tell them why yet).
3. Then, have students go to the white board and try to draw that logo. What are the results compared to the actual logos?
4. Next, show the Ad Age logo list to students. What are their opinions about the logos?
5. Finally, for a product of their choice, have teams of students design a new logo for a product.

Source:  Advertising Age. (2017, Nov. 1). You like your logo, but do your consumers?; Schonbrun, Z. (2017, Nov. 13). Logo recall is not what you think. New York Times.