As a person who works in graphics design periodically I am amazed as I see logos in places that don’t communicate a good image. For example there is a broadband provider that has an employee in our apartment complex. This person drives a company van that has a really bad logo on the side. The logo for the company is a mesh between the ying-yang symbol (or yin-yang or yin-yang or the may ways I found it spelled on the web) and the head of a rhino. Yes, a beast not known for intelligence or anything overly amazing (other than a cool horn setup that must have made Louis Armstrong moderately jealous) is blended in with a symbol for balance between good an evil. While I’ve seen the good and evil of broadband I would in no way consider it representative of a balance of good and evil. I also don’t see rhinos as a great symbol of broadband… maybe I can be enlightened about how this symbolism works.

Furthermore how do rhinos and the balance between good and evil complement one another. I don’t think of rhinos as good or evil, more like a neutral party on the battlefield that when antagonized will probably rip you a new whole in the seat of your pants. And as far as the ying-yang goes I’d like to see good outweigh evil hands down. In fact, as a Christian I believe that good (God) will banish evil in the end. However, my theology aside, this logo doesn’t work for the product. It doesn’t say ‘technology’ it says ‘Eastern philosopy meats slow horny herbivores.’

Before I make fun of others let me defend my own logo’s design (just in case some of you are thinking, “Dude, you’re a hypocrate,” or, “I don’t say, ‘dude.'”) because it too is not particularly technology oriented. However, it does convey the Rocky mountain range (which I live in) and it does convery a pinnacle, which I live in, too. It also shows a peak which conveys quality in workmanship and design.

Logos should convey something or have some symbolism that shows continuity. Larger corporations are able to do market surveys on logos making sure that customers and clients understand the logo, but if you can’t afford survey work consider at least presenting the logo to as wide a group as possible that you come into contact with. Don’t ask, “Does this look good?” as the first question because looking good and being appropriate for your business are not the same thing. In fact the first question I would ask is, “What does this image make you think of?” If the words that the image brings are not words you want associated with your business then you’ll want to consider another logo. Also consider color which can mean different things in different cultures.

Lastly, consider other corporate logos that are not what you’d think of for logos:

• IBM
• Microsoft
• Amazon.com
• Dell

These logos are brands people recognize without a lot of extra swooshing, ‘globing’ or otherwise trendy emblems. Look at the modification of the simple text as a major part of the brand look. IBM is just text with lines through it (or text made from lines, depending on how you look at it). Microsoft, other than having a little corner out of the text is just text. Amazon’s simple ‘smile’ that is attached to the name really signifies what they’re after: customer satisfaction. Dell’s tilted ‘E’ in no way reduces readability but presents a different letter making the logo stick in your brain just a little better than ‘DELL’ would.