What is a logo? And what is the difference between it and a regular “icon”? Many people quite often confuse these concepts. The concept of “logo” comes from Ancient Greece and means “speech” or “word”. Already in the Egyptian and Babylonian cultures, as well as the Mayan tribe, used figurative images, uniting words and images. They can be conventionally referred to the so-called “early logos”.
An icon is an image that is used to communicate through pictures that denote certain emotions, and images, but not individualized, as in logos, unique verbal images. If you look in the dictionary, the word “icon” means “picture, likeness”. In theory, a logo means “word” and an icon means “picture.” But today there are so many products, including those that use images of simple icons as logos, that the distinction between the concepts of “logo” and “icon” has become blurred.
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Many famous logos combine lines, punctuation marks, letters of different alphabets, and an image identifying the name of the company or its products. Some logos consist only of words without pictures. Thus, sometimes you get a logo-icon, in connection with what, co-modern logos could be called “curls”? But, while no one has thought of this, it is worth maintaining the design concept of a logo as a textual representation of the name, if necessary, supplemented by an identifying picture.
Already have a logo but it’s not working? Read why this is the case and how to fix it in our material retro rebranding
The logo has long been used to identify brands, in video advertising of products and services. But the roots of the advertising logo should be sought back in the second half of the 19th century. One of the first logos, among the world-famous brands, is the logo of the American (international) company Prudential Insurance, engaged in finance and real estate. This logo depicts the cliffs of Gibraltar. This logo was drawn in 1896, but it is still used by the company.
But even earlier was the General Electric logo, which was created shortly after the company was founded in 1892, and, fundamentally, has not changed to this day!
Another of the first logos is the logo with a dog (Nipper) sitting near a gramophone and listening intently to what he is saying, effectively the name of the company. The slogan “His Master’s Voice” was coined for this logo and is part of the company logo. The logo began to be used officially in 1910, and, since that time it is still used today by the RCA Corporation, which bought out the Victor Talking Machine Company, the first owner of the logo back in 1920.
But, apart from corporate logos, there have always been logos that do not belong to individual brands, but are symbols of a profession or industry. For example, it so happened that the “snake of Asclepius” (Aesculapus), coiling a bowl, which was first “seen” in drawings dating back to 800-600 BC, is now firmly established as a symbol of professional medicine. Medical professionals use this image, in its various variations, as their logo precisely because almost everyone recognizes and identifies this sign with medicine!
Many religions also use logos to represent the symbols and concepts of their faith. For example, the Star of David and the cross of Christ are symbols of two popular religious movements.
The significance of logos is so significant that, for example, children can begin to recognize some logos before they can even speak. For example, it’s rare nowadays not to recognize the McDonald’s logo! “So what?”, you may ask! And the fact that children, one of the most demanding (in terms of costs) categories of consumers! Thus, guessing with the logo, you can significantly expand the reach of the consumer audience of your products!
Digging even deeper, we can realize that logos, as such, were used already in the 13th century, as a defining symbol of a trademark or a heraldic sign of a merchant’s guild. That is, stamp marks, as well as the label, were the world’s first logos.
Today – beautiful logos and unusual slogans, guarantee easy recognizability of even the most ordinary product! Brand image of a brand or trademark can be called differently: logo, name image, icon, trademark or label…. The main thing is that successful trademarks made and make a real revolution in the advertising business and help the brand to constantly improve itself! But unsuccessful ones lead to wrong associations, ridicule and, as a result, to unwillingness to purchase even a high-quality, but branded with the shame of an unsuccessful logo brand!
You can finalize the logo, order logo design and register the developed trademark with the help of branding agency“KOLORO“! Get in touch!
