Advice on Your Current Project

I've been at this teaching design thing for around 30 years. I've been studying design for almost 40 years, and during that time, I've seen some really great logos and some really awful ones. Not to boast, but I've designed some logos, that if not great, are pretty good. And, I've designed logos that could easily fall into the awful category. Out in the wild, it's easy to spot both kinds, you just have to look.

However, what's awful to some, may be great to others and vice versa. When we talk about design, we often get back to taste, and taste is very subjective. But, even given that the aesthetics of logo design can be individualistic, there are logos that come to mind that almost everyone agrees are great design. You might not say they're pretty, but they're pretty great. What makes them great?

One great logo that comes to mind is the FedEx logo. The "hidden" arrow between the E and the x in Helvetica, was a stroke (pun intended) of genius. Lindon Leader designed this logo, which Rolling Stone Magazine has ranked as the eighth best logo of the past 35 years.

Another logo designer of note was Paul Rand, who designed logos for ABC Television,  IBM, Next Computers, and others that you will undoubtedly recognize.

Then there's the logo that is arguably one of the most famous and one of the most parodied and copied logos ever. This the logo created by Milton Glaser for the I love New York campaign.

One of my favorite designers is Herb Lubalin, who is noted more for his type designs than for logos. But, he was no slouch at logo design, as these show:

Saul Bass not only designed logos that became famous and are still in use, but designed the posters for several Alfred Hitchcock movies, including Psycho. According to legend, Bass was art director on the film Psycho and directed the famous shower scene. Here's some of his legendary work:

Note how many of the logos above, although designed, in some cases, decades ago, are still in use. So, one characteristic of a great logo is that they stand the test of time.

Another characteristic comes to mind when looking at what many of these logos share and that's simplicity. Look at the AT&T, United Airlines, and United Way logos above: they're all simple in concept, but still befit the organization that they represent.

A web site I discovered while researching logos and their designers for this post is LogoDesignLove, which I strongly encourage visiting and bookmarking. I invite you, especially, to check out this article on negative space in logos. Good stuff, great examples.

This is a pretty good (and short) article on the anatomy of logos--more helpful information.

Dr. P