Studio Brief 2 - Logo Research

As I'm producing a newer identity, mainly a logo, I thought it would be beneficial to research different logos in general. The questions I'll be discussing is if they're effect? What are their meaning behind the logo? What do their visual semiotics mean in relation tot he company? Why that certain colour choice? and other questions along these lines.

Starbucks logo - At first glance this vibrant, fresh looking icon visually appeals to the organic market. Starbucks is know for it's freshly grounded, hipster looking coffee. The green of the logo is an important aspect for the company. The colour association gives of an organic, earthy, nature lover feel. This is also the same with the mermaid symbol. All these association connect with the target audience. In today's day being vegan and hipster is very trendy. Therefore making the visual impact more appealing, in return for the customers loyalty. The icon it's self is so well know through a global audience that there is no need for any type. The colours & the symbolic mermaid are all aspects that sum up the company within an eye glance.

FedEx - Mostly recognisable for it's secret arrow among the E and X. FedEx is a postal delivery service. Design wise the logo is a simplistic and modern logo. If you want to break this company down then you're going to have to look at the colours within the logo. FedEx is a parcel deliver company so therefore want to show loyalty and trust. Blue represents trust, cool, friendly and approachable. Orange represents comfort, happiness, joy & enthusiasm. All these colour associations will make the target audience more trustworthy of FedEx to handle their products.

Puma - Puma is a sports brand, mainly selling clothes. With Puma the icon it's self is visually strong. All you have to do is look at what the Puma represents and then link it back with the brands identity and ethos. The puma as an animal is a large predator in the animal kingdom. Strong, powerful, fast and agile. Essentially all you would want from a sports brand. To see how the puma links in with a sports brand, you have to figure out what a sports brand wants to represent their brand as. People who play sports want to be fitter, faster and strong all are representative of the puma.

Ferrari - Ferrari is all about the car, being the best and the fastest within the car industry. Breaking down the logo. The stallion has been chosen by the company to represent their car business. Stallions are strong, powerful and are very dominant. Ferrari would hope that by using the stallion, the target audience would want to feel that power and dominance behind the steering wheel. The target audience for Ferrari would only be for the upper class, the wealthy, an elite group of people who can afford the car. With this in mind, the audience would want to feel that they are driving something special which not a lot of people can afford. Ralph Lauren is another great example of using a stallion/horse to represent their company.

Yellow represents, joy, happiness, arousal and muscle stimulation all of which would be significant to a car company.
Typography wise, the serif font links in with this powerful, strong persona. Serif represents all things which relate to the colour and stallion.

Pepsi - Pepsi is a global brand worth billions. They are also always competing with Coke for overall dominance. Therefore the brand has probably spent millions and million in their brand strategy to win customers over. It's extremely important and paramount for a drinks company to represent their overall product as refreshing, energetic and most importantly happiness. Personally i think Pepsi represents these aspects. The colours of blue and red all communicate freshness, approachability and inviting. All of which will keep the intended audience coming back for more.

The all caps, San-serif typeface will ensure the logo is instantly readable. The main question I've been thinking about is if Pepsi is a global brand couldn't they just use the icon without the type? However, Pepsi's logo has had many changes in the past. Also the circle symbol is a symbol which is so popular and has been overused that the public may not initially connect the two together.

It's different for companies like MacDonald's and Apple because these kinds of symbol aren't as popular or overused. They could become overused in the future but with enough brand strategy, subliminally the letter or object will end up losing it's original symbol and become something new due to the constant repetition by the different brands. As Joseph Goebbles ones put it "It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. What after all a square and a circle? They are mere words and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas in disguise"