June 17, 2024
Logos without text? Our thoughts based on current trends.
Back in 2023 we submitted several client logos to Logo Lounge which is a hardcover book published every couple of years by authors Bill Gardner and Emily Potts. The hardcover book is tagged “The World’s Premier Logo Showcase”, and “features fresh and highly crafted logo designs created all over the globe, from large international graphic design companies to freelance designers” (LogoLounge 14, 2024).
The collection of logos is the 14th edition of the title and is curated by several top design experts.
In August 2023, we received a letter that one of our logos had made the cut from over 36,000 logos submitted and that it would feature in the hardcover publication in 2024. This was for the logo we designed for The Crux based in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne which was a part of a larger logo suite.
Logo Lounge also has an online resource including a searchable logo database and catalogue of some of the best logo designs from all over the world, categorised into segments such as initials, enclosures, crests, mythology, animals (where our winning logo was placed), shapes, structures, logotype and many more.
The logos within the publication are simplistic in form and often are used without type. Logos which are shown with type, generally have very short names (such as our entry for climbing business “The Crux”) and the type is usually within the logo form itself.
It’s hard to tell if the many logos within the publication would be used without any text or typeform in a real-world application. Throughout the time we have been creating logos for clients (25 years!), there is only a very small percentage where a logo has been commissioned without any text. Often, we separate an icon or element of a full logo and use that in supporting collateral which begs the question “do I really need to use type in my logo?”.
Outspoken Entourage’s logo is an abstract representation of an ‘O’ and an ‘E’. It doesn’t use supporting text in its design and our latest logo evolution created in 2023, doesn’t even have a text option available.
What we have found, is most new clients come to us through Google Search. The words “Outspoken Entourage” are generally only seen in the Google Snippet (the title and short piece of text you see in search results) and then only in the address bar of the web browser.
When our logo is used on business stationery such as business cards, the name is ascertained from its use in the website address and email address so again, this is an example of the logo being displayed without logotype.
Our social media often has the logo shown and on the opposing corner of the tile, the written name. The name, however, really is superfluous in this application as it is shown on the name of the account.
If you really think about it, in most applications where your logo is used, it usually has the business name used elsewhere on the document or digital display. We believe that with this in mind, it could be a great opportunity to have your logo created without logotype and simply use an icon or initials as the logo (think Facebook’s ‘F’, Instagram’s camera icon or Westpac’s ‘W’). If you have a logo in use which you don’t want to redesign, you could simply use an element or icon derived from the full logo that could be used by itself.
If there is an application or scenario where the name needs to be displayed (think vehicle wrap advertising or sponsorship advertising at a sporting event), we think that simply using the heading typeface contained in your branding guidelines could be sufficient.
Would you have a logo designed without text for your business? Get in touch to discuss!
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