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Would a 4-year-old recognize your logo?
April 30th, 2008, Tamar Wallace
The other day, my four-year-old asked me if he could watch a movie. Because he likes to do everything himself these days, we’ve kept the VCR and VHS tapes out just for him—he can pick a movie, put it in, and take it out when it’s over, all by himself! However, on this particular day, I was in the living room with him, and asked him which movie he wanted to watch.
He went over to a shelf where a pile of tapes were stacked, outside of their brightly illustrated plastic cases, picked one up and said, “I don’t want to watch Aladdin.” He moved it to the side. Underneath was another tape, to which he said, “No. Not Bambi…” Then he went to another shelf and picked up his favorite movie, The Land Before Time.
What’s so special about this, you ask? Well, here’s the thing: My four-year-old can’t read.
Before this happened, I’d known that he could recognize the name of a movie by the pictures on the box. Sleeping Beauty has a picture of, well, Sleeping Beauty. The Lion King has a picture of Mufasa and Simba, and while I don’t think there really are 101 Dalmatians shown on the box, it’s pretty obvious what the movie is from the picture.
But on this day, the tapes were just lying there by themselves, the boxes on a different shelf altogether. It was then that I realized that he wasn’t reading the movie titles—he’d just recognized the type-only logo! And that, my friends, is what you want from your logo—instant recognition.
Your logo is a visual representation of your business/company/product, and is used to help create recognition, loyalty and good impressions among your target market. So while you don’t need a budget the size of the national deficit to get an effective logo, you certainly don’t want to skimp, either. Your logo IS the face of your business (or product or service.)
So whether your logo is type-only, or includes a symbol, image or graphic, the question is: Is your logo memorable enough to be recognized by a four-year-old your target audience? If not, you’ve got work to do.
Until next time…
Tamar WallaceTAMAR Graphics
P.S. If you find something useful in any of these posts, please leave us a comment, and let us know! This is supposed to be a Creative Conversation, after all...not a Creative lecture!
Posted in Design //
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If your target market, or a portion of that desired customer base, is four-year-olds I think designing for that specific audience is VERY important in creating a recognizable identity. Otherwise, I think it is important for designers to more seriously take into considerations the specific needs, requirements and desires of the product, service, business or organization being identified by a certain logo.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Jeff,
You bring up a good point that I obviously failed to mention in my post.
My point was more that even someone who can’t read yet was able to recognize something just by the logo. Obviously, kids movie logos are designed to be recognized by children…but he also recognizes major brands, too.
So thank you for bringing that up, and let me clarify:
So whether your logo is type-only, or includes a symbol, image or graphic, the question is: Is your logo memorable enough to be recognized by your target audience? If not, you’ve got work to do.
Thanks, Jeff!
Tamar
April 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Ahhh…much better at conveying your message!
- J.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Oh Boy. I wish I had read this before I designed my husband’s logo for his business. After reading your article it dawned on me that if the business name was removed poeple would have no idea what his business was all about.
Great tips for the future designing of logo’s though! Thanks
April 30th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hi Tamar
I always felt there were some companies out there who know how to brand and do it right. Case in point, when driving down the road, my children know McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Pepsi, John Deere, The Red Sox, Patriots, etc. None of them can read, but somewhere they understood the visual and knew that those colors, and symbols represented those companies. Interestingly, I don’t bring my children to The Red Sox, Patriots, or Burger King (I’ll admit a McDonalds run now and then. They don’t drink Pepsi, yet know the colors and logo that represent Pepsi.
What I take from this is the importance of continuous marketing. Visual, auditory, etc., are all parts, but most importantly repitition such as a nursery rhyme they can suddenly sing. Strong companies know the importance of marketing continuously. Can you imagine Disney running a one commercial for their newest and hoping that did the trick?
Great article. Obviously I can see exactly where you’re coming from.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Karen,
All is not lost! Think about Nike’s “swish” - once upon a time, it was nothing more than a swish. Now, we all associate it with Nike, shoes and “Just Do It!” Why? Because they marketed the heck out of it, and made it their own. (Granted, a billion-dollar didn’t hurt, either…)
I’m sure most of us don’t have the budget of Nike (c’mon, who does???), but as long as you’re consistent with marketing your brand, there may be a time when you can drop the business name, and still get recognition with just the image.
- Tamar
April 30th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Maryann,
Thanks for your comments! My son can tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, McDonalds and Burger King, etc., etc. It’s all about the visual recognition.
And whenever he sees a baseball with a “B” in it, a graphic of two red socks, or the letters R E D S O X in that oh-so-familiar font, he immediately knows its time to say, “GO RED SOX!”
Wow — there are a lot of images associated with the Red Sox, now that I think about it…and my son (and the rest of Red Sox Nation!) recognizes all of them. Now THAT’S good branding!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
This is an interesting topic because when it comes right down to it, our brains are hard-wired to make complex visual distinctions, and to do so VERY rapidly. It all goes back to our “hunter/gatherer” days when the ability to instantly differentiate between a gazelle and a tiger was a touch more important than the difference between Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty. ; )
But this ability for rapid recognition also explains how our brains can be easily (temporarily) fooled by “similar” appearances. Just as a child might be momentarily fooled by a woman who looks and is dressed similarly as “mommy,” we can be temporarily tricked into associating the reputation of a brand we trust (or don’t trust) with a similar logo.
This is why so many companies make knock-off products with a similar look as “real” products rather than just putting any old design on their crappy stuff. And it also justifies why it is so important for companies to have unique identities and why they should care about the originality of their logo.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Excellent point, Robert!
Not only is a memorable logo crucial, but it has to be unique, too. This is why I stress to my clients that I develop custom design solutions, and I try very hard to do my due diligence (research into industry, competition, trademarks, etc.) to ensure that it is, in fact, unique.
Thank you for mentioning this!
- Tamar
April 30th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Good article and many good comments as well. I too noticed that with my son a while back when he was going through the same thing with movies. Amazing just how important a good logo and identity are.
You mention doing your due diligence on trademarks… do you use an online source for that?
May 1st, 2008 at 9:54 am
Hi DWD,
Thanks for your comment! Kids are amazing, aren’t they?
As for checking trademarks, I typically start here. Of course, I’m not an attorney, and I always recommend that my clients get their logo, business name and tagline trademarked (how many actually do is a different story.) But this is a good place to start. Just remember, it takes time to search through it, so be sure to include that time in your project quote!
- Tamar
May 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am
A good logo transcends target markets. My 4 yr old knows the difference between a Toyota and a Chevy from the logo on the front of the car. I don’t think 4 yr olds are the target market of any car manufacturer.
The same goes with Starbucks. Sure my kids know Starbucks when we pass one on the street, but to recognize the logo on packaged goods in a grocery store where the logo is seen out of it’s usual context really says something about the logo itself.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
“A good logo transcends target markets.”
Casey, you are so right! And what an excellent point you make.
“…but to recognize the logo on packaged goods in a grocery store where the logo is seen out of it’s usual context really says something about the logo itself.” Again, a spot-on point!
Thank you so much for your comments. I’m loving hearing everyone’s input on this little ditty of a post…Honestly, Casey, I think your first sentence sums up my point beautifully! Thank you for sharing!
- Tamar
May 5th, 2008 at 11:00 pm