A logo does not a brand make.

I like *that* one.

The punch delivered by a well-designed logo can be staggering, and for a number of reasons. On a purely aesthetic level, the elements of color, proportion, design, and imagery may unite to soothe or stimulate.   These visuals imprint themselves on our brains, calling forth past experiences and memories or establishing new thoughts and associations.  Visceral emotions can become involved (due partly to those memories and associations), possibly attributed, at least in part, to scents that we assign to what we see.  Over time, a logo can begin to signify an idea or a value.  Sometimes we gravitate, sometimes we don’t.

A memorable logo may be the first step for some brands to establish themselves in a crowded market.  For that matter, a distinctive logo can attract interest for a business progressing through an uncontested or newly plowed space.  But is it enough?

You got my attention.  Now what?

Of course not.  A logo alone isn’t enough to win the coveted first spot in a Google SERP.  A logo is insufficient against an onslaught of me-too products.  A logo could win you a fancy design award, but you really can’t take that to the bank.  And what then, after the newness wears off?

So what can a logo do?  What can’t it do?

A brand can’t live by logo alone.

A pretty logo isn’t where you begin, it’s where you land. You can’t reverse-engineer from a logo and be prepared to stand strongcome what may.  You land on a logo after tedious hours of wordsmithing, of corralling disparate ideas about the business direction and countless discussions about your core product lines and service offerings.  After answering the very simple question (!) “What are we about?”  After defining what one little thing makes you different, and why that matters.

A logo personifies a brand.  That’s why a strong brand can evolve with it’s identity intact.

It is, and it isn’t.

Here are a few of my thoughts about logos.  Give me some of yours in the comments below.

A logo is:

• A visual depiction the brand essence.
• A manifestation of a brand promise.
• A cue capable of triggering positive associations or negative associations, depending on one’s personal experience with the brand.
• An enduring legacy to the principles a company maintains, and the vision it pursues.
• Reliable enough to remain trusted, fluid enough to grow over time.

A logo Isn’t:

• A promise made lightly.
• An artistic whimsy that serves boardroom vanity and little else.
• Shucked like last season’s shoes because things got a little pinched, an issue went a little too public.
• Hollow.  While I appreciate most art for art’s sake, the only place logos should be admired as an icon is here.
• Incongruous.  A pig in a dress is still a stinky mess, one most can spot from afar.  And when they do, they wonder, just why were you hiding the pig from them in the first place?  A brand can’t survive without the trust of its consumers.

When you think about all the brands that purport to be something they’re not (at least to you), what do you see when you look at their logos?  Is it a bunch of false advertising?