What is an iconic logo?
An iconic logo is made up of a usually simple icon that either represents literally or through abstraction what the company does or what it stands for.
Iconic logos are the most popular type of logos. You can see iconic logos everywhere – from Fortune 500 companies to your local mom and pop stores. However, creating an iconic logo that creates brand recognition is not an easy task.
Most brands are tempted to go down either the abstract logo, elegant logo, or the iconic logo route because these types of logos make sense immediately. In most cases, it may work out. But a logo design is more than just making sense. It has to communicate the brand message (or at least a part of it) and should align with the target audience. Often illustrative logos can communicate the brand message quite clearly but they come with their own limitations.
In this post, we will look at a few examples of iconic logos we created for our clients over the years and explore the design style as well as the meaning of each logo.
Apartments Brand Identity by Spellbrand
Iconic logos with simple elements
For this Bloomington, IN based luxury apartments brand, we created a very simple and iconic logo with a few line art elements that communicate the message of the brand – bringing the beauty of outdoors living to the city through their apartments.
The logo icon depicts mountains and pine tress enclosed in a half shield. The font choice and stacked layout of the logo create a formal yet friendly identity that would look powerful on signs, marketing materials and social media.
Recommended for: brands that want to communicate complex ideas in a simple way – real estate, construction, developers, outdoors products and more.
Protein Foods Bakery Brand Identity by Spellbrand
Food design iconic logo
Taking the abstract iconic style in a different direction for this Protein Foods Bakery brand, our client based out of Las Vegas, we created a clever food based iconic logo that can be extended to incorporate other foods that they sell.
The primary logo is an icon of a donut with a power symbol in the center. The client also sells cookies, shakes and more and different icons can be extended from the primary icon to show other items being sold.
Recommended for: food and logistics brands and more.
Indian Luxury Clothing Brand Logo by Spellbrand
Etherial iconic logo design elements
Although we already covered a clothing label with an iconic animal based design, this example, an Indian luxury clothing brand, a client for whom we created an etherial iconic logo and stunning braining identity is worth exploring.
Iconic logos can be etherial or whimsical which give them a magical look and feel and lift the brand perception to new heights. In this example you can see an iconic design of Pegasus the Greek mythological creature. The message is one of aspiration and reaching to the sky.
Recommended for: luxury clothing, lifestyle brands and more.
Nautical Theme Brand Identity by Spellbrand
Nautical theme iconic style
This example is of a client of ours for whom we translated their mission into a visual icon that aligns perfectly with the target audience. Neuland’s mission is to provide a apparel brand with dependable quality and to produce a classy product with timeless attributes that are universally accepted across all market segments as the standard of style
To bring the elements of timelessness, depends quality and classiness, we chose to create an icon of a sailor at the helm looking out over the sea with a telescope. The strength of the icon depicts exploration and freedom.
Recommended for: clothing lines, fashion labels, construction brands, logistics companies and more.
Entertainment logo by Spellbrand
Clever iconic design style
In this example, we look at one of our clients, Manuscript entertainment brand, for whom we created a very clever and creative iconic design for their primary logo that jumps at you right off the bat.
The icon is made up of the amalgamation of a star icon and a quill icon to bring together the message of star manuscript writers. The stunning icon coupled with a beautiful typography makes the logo stand out and create brand recognition instantly.
Recommended for: for creative brands as well as regular brands and sectors such as charities, logistics, products and services and more.
Idea Bunny logo by Spellbrand
Humorous iconic design style
Depending on the type of market segment and brand, sometimes, utilising humour in a logo or identity can work really well. In this example, we look at one of our clients, The Idea Bunny, a creative consultant brand that wanted to depict humor and wit in their logo design.
Since they had a great brand name, we created an icon of a bunny rabbit with lights bulbs in its ear to communicate the “idea” aspect. The result is a slightly humorous design that will bring a smile on anyone’s face.
Recommended for: for creative brands as well as regular brands and sectors such as consulting products and services and more.
Mobile App Development logo by Spellbrand
Simplistic iconic design style
This style can easily be confused with the abstract style or even the abstract iconic style seen above. When we say simplistic, we mean using simple shapes to depict something that can easily be understood and connected to the brand name so you get what the logo means.
In this example, we look at our clients, a mobile development app brand for whom we created a super simple iconic logo that still looks powerful, elegant and creates brand recognition. We took the name Blue Jelli and created a very simple icon of a blue jelly to create an identity that stands out.
Recommended for: for software and tech brands that have new and unusual names this style can be very effective.
As we create more and more iconic logo designs for our clients, we will update this page and add any new styles. Hope you found this post useful in terms of helping understand the different types of iconic logo styles and how they can help your brand create brand recognition.
