Final Portfolio Work

Effective Professional Logos and Why They Work

There are a lot of bad logos out there for companies, with messy graphics, crowded content, and images unrelated to the business it’s promoting. But with the bad ones there’s a balance of good ones. Some logos communicate a business’s mission statement very well, and are strong in their images and just minimal enough in their content to not be distracting. If these good logos, there are five examples that can be highlighted.

Apple

This logo, like many if the others on my list, are self-explanatory. It doesn’t need the word “Apple” in the logo, because that’s exactly what it is we’re seeing. The small bite distinguishes it from a full apple, which is ordinary and forgetful. But an apple with a chunk missing has the potential to draw people in with its novelty. The logo also uses a neutral color, so it’s not overbearing or too loud in its color. Instead, it’s a professional gray color, adding to the business-like message the logo is trying to communicate.

Tostinos

First, the logo is fun and creative. It uses letters and images of people eating chips together to create a logo that is fun and festive, drawing in buyers who are going to a party and want people to enjoy the chips or dip they’ve bought. The logo also can be used for its salsa branding and not just the chips. This two-birds-one-stone concept not only saves the company money, but it makes all the products Tostino’s sells seem unified in quality and in attractiveness.

Target

Another logo that needs no words. We know exactly what the company’s called. What it communicates is clever: Whatever we need to shop for, Target is the one-stop shop for everything. We can target that store’s products, and then leave with all our necessities. You as a customer “miss the mark” if you go elsewhere. Also, the contrast in color between red and white is arresting. The red target mark draws you in, and the empty space occupied by white nothingness allows the eye room to explore the target sign undistracted by background images.

Twitter

Again, a very minimal logo, but one that communicates its name without giving it right out. Tweeting and Twitter are bird-associated words, hence why the logo is so strong. The color is a strong communicator too. It’s a shade of blue that’s attractive and easy to look at, and the color communicates that the business is a business of social interactions and is people-oriented.

Beats by Dre

The logo looks like a pair of headphones if you focus on the outer red image, an earbud if you focus more on the inner white image, and a “b” if you look at the inner white image another way. The appearance of two similar images worked seamlessly into one image gives the viewer a sense that the product being advertised is versatile while still maintaining a reliable quality product no matter which version of beats you get.

In conclusion, there are some very good logos out there. These are just a few examples. But the main takeaway for a good logo is to be simplistic, use the appropriate color, and let the logo speak for itself.

Logo Outline- Shannon Feeley

Shannon Feeley            12/6/17

Professor Pabico

COM 322

Communication Graphics

Logo Outline

I am not so much using this logo to advertise a business as I am using to advertise myself. I don’t know for sure where I would like to work in the public relations field once I graduate, and I know I don’t want to start my own public relations business, so I think for this project it would be more advantageous of me to design my own personal logo to help sell myself to any public relations business that I find myself applying to in the future.

I want to convey to audiences (potential employers and future places of employment) that my business (I’ll be advertising myself, so my name for my logo will just be Shannon C. Feeley) is all about quality work, professionalism, and creativity. Again, I really don’t have my heart set on a specific place to be employed at after graduation, I just know that I want to enter the public relations world. If I had to take a guess, I would say that I could see myself working as a PR Specialist at a local theatre, in the local government, or in a nonprofit organization. But because I’m undecided on the subject, this is a better usage of time and resources for the project for me to advertise to the general audience in need of a public relations specialist rather than cater my logo to a particular audience or viewer. The product or service that I will be advertising is my public relations skill set.

The way I want to communicate these messages in my logo is by using color and lines creatively but cleanly. For example, I want to use both a green color and a gold color, because both of those colors symbolize wealth and money, implying that I can be a valuable asset to a potential employer. Both colors, too, are vibrant colors that can, if applied correctly, be used to convey a message of upbeatness, fresh ideas, creativity, and energy. I would like to work with circles, but circles with hard, bold lines rather than soft, thin lines. Circles are more fun than squares and rectangles, and using circles might convey that I can “think outside the box” and be creative while still having those harder lines that communicate professionalism and clean, quality work.

Here are my three thumbnails:

Here's the logo I'm going to be working with: