At Windsor+Cain, we find logos to be the cornerstone of any brand, and we take them very seriously. However, many of our clients (and even friends!) often get confused when we start talking the specifics of a logo. Therefore, we’ve created this quick little intro to help you out.
For this tutorial, we’ll use the below logo for “AcmeWidgets.” Look for the color red to determine which part we are discussing.
The most basic form of the logo, the icon is a pictorial reference for your company. Think of the Nike “swoosh” or the Target “target.” The icon is a non-word graphic symbol meant to encapsulate your full logo and your brand identity. Often used alone, the icon should be able to (eventually) stand on its own when a solid brand is in place.
This is a rather direct part of a logo: the word. Using the name of the company/organization, we fashion the wordmark from letters in a certain font style to best represent the brand of the company. The wordmark only consists of the word itself, derived of letters. Sometimes, we create logos that only consist of a wordmark, and no icon. (Rarely is it ever the other way around.)
And there you have the pieces of a logo:
