The 5 Types of Logos for Your Blog & Business

The idea behind having more than just one logo type/variation is that in some cases, your main logo might not fit well or be too long. For example, submarks or alternative logos usually works better for social media profile images than the primary logo. Symbols or initials might work better for a blog post or social media graphics than the main logo. We’ll talk more about it in a different post.

I’ll use my main logo, submark, as well as the logos I did for my clients and that you can purchase in my shop as examples, so you can get an idea of how each logo types looks like.

THE 5 TYPES OF LOGOS FOR YOUR BLOG & BUSINESS

1. WORDMARK – text-based logo, logotypes

Wordmark is the most “obvious” and the most popular type of the logo. They are text-based and they simply typed out your business name using a font you’ve chosen (or hand-drawn).

In a lot of cases, some of the letters from the fonts are changed or designers add extra graphic elements to the wordmark, for example changing the dot above the “I” to the heart, so the logo is unique.

Personally, Wordmark is my favourite type of logo. Its form is simple and sleek, but other elements like colours can drastically add personality and feel into the text-based logo.

Wordmarks are perfect for new businesses because they help memorize the business name. Large companies usually started out with Wordmark logo, but they simplified it into initials or symbol over time. In some cases, their colour palette or other brand elements like packaging becomes more memorable than the logo itself, for example, Coca-Cola, you probably recognize “their red” along with the cans and bottles they use, more than their logo by now.

Examples of Wordmarks:

2. COMBINATION MARK – text (business name) + illustration/symbol/initials

Combination Mark logo is similar to Wordmark, but it includes other elements like illustrations, symbols, initials, shapes and they are usually placed above/below or beside the business name.

This is also a very common type of logo and again, lots of businesses, take apart their Combination Mark logos (like for example McDonald’s, you probably recognize their M more than their full logo) and use them separately, or even their symbol/initials become more popular over time.

The alternative use of Combination Mark is separately using Wordmark logo along with Symbol on your website or on the graphics. For example, I don’t use the mint leaf illustration as part of my main logo (which you can see in my website header), because as I said, the logo should be simple. But, I use the mint leaf illustration on my blog post graphics, so some of you might recognize me from my symbol logo (submark) than from my main logo.

That’s one of the most important reasons why branding is more than just a logo and why you need more than one logo variation, but I’ll get to it by the end of this post.

Examples of Combination Marks:

 

Busy Veggie Family – Combination Mark Oh My Foodie – Combination Mark

3. LETTERMARK – business name initials

Lettermark is a shorter version of the Wordmark because it contains just the business name initials (so in my case MS). The Lettermark is great for companies with a long or hard to pronounce a business name. Generally, Lettermark is often used as an alternative logo or submark for the brand.

If you’re an online-based creative entrepreneur who is just starting out and if you’d like to have Lettermark as your main logo, consider adding a small text below the initials explaining what they mean, so your audience can remember your business name. You can remove the text later on.

Examples of Lettermarks:

4. SYMBOL OR ICON – graphic representation of business

Symbol or Icon is a representation of a business, some of them are more literal (for example camera symbol for the photographer) or some are more abstract like Nike swoosh. Some call the Symbol or Icon a Brandmark, so when you see it, you can instantly say the name of the company, without seeing the business name (like in WordMark or Combination Mark).

Again, Symbols and Icons are great for submark logos, to use them on brand collaterals like business cards or blog post graphics. They are often used by international companies, so you can recognize their symbol without knowing how to pronounce the business name in a different language.

Examples of Symbols or Icons:

5. EMBLEM – text inside of a symbol

The emblem is somehow similar to the Combination Mark because it includes symbols or shapes, but this time they text (business name) is inside of the shape or symbol.

Emblems tend to resemble a badge, so they are often used by universities, politicians, sports teams and so on. They are the least used types of logos because they are hard to scale (especially if there are lots of details) and to take apart (opposite to Combination Mark) as separate elements.

Examples of Emblems:

MY TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE TYPE OF LOGO FOR YOUR BLOG & BUSINESS:

• If you’re just starting out, use Wordmark or Combination Mark
• Think of the places where you’ll going to use your logo: if it’s just online/web or print if you’ll place your logo on big banners or not
• Think whether you’re going to use your logo in black and white (for example as a watermark) because some illustrations might not work well in black and white
• Hire designer (or when you DIY) who creates full BRANDING not single LOGO, so you’ll get different variations (main logo, alternative logos, submarks) of your logo and you can decide in which cases, use which type of logo or even use the alternative logo or submark (shorter version of the logo) as your main logo, once you get more recognition online/offline.
• Play around with colour. You won’t believe how much colour can benefit and transform a simple, text-based logo

By the way, if you’re looking for brand & website designer to create your logo, brand identity, brand collaterals and WordPress website design, check out my brand & website design packages by clicking the image below.

Which type of logo did you choose for your blog & business and why?