If you want to create compelling logo designs sometimes you have to think outside the box or break conventions. Now, a new study reveals a unique way to develop logos – use images that consumers can relate to even if it’s not related or have little to do with your products or services.

This is a major paradigm shift for conventional branding tells us to use symbols strongly relevant to our products or services. And this is very evident in different industries like the image of a car for automotive services, silhouette of a body for beauty, salon & spas, or the cross symbol for religious logo designs.

But what’s happening in the wine industry begs to change our perspective. It turned out that 1 in 5 table-wine brands launched in the last 3 years use animal images as part of its logo design. Central in this tactic is the so-called concept of “psychological priming”. Here’s a concrete example:

In one experiment, participants first had to do a word jumble, either searching for words related to dogs or words related to cats. They then participated in an ostensibly unrelated study and were asked to rate a series of products, including batteries and dog shampoo. Those who had done the word jumble relating to dogs rated the dog shampoo higher, on average, than those who had done the cat-related jumble.

However, this research is limited in scope so it may not be wise for startups to assume it will apply in our chosen category. Still, it is interesting to see more examples of this approach in action. Please let me know if you find one.

via huliq

Here’s another compelling reason why logo design is important in building your brand identity. A new study suggests that exposure to famous logo designs can affect our creativity or thinking processes.

Published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the experiments of professors in Duke University and University of Waterloo (Canada) concluded that “even the briefest exposure to well-known brands can cause people to behave in ways that mirror those brands’ traits.”

Several experiments comparing competing well-known brands were conducted to validate this theory. The first one involved the famous Apple and IBM logos. After testing more than 300 students, each participant was asked to identify the possible uses of bricks aside from building a wall. It turned out those who are exposed to Apple logo have provided more unusual and creative answers compared to the IBM group. Since Apple is known for its innovation and creative flair, the group simply mirrored its traits.

Another test was conducted between Disney and E! Channel and the result was the same. Disney group shown a more ”family” behavior compared to the group exposed to the gossip-laden E! Channel.

This study underscores the importance of creating memorable logo designs and more importantly putting strong emphasis on building your brand traits. In terms of implementation, one of the professors recommends that famous brands should put more emphasis on brief brand exposure and less on print or TV ads.

The role of logo design is expanding as more and more businesses compete for the attention of consumers. In essence, logo has grabbed the spotlight in the branding world. A very dramatic display of such phenomenon lies in the apparel industry.

If you don’t believe me, just look outside your window and see the different clothing logos. Do you see any pattern? Those who are old enough know that these symbols are more exposed than they were 20 or 30 years ago. In those days, most logo designs of different brands are usually hidden on the inside of the collar. It later evolved to small logos on the chest just like Ralph Lauren’s horseman logo and Lacoste’s crocodile logo. (more…)

College sports is unquestionably one of the hotbeds of colorful nicknames and uniquely designed mascots. Thanks to ESPN, we are given a chance to know the 10 of very best nicknames that many college sports fans might not readily identify.

I cannot help but wonder if there is some sort of thought process behind these names or it’s just based on pure creativity. Luckily, Smargon, a site that tracks nicknames of thousands of schools nationwide, has pointed out the similarities among these monikers:

The better nicknames illustrate one or two things about a school – something fierce that will strike fear in the hearts of opposing teams and/or something local. When you’re attending a college game, if you are or were a student there, when the athletes take the field or court it feels as if they are taking it for you. You feel as though you have a lot in common with them and you continue to have that connection for life.

Though it’s all about nicknames, you will also notice the creativity behind the mascot designs. For instance, the Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wash.) is known as Geoducks and its mascot is a giant green clam (2nd from left in the image above). Its name is actually the term for the largest burrowing clam in the world and known to be an aphrodisiac because of its phallic-looking siphon!

Disclaimer: The image used is for reference only. Hence, copyright belongs to the respective owners. If you are the owner and wish to have the image removed from this post, please send an e-mail to remove-logo@logodesignworks.com.

You might remember our post last month about how caricatures can help identify criminals better. But do you know that caricatures can also affect your brand? Seth Godin, a famous marketing guru and co-founder of blogging platform Squidoo, believes the same concept also applies to business.

The best brands are caricatures of their true selves. Yes, they must have exceptional ‘features’ (a step that’s easy to skip, but without which leads to failure) but then, over time, those features become a caricature. During the formative days of Fedex, the caricature was that their drivers would even rent a helicopter to get just one package delivered on time. It’s easy to turn Starbucks’ variety and focus on your needs into a caricature as well, “half-caf, extra hot, short macchiato, extra foam, with soy, in a ceramic mug….”

In creating caricatures, you exaggerate some prominent facial features of a person. In running a small business, you can overstress your key competencies like excellent customer service, low price or product superiority. If you’re a running a small business which is very dependent on your personal image, you might also want to include your caricature in your business card. All these efforts will help make your brand or image memorable to the heart and minds of your target market.

You may also want to check some caricature samples we created here a Logo Design Works.

Photo via andsuchandsuch