A logo is a visual representation of a company and its products via the use of a symbol, graphic or emblem. They should be easily recognizable by the consumers and stand out from its market competitors.

An effective logo can include the visual image of the company as well as the name of the company, although if the company is well known it can be used without it’s company name, for example the Nike logo.

International companies may just use the graphic to represent their company and products to avoid the issue of translation. Coca-Cola is a company that is recognizable when written in different languages and alphabets due to the font, colour and the ribbon design.

Semiotics is also important when creating a logo and brand identity. Semiotics is the study of signs and signifiers – the study of meaning. For example, everybody knows that a red light means stop and green go, which is something that we have all learnt. It is important to think about this when creating a logo as a lot can be read into the meaning behind the logo created for a company.

Rebranding

Many companies choose to rebrand, although this can be difficult as many people come to recognize  a logo and associate it with a certain company and changing this can have an effect on the company. However, many companies and brands choose to rebrand due to a change in consumers, a change in ownership or direction, drop in stock, merging with another company or to get rid of a bad image. Many large companies have successfully rebranded for various reasons, for example Google and BP.