FAQ

Q. What’s the difference between a logo and a brand?

A. logo is just the smallest (not to say least) part of a brand. A logo is the recipe. A brand is the whole meal. Plus the way the dining room smells when the meal is served. Plus the candles and the flowers on the table and the way the food looks on the plate. A brand is every perception about a company.

Q. Are there different types of logos?

Yes. Logo is a generic term for any visual identifier used by an individual or a company. It can be a mark or a distinctive way of writing the company’s name or a combination of the two.

A mark is a symbol or a picture. It can be abstract, like the SCT symbol or the arrow used by Level Up. Or it can be literal, like the cattle brand in the Amador Land and Cattle logo or the baby’s hand in Just One Year.

A logotype or wordmark is a distinctive way of writing a name. Examples are Celestial Seasonings and the products in the Jortek line of medical devices.

A monogram is a combination of letters from the company’s name. See D’AIQ Architects or the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver’s varying combinations of M, C and A.

There are other types of logos, like a mascot. Think Tony the Tiger. If you need a mascot, I’ll help you find an illustrator.

Q. Who needs branding?

Anyone who needs to be distinguishable from the competition can benefit from good branding.

Q. What’s the scope of a good brand?

A. A good brand goes beyond just your logo. A good brand extends to everything your clients and customers perceive about your business. Think of a really good brand like Starbuck’s. Everybody knows their brand. It goes way beyond the green circle with the picture of the siren. It’s the furnishings in the store. It’s the posters promoting the latest brew. It’s the music you hear, the friendly greeting of the barista, the wording on the menu board. And, of course, it’s the coffee.

Q. Why do some of your brands have varying colors?

A. Common wisdom says that every brand has to have its own color. Think Kodak yellow. But some brands are strong enough that they don’t need a consistent color. One aspect of their overall brand can be that they use different colors. MCA is an example. The logo itself changed all the time, reflecting the nature of contemporary art, and the color changed as well. Another example is Ski and Sea. For decades, Ski and Sea’s branding has been various bright colors.

Q. Why shouldn’t I just buy a $30 logo?

A. I have a friend who says you can buy a suit for $15 or for $1,500. But do you really want to show up in a $15 suit? When it comes to branding you get what you pay for. People can tell the difference between a cheap suit and a nice suit. And that extends to your branding.

You can go online and find someone who will sell you a logo for $30. But to paraphrase Logan Roy in Succession, they’re not serious designers. They’re people who have bought some logo design software. They get on the computer and type in, say, coffee shops in Denver and the software spits out a graphic of a coffee cup with mountains in the background. That it’s a cliche is the least of the problems with “design” like this. The worst of the problems is that the coffee shop down the street may have paid $30 for the same logo.

And AI generated logos generate the same kind of problem.

Q. Do you design web sites?

A. Oh, Yeah. Your web site is part of your branding and it should be done by someone who understands your brand. I talk to you (at length) about what your web site should do. And I translate what I learned into a visual experience. Then I work with talented colleagues who know how to make a web site work. You get the best of both worlds. And your brand stays consistent.