What's the difference between a logo and a brand identity?

A logo is one mark within the identity. Brand identity is the whole system that the logo sits inside.

Should a logo tell the whole brand story on its own?

No. Expecting a mark to explain everything usually makes it cluttered. The story is the job of the wider identity and narrative, not the logo alone.

How do you know if a logo will age well?

Test it against trends the brand doesn't want to be tied to. A mark built on a genuine idea tends to outlast one built on a current stylistic trend.

Does every brand need a symbol, or is a wordmark enough?

Plenty of strong brands run on a wordmark alone. A symbol earns its place when it can do something a wordmark genuinely can't.

How often should a logo be redesigned?

Less often than most brands assume. A refinement of an existing mark usually serves recognition better than a full redesign, unless the brand's meaning has genuinely changed.

Branding Handbook

Visual Identity

Logo

A logo is the smallest, most repeated piece of a brand's identity, designed to carry recognition on its own without any other context.

What is a logo?

A logo is the signature mark, wordmark, or symbol that heads up a brand.

Considered the hardest-working element of any brand identity, a logo should not only stand alone as an expressive brand asset, but support design systems from the smallest pixels to the biggest billboard.

More than a simple identifier, a well-designed logo has significant strategic and commercial purpose. In a single second, it has the power to establish a brand's market position, personality, and values.

What makes a successful logo?

Simplicity

The best logos express a powerful idea in the simplest way, allowing them to be recognised and recalled by as many people as possible.

Distinctiveness

A logo that feels like a one-of-one not only feels more memorable, but helps a brand separate itself from its competitors.

Accessibility

Legibility, contrast, and digital-friendliness are just a few of the stress tests that a logo should go through before making it out into the world.

Versatility

A good logo should be able to hold its impact as it flexes and scales to every kind of size or context.

Longevity

Above all else, a logo should be able to outlive trends. The longer a logo exists without needing to be refreshed, the greater the brand recognition.

How a logo works in practice: Chester Zoo

At the cutting-edge of conservation, Chester Zoo needed a new brand to champion their nature-positive efforts.

But in order to make them a real 'Force for Nature,' every part of their identity needed to have purpose, honouring decades of conservation work while driving positive momentum today, starting with their logo.

Conservation

Place-making

Charity

Chester Zoo

At the heart of their new logo is a custom 'C' with a hidden counter form inspired by a rhinoceros' horn, referencing the Zoo's history of supporting critically endangered Eastern Black Rhinos that dates back to 1999 and helped to breed a rare calf.

This, paired with a wordmark using a custom typeface that mimics the curls of tails, leaves and claws, makes for a logo that embodies Chester Zoo's purpose from a favicon to the front gate.

Outcome: An award-winning mark that makes place and purpose one and the same, heading up a rebrand that helped the zoo attract more than 1,947,544 visitors in a single year.

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Related work

Decades of conservation rendered in a single 'C'

A hidden counter form inspired by a rhinoceros' horn leads the charge for this 'Force for Nature'.

Result: A distinctive asset that, combined with a new brand identity, positions the zoo as more than a great day out.

A wordmark to eclipse every other ice cream brand

With its pillowy form and night mode aesthetic, Snooz's logo makes its point of difference clear: this is the sweet to help you sleep.

Result: A mark that differentiates the brand behind it with one single look.

Design Tech

B2C

Ideogram

A mark of distinction that leads by example

If Ideogram was to uphold design standards rather than sloppify them, it needed to start with its own logo, which references Rorschach tests with its subtle negative 'I' form.

Result: A confident reminder that taste will always have a place in the creative process.