Descriptive Logos are in, abstract Logos are out!
Did you know on average the modern person is exposed to around 5,000 ads per day? And if you think that’s a little unrealistic, try counting yourself how many ads/messages you see by lunch (I’ll let you count this as one). With so many brands competing for the spotlight, it’s a wonder any of them get much cut through.
Recently, three business schools ran several studies across more than a thousand subjects, analysing brand logo designs and what is most effective. Presenting the subjects with fictional logos, both descriptive and abstract in comparison, they found the descriptiveness of a logo was a key contributor to the consumers response.
It appeared the consumer responded more positively to brands that had descriptive logo design rather than abstract “non-descriptive” ones. Why? This is because more descriptive logos are easier to process and elicit stronger impressions of authenticity, which consumers value.
In one study, the researchers developed a fictional mountain gear brand and presented the participants with two logos: one descriptive and one abstract. The mountain gear’s descriptive logo featured an actual mountain illustration, whilst the abstract one was a black triangle representing the mountain. With all current design trends being considered, you’d think the more minimalist, obscure design would be more desirable, right? Wrong! It appeared the subjects preferred the companies with more literal, descriptive designs.
They also found this to be the case, when presenting more than a thousand subjects with a collection of various start-up company logos. The descriptive logos were again deemed more authentic and liked by the subjects, making them more successful in their pitch.
Although in contrast, it is interesting to note from their findings that descriptive designs were not always positively received. Particularly if the brand was familiar/already established or if the product being pitched was previously negatively perceived. For instance, the researchers put together two logos for a fictional oil brand, one had two drops of oil and the other just two circles symbolic of the oil. When the subjects were told the product was for olive oil, the descriptive version was preferred, however when the two logos were presented as palm oil the descriptive logo was received more negatively then the abstract variation, with palm oil being negatively associated.
It was also notable that if a brand was well-established or already familiar to a subject, changing its logo to fit a more descriptive design didn’t make the subject like the product any more than their original perception. Additionally, they also found brands with multiple services were more successful with abstract logo design, so they didn’t confine themselves to a single product or service.
With all results in, perhaps what we can learn here is to take on the ‘less is more’ attitude when looking at logo design, sticking to a less obscure and more specific approach. Particularly if you are a small start-up or a niche brand, keep it simple and direct so your audience can connect with your product or service first up!
Sources: Stop Ad & Fast Company
