An assessment of the visual appropriateness of selected brand logos

Abstract

Keywords: Logo; simplicity; memorability; versatility; distinctness; appropriateness.

Introduction

Logos are mainly vector graphics that forms an integral part of the visual communication strategies developed for individuals, groups and businesses. Logos are simplest form of brand identity usually represented by a mark or icon. Businesses are identified and differentiated by their visual identities. Logo is the single graphic design application that appears in all the brand design application (Landa, 2010). The competitiveness amongst businesses for public attention and patronage necessitates the need for a strong dynamic visual representation. Logos function as signifiers, denotative, point of contact and identifiers. Historically, logos emanated from the need to create recognizable patterns for identification. Animals were marked with unique symbols so that the owner could lay claims to them when the need arises. The practice involved heating a branding iron that was fashioned into a symbol, letter or name, in a fire, which would then be pressed against the hide of an animal, burning the hair and skin and leaving a permanent scar on the body (Regan, 2007). Also, the social revolution led to the establishment of forgery, counterfeiting, and fraud laws in 1905 for civil protection against use of logo trademarks without authorization within the United Kingdom (West, 1978). Logos communicate a sense of assurance and project organizations positively to the public. Logo positioning improve brand recognition and leverages an all-inclusive brand equity. The consistent utilization of logo across brand’s communicative channels for a good period of time elicits high recall of the brand by the public. Brand value is gained when visual identity arouses public memories and communicates a perception of excellence. Therefore, logo is a sign of promise and fulfilment to the audience. It represents and embodies the entirety of a brand, group or individual it signifies. Logos are often used exclusively in outdoor advertisements due to space and time constrains. Logos can be wordmark which are wholly typographic constituting the nomenclature of the brand; or, symbolic. Symbolic logos combine pictorials with typography depending on the concept. The different categories of symbolic logos are highlighted as follows: i. Letterform: These logos are developed using the initials of the company ii. Symbol: symbolic logos are either pictorial or abstract. iii. Non-objective Logos: These logos are outrightly invented and not visually influenced persons, place or object iv. Character icon: Character icon showcases the personality of a brand, cause, or group v. Emblem: a combination of words and images that are always seen together, never separated (Landa, 2010). The components of logo refer to the graphic elements that constitute the content of logos and the style of presentation. Graphic contents are defined by colours and the idea being conveyed by the concept. Integration of colours in logo creates visual balance. The colour composition can be monochrome, two, three or four colours. Aslam (2006),

Perfection and balance Stability and power Duration, Progress Continue searching Harmony, urge towards Advancement, detaching Perfection, finality

emphasizes the importance of colour in corporate and marketing communication as follows: Color is the medium of communication and is an integral element of corporate communications, it induces emotion and moods, impacts on consumers’ perceptions, behavior and differentiate organizations from competitors. However, the core values of individuals, businesses or groups drives the development of an effective logo. The design processes are guided by insight and intuition, information gathered and interpreted to align with the core values of the group or business. Aesthetic value and visual quality are essential in stimulating an enabling high recognition of the logo. Also, simplicity of style in logo design facilitate seamless and faster mental processing of the logo contents. According to Clark’s study, people remember simple figures more easily than complex ones (Lawless, 1978). Geometric shapes are often utilized as the building blocks of logos. Shapes are the expression of the concept rationale imbued in the brand image. These shapes have suggestive meanings that corresponds with the spelt-out core values of brands. Adir, Adir and Pascul (2012) highlight the suggestive visual meanings of selected shapes as shown in the Table 1: This study reviewed the previous survey studies relating to logo use and consumer perception of logos and hypothesis was generated. The research methodology adopted is quantitative, and the data collected from the field was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results were discussed. Hence, conclusion recommendation and areas of further research were highlighted.

Literature Review

The rising need of identity design by individuals, group and companies has attracted the interest of scholars and researchers in exploring the consumer’s perception of logos. Researches focused on understanding the appropriateness of logo contents. Prior studies have shown that the presentation of the graphical contents influences consumers perception of the brand. Janiszewski and Meyvis (2001), investigated the effects of brand logo on processing fluency and judgement. Janiszewski and Meyvis (2001) posited

Table 2. Mean values of brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020); SD: Standard deviation.

that expressive stimulus in logos expectedly improve conceptual fluency existing and creating a meaning-based representation of stimulus to facilitate easy encoding. Luffarellin, Stamatogiannakis and Yang (2018) explored the visual asymmetry effect of logo design and brand personality on brand equity, the researchers posited that asymmetric logos improve consumers’ evaluations of brands with stimulating personality and positively influence the market’s financial valuation of the brands. The descriptiveness of logos has been emphasized by many researchers studying the pictorial contents of logos. Mahmood, Luffarellin, Mukesh, (2019) noted that descriptive logos positively influence brand evaluations, purchase intentions and brand performance. Bayunitri and Putri (2016) espoused that pictorial contents of logos indicative of brands business are more effective. Mahajan (2014) revealed that complex descriptiveness of logo pictorials makes it appealing to customers. Pimentel (1996), showed colored pictorials in geometric patterns to respondents whom were asked to evaluate the content and visual quality. The outcome showed that the respondents placed stronger emphasis on content. From the foregoing discussions on literature review, inference and research structure, this study developed a null hypothesis stating that descriptive logos are more appropriate than simple non descriptive

brand logos. Based on the position of previous researches in this area, Apparently, the results of previous researches enunciated in this study revealed that descriptive and expressive brand logos are more favoured by the public. These researches were mostly done by marketing professionals with minimal inputs from graphic designers. Evidence have shown that expressive logos are often not scalable, flexible and timeless (Cass, 2017: Haviv, 2019). Landa (2010) posited that the characteristics of a good logo are memorability, versatility, timeless, coherence, simplicity and flexibility. Criterial for Visual Appropriateness of Logos The criterial for measuring the visual appropriateness of logo are anchored on five characteristics. These characteristics are significant in the conceptualization and development of brand logos that are considered to be efficient and effective in communicating brand personalities and potentials. Haviv (2019), asserted that a good logo communicate a feeling of appropriateness which is a function of simplicity, memorability, distinctiveness, and versatility. These four criteria are discussed as follows: a. Simplicity Simplicity of logos makes it easily recognizable and versatile. Simple logos instantly catches the attention of the intended audience at a glance. According to the Portu-

Table 3. Mean values of brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020); SD: Standard deviation.

guese lexical online dictionary (http://www.lexi‐co.pt/ simplicidade/), simplicity is a feminine substantive that may signify three qualities; quality of what is easy to understand or do, luxury absence: to live with simplicity; natural, spontaneity: to speak with simplicity. Simplicity enhances brand visibility and clarity amongst competing brands. Ray (2019) noted that simple logo design clearly communicates to the potential customers and nudge them towards embracing the brand b. Memorability Memorable logos oscillate between the thin line of familiarity and uniqueness, the image is simple to be easily recalled and unusually persist in the minds of the viewers (Stewart Design, 2020). Branded in Memory (2020) revealed that most participants struggled to recall exactly via their drawings the logos of globally renowned brands such as Apple, Addidas and Domino Pizza. Memorable logos have simple and unique visuals which strategically convey brands message. c. Distinctiveness Distinctive features in logo design implies strong visual content, that are differentiable and edgy. Distinct cannot be confused with other brand trademarks-; visual concepts of distinct logos are original and identifiable. The quality of visuals in distinctive logos are engaging and bold.

d. Versatility Versatile logos are scalable and easily reproducible on all communicative platforms. Scalability of logos implies that the visual element maintains proportion when resized. Logos are reproduced on different media platforms being the seal of brand communication. Versatile logos are designed to be reversible on light or dark backgrounds.

Methodology

The research design for this study is quantitative. Thirty logo identities of businesses in the Telecommunication, Information Technology, Food/Beverage and Fashion were purposively selected based on the notability of the brands in the Nigerian market. The selected logos were subjected to the analysis of eighty respondents (80) constituting of thirty (30) formally trained graphic designers and ten (10) practicing printers based in Somolu and Mushin area of Lagos Metropolis and forty 40 consumers resident in Lagos that are familiar with the selected brands were also sampled. Lagos is the economic capital of Nigeria and reputed for being the advertising and printing hub in Nigeria. Selected logos were further categorized into renowned brands and small-scale brands based on their market reach within and outside Nigeria. The determination of appropriateness of the selected logos was measured using the

Table 4. Mean values of small scale brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

criteria of appropriateness as articulated by Haviv (2019). These criteria are simplicity, memorability, distinctness and versatility. Therefore, the average mean of the criteria indicates the appropriateness of the logos. The statistical analysis of this study utilized five (5) point Likert scale formats Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and Strongly Disagree to collect data from the study population. The data collected were analyzed using mean. The nominal scores and records were attained using Likert scale model: Strongly Agree =5, Agree=4, Undecided=3, Disagree=2, and, Strongly Disagree=1. These were calculated as 5+4+3+2+1 =15/5 =3 (Likert Scale Criterion). The score of each item was summed and the arithmetic mean calculated for each item. The mean is compared with the Likert Scale criterion above (Angyol, 2015). If mean is equal to or above (greater than) the Likert criterion (3.0) then the item is accepted and if the mean is lower than the Likert Scale criterion of (3.0) then the item is rejected. The mean scores and standard deviation values were calculated using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS). Therefore, the average mean score of (3.0) indicate appropriateness of each of the logos. One null hypothesis was formulated and tested in the study. The hypothesis was tested using the pair sampled t-test to test the significant difference between two independent variables. All hypothesis formulated were tested using α (0.05) level of significance.

Results

The results of the survey are presented in the Tables 2–9: Simplicity Some of the brand logos resonate simplicity while others do not. However, it was observed that logos of some small-scale brands looks complex (Fig. 1). The common misconception about logo is that it should be a medium of showcasing the form of business rather than being a simple business identifier. Memorability The Logos of sampled renowned brands are more memorable than the small-scale brands as shown in Figure 2. Distinct The quality of visuals in distinctive logos are engaging and bold. Figure 3 show that most of the renowned brand logo are distinctive in comparison to small-scale brand logos. Versatility Versatility of logos is referred to the scalability and reproducibility properties of logos. Simple logos are scalable and reproducible. The renowned logos are mostly versatile as shown in Figure 4.

Table 5. Mean values of brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Table 6. Mean values of brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020); SD: Standard deviation.

Table 7. Mean values of B logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020); SD: Standard deviation.

Table 8. Mean values of brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020); SD: Standard deviation.

Table 9. Mean values of renowned brand logos Brand logos Criteria Mean Simple

Figure 1. Simplicity in logo [Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020)].

Figure 2. Memorability in logo [Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020)].

Appropriateness The average mean value of (3.0) and above is an indication of appropriateness of a logo while (2.9) and below represent a non-appropriateness of a particular logo. Figure 5 shows that just two logos amongst the small-scale brand logo can be classified as being appropriate. While the renowned brand logos are all appropriate.

Table 10 shows that the mean and standard deviation of descriptive logos and non- descriptive/simple logos are

Discussions And Theoretical Contributions

Hypothesis One: Ho: Descriptive brand logos are more appropriate than Simple and non-descriptive brand logos

The average mean results of each of the evaluated criteria are discussed in relation to the visual appropriateness of the brand logos. The average mean values of

Figure 3. Distinctness in logo [Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020)].

Figure 4. Versatility of logo [Source: Researchers fieldwork (2020)].

Conclusion

Logos represent a significant aspect of brand strategies and campaigns. The perception of brand logos communicate a feeling of brand value to the public. Logos that are simple, distinct, memorable and versatile are considered appropriate. Appropriate logos are timeless and suitable for an medium of brand communication without being distorted or reworked. Globally renowned brands are reputed for their enduring visual identities and timeless logo. Inappropriate logos are suspectible to change which hurts the emotional connection existing between the loyal customers and the brand. Logo designers need to ensure that the visual contents of logos are created in such a way that they are reversible on light and dark backgrounds. The expressiveness and depiction in the visual contents of logos creates multiple signals and visual complexities that makes the brands less valuable. Appropriate logos are sustainaible visual flags that connects the public to the brand. Areas of Further Research Further researches need to focus on evaluating the psychological and cultural perception of colours used in logos. The psychological impact of colour are often indicative of the services offered by brands, it could also be reflective of the target demography of audience. Apparently, the logo constitutes the visual liveries of brands. Also, the perception of colours are dependent on cultural implication which varies according to the tradition and custom of different societies. Hence, the choice of colours for brand logo could also be determined by the culture of the target audience. Ethics: There are no ethical issues with the publication of this manuscript. Peer-review: Externally peer-reviewed. Conflict of Interest: The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Financial Disclosure: The author declared that this study has received no financial support.

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