Common Logo Design Terminology

Familiarising yourself with key logo design terms will help you communicate your vision clearly and ensure a smoother, more confident collaboration.

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Logo Types and Key Elements:

• Device: A graphic or symbol used to represent a brand or concept, often alongside text.
• Emblem: A logo where text is embedded within a symbol or icon (e.g., badges, seals).
• Favicon: A small version of a logo used in web-browser tabs and app icons, usually a simplified form of the logomark.
• Icon: A simple, often minimalist graphic representing a brand, sometimes used independently from text.
• Logomark: The graphic or symbol part of a logo, sometimes used without text.
• Logotype: A stylised design of the brand’s name, similar to a wordmark.
• Logo Lockup: The specific arrangement of a logo’s components (such as the wordmark, logomark, and tagline) into a cohesive unit. This “locked” configuration defines how the elements are consistently used together to maintain brand integrity.
• Mascot: A character-based logo, often cartoonish, representing a brand or company (e.g., KFC’s Colonel Sanders).
• Monogram: A logo made up of stylised initials of a brand or company.
• Tagline (also known as a by-line, slogan, or motto): A brief, memorable phrase that accompanies a logo, summarising the brand’s mission or core message.
• Wordmark (Wordtype): A logo that focuses on the brand’s name, often with custom typography (e.g., Google).

Descriptive Terms in Logo Design:

• Alignment: The arrangement of elements in a design to create balance and structure.
• Balance: The distribution of visual weight in a design. A balanced logo feels stable and harmonious.
• Contrast: The difference in colour, size, or shape between elements, helping to make a logo more eye-catching and clear.
• Flat Design: A minimalist design style avoiding gradients or textures, focusing on simplicity.
• Gradient: A design element where one colour transitions into another, adding depth to a logo.
• Harmony: The coherence between elements, ensuring they work well together within the design.
• Hierarchy: The visual arrangement of elements to signify importance, often used in logos to guide the viewer’s attention.
• Kerning: Adjusting the spacing between individual letters for better visual balance.
• Negative Space: The empty space around or within logo elements, creatively used for hidden images or shapes.
• Typeface: The design and style of characters, including letters, numbers, and symbols, used in wordmarks, logos, and other text-based elements. It refers to the overall look of the characters, such as their shape, weight, and spacing. While traditionally distinct from fonts (specific sizes and weights of a typeface), “typeface” and “font” are often used interchangeably today.
• Typography: The art of arranging type, crucial for wordmarks and other text-based logos.

File Formats and Colour Models:

• AI (Adobe Illustrator): A proprietary vector format created by Adobe, used for creating and editing logos.
• Bitmap: A pixel-based image, which can lose quality when resized (e.g. .jpg, .png).
• CMYK: A colour model (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) used in printing. Each colour is shown as a percentage of the four base colours, with higher percentages creating more intense shades. The ‘K’ represents black, used to add depth and contrast. This subtractive model forms colours by reducing light reflected from the white background.
• DPI (Dots Per Inch): A measurement of resolution for print materials. Higher DPI means better print quality.
• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript): A vector file format that’s widely used in professional printing and logo design. These days, PDF is preferred more.
• Pantone colours: A standardised colour system used in printing for consistency across materials.
• PDF (Portable Document Format): A file format that retains a logo’s quality across platforms, often used for sharing with clients or printers.
• RGB: A colour model (Red, Green, Blue) used for digital screens. Each colour is represented as a percentage, with different combinations creating various hues. This additive model forms colours by combining light, with higher values resulting in brighter shades.
• Scalability: The ability of a logo to resize without losing quality (vectors are scalable, bitmaps are not).
• Spot colour: A colour model using pre-mixed inks, often used for brand colours or special effects like metallic or fluorescent inks.
• SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics): A web-friendly vector file format that retains scalability, used for logos on websites.
• Vector: A scalable graphic made up of mathematically defined paths and points, such as lines, curves, and shapes. These paths are created using coordinates and equations, allowing the graphic to maintain sharpness and quality at any size without pixelation, making it ideal for logos, illustrations, and other designs that need to be resized frequently.

Is a Logo the Same as Branding?

No, a logo is just one part of branding. A logo is a visual symbol that identifies a business, while branding is the full identity and perception of the company, including its messaging, values, and customer experience. A brand will often include:

• Colours: Reflects personality and evokes emotions.
• Typography: Conveys tone and style.
• Voice & Messaging: Shapes how the brand communicates.
• Visuals: Imagery, icons, and patterns.
• Values & Mission: Guides the brand’s purpose.
• Customer Experience: How customers interact with the brand.

These elements come together to create a cohesive brand identity.

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Now you know the lingo, let’s talk about your logo and your branding.

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