Branding
Why your logo doesn’t need to explain everything
The best logos are a little mysterious. Here’s why we talk clients out of cramming the whole business into one tiny mark.
A logo is a name tag, not a résumé. It has to be recognisable at a glance on a coffee cup, a van and a phone screen, which is a lot to ask of one small shape.
Yet most briefs we receive ask for a mark that shows the product, the values, the founding year and, ideally, the founder’s dog. We love dogs. Ours is called Biscuit. He is still not in our logo.
What a logo is actually for
A logo has one job: helping people spot you again. Everything else it gets credit for is borrowed from the experiences around it.
Think of the swoosh or the bitten apple. Neither explains shoes or computers. They became meaningful because millions of good moments were attached to them afterwards.
The three jobs worth keeping
Strip away the wish list and three duties remain.
Be recognised. Across a street, in a feed, at thumbnail size.
Be remembered. One idea sticks; five slide off.
Be flexible. It should survive embroidery, a rubber stamp and a favicon.
The jobs to hand to someone else
Telling your story belongs to your website. Proving your quality belongs to your product. Showing your personality belongs to your tone of voice, your photography and the way you answer the phone.
Meet the kitchen-sink logo
When a mark tries to say everything, it ends up saying nothing clearly. We call it the kitchen-sink logo, and most high streets have at least one.
How to spot one
The symptoms are easy to read: a wheat sheaf, a rolling pin, a sunrise and a banner, all squeezed into a circle the size of a 10p coin.
Kitchen-sink logo | One-idea logo |
|---|---|
Needs explaining | Needs a glance |
Falls apart when small | Works at 16 pixels |
Dates quickly | Ages gracefully |
Costs more to print | Stamps in one colour |
A quick test
Shrink yours to the size of a fingernail. If you can still tell what it is, you’re in good shape. If it turns into a smudge, something needs to go.
How Good Crumb found its one idea
Good Crumb Bakery came to us wanting loaves, wheat, an oven and a smiling baker. Instead, we spent a morning behind the counter and noticed every customer asking for the same thing: the end of the loaf, the crusty bit.
So the identity became a chunky, slightly wonky wordmark that looks hand-stamped onto a flour sack. No wheat. No oven. The bags, the aprons and one very famous tote carry the rest.
“I wanted the whole bakery in the logo. I’m so glad they talked me out of it.”
Priya Shah, founder of Good Crumb Bakery
Let the rest of the brand talk
Your logo is the handshake; the conversation happens elsewhere. Before adding another detail to the mark, ask where that detail could live instead:
Could a colour say it?
Could a line of copy say it?
Could the packaging say it?
Nine times out of ten the answer is yes, and the symbol gets to stay simple. If yours is carrying too much luggage, book a 30 minute call and we’ll help it travel lighter.
