If we pay attention, we will see that we are literally surrounded by
brands and their logos; they are all around us, so widespread, that we
hardly notice them, and we even take their presence for granted. It is
estimated that an average American is exposed to 16,000 advertising
stimuli each day, including billboards, pictures, logos and labels. That
number might seem excessive , but if we think about it for a moment, it
isn’t surprising at all: from the moment we open our eyes in the
morning, until we go to sleep at night, how many brands have been
flashed before us? A typical day for many of us begins with switching
off the alarm on our mobile phone, with its display of various icons,
from Google and Chrome, to the brand of the phone itself and, without
realising, even before having finished our coffee, we have already seen a
dozen or two dozen brands winking at us with their imaginative logos.
We no longer notice it, but all these symbols and icons are the result
of the work of the professionals who designed them precisely to enter
our lives, and never to leave them. We turn on the coffee machine, a
logo, we grab the biscuit tin, another logo, the cereal box… and then
the carton of milk; we move on to the bathroom and yet more brands
appear, with their colourful logos. We could tell the story of our day
just by photographing the entire stream of products we use or that pass
before our eyes, each with a nice, printed logo, and each one a reminder
that behind that object, a world of references has been expertly
constructed, has been given a narrative, and condensed into a symbol.
Every day we are enveloped by new information and fresh stimuli, most of
these updates being conveyed visually, and there are so many of them,
that it is very easy for us to mix them up and confuse one brand for
another. Hence the need to differentiate: a brand has to stand out from
the crowd - today more than ever. How do you differentiate yourself?
The importance of the logo designer’s work emerges in answer to this
question; this constant challenge provides the opportunity for designers
to create iconic brand identities, which stand out from the crowd and
get noticed.
