Illustrative Logos

All illustrative logos are pictures, but they cover quite a range of meaning. Some literally illustrate a product or service. Others symbolically represent an idea or metaphor more loosely related to an organisation's mission. A third group suggests meaning or captures a spirit rather than illustrating something specific.

The more literal an illustrative logo is, the less work a potential customer needs to do to interpret it. If your client is a dentist, and you create a logo for her practice that resembles a toothbrush, her logo functions like a highway sign. It says, "This is the dentist, not the cobbler."

Sometimes, an illustration can be concrete while its meaning remains abstract. Name your moving company Mayflower Transit, and using a picture of the famous Pilgrim vessel for your graphic identity becomes the obvious choice provided you can make a connection in the minds of your potential customers between the

thing being illustrated and a meaningful aspect of your business.

Apple provides the classic example of an illustrative logo with its meaning left open for interpretation. Apple doesn't sell apples, but you wouldn't know that from its logo-a stylized image of an apple with a bite taken out of it.

The company's original logo, with its direct reference to Isaac Newton and the apple tree, was replaced in 1976.

Some logos literally illustrate the name of an organization, while others represent the product or service being

provided. Still others stand for a more abstract idea.