At Blue Daring, clients often come to us requesting a logo.  I often have clients tell me that what they want is a logo that is as recognizable as FedEx’s. That tells me that people don’t quite understand what a logo is, or for that matter, what its function is.

The FedEx logo is a simple typographic solution with a slight twist; the E and the X form an arrow, a representation of the transportation nature of their business. It’s certainly not groundbreaking.  I know from experience that most companies would not be impressed by a simple typographic solution nor the purple and orange color palette. What makes the FedEx logo so well known is that it is attached to a hugely successful global company, one where the logo receives global exposure daily.

That said, when clients say they want a logo that is as recognizable as FedEx’s, what they’re really saying is that they want the brand equity and recognition; not just a nice logo.

Paul Rand stated it well:  “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.”

A logo is only one aspect of a company’s brand. It serves to identify and set the company apart from other companies. The real goal of a logo is to convey the company’s personality and positioning by way of typography, color, image, graphic and/or icon. My job as a designer is to understand what the company does, what’s their value and determine what aesthetic they are looking for (the latter being just short of mind reading). It is all part of the process working with clients, building a strategy, and then translating it into a logo; something that visually captures the essence of the organization.  Through successfully delivering for their customers and strategically marketing to their audiences, do they actually develop the equity that they seek [when they say “FedEx”, for example].

That is what we do for our clients. We not only understand the strategy and creative force that it takes to build a logo, but further know what it takes to build a brand.