We’re developing a new brand for one of our clients and are presently in the thick of logo creation.

As you might expect, this is a very exciting time for the brand: everything is still new and open for exploration, as nothing as yet except for the name and the product had been set in stone. As you could also expect, it’s also a “head-scratchy” time:  after the creation of the logo, the direction and one public aspect of the face would have been made perrmanent. Naturally, the logo can change over time, but for the immediate future, that’s it!

Apart from the need to make it THE logo, we also have another unstated criterion. Every logo design we make should have the potential to be iconic.

But what is”iconic”?  What makes one  “iconic” as opposed to just “there”? 

How does one make “iconic”? And, in fact, can one make something “iconic”?  

These are tough questions that cannot be answered by one blog post – or even by many, for that matter. We will however try to start coming up with some answers.

What makes something “iconic” anyway? It’s hard to say but we all know it when we see it.

The Apple logo is iconic. So too, the  Playboy bunny, the Marlboro font and packaging, the Coca Cola bottle  and logo, the VW Beetle and logo, the Nike swoosh, the Ray-Ban Wayfarers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The iconic are set apart from the competition by an X-factor.  That X  isn’t simply about being a better product or a better experience – as there are many competitors that could argue validly to being better.

It’s that X-factor that brings the brand something other brands can only hope for:  a devoted following along with a near-universal recognizability and desireability.

It’s what makes fanatics want to tattoo the Harley Davidson logo onto their backs and what makes Apple users, complete strangers to one another, give each other a knowing look when they see each other’s laptops in a coffee shop.

What make the iconic so appealing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One answer could be  because the iconic perfectly represent the imagery, the emotions, and even the period of the idea that the brand is about. Much like the eikons of the Eastern Orthodox Church, from which they derive their name, icons today are symbols with rich, multifaceted meaning. It is this richness which allows them to not just be appealing, but also what gives them a depth that allows for timelessness and universality.

The Coke logo and bottle call to mind and represent the happy innocence of youth and growing up whille Marlboro calls to mind the rough but independent lifestyle of the Marlboro Man. Apple calls to mind feelings of creativity and independent thought.  They bring up memories, imagery, feelings and thoughts that the brand somehow manages to own — the result of great design, great communications, and great experiences engineered by the brand through the years.  Iconic doesn’t happen overnight.

But that being said, can we – or anyone, for that matter – use a formula to create something iconic? The short answer we’d like to hear is “yes”.

But if the experience of Apple is any indicator, the answer is “no”. The quest to create the iconic can be hit or miss. For every iconic product that Apple has made, there have also been a string of duds. You remember the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad — but what about the Apple TV, the Lisa, the Pippin?

Creating the iconic then boils down to the X-factor. And if we knew what that X-factor was, we wouldn’t call it X, would we?

Until then, we’ll have to keep trying.