Logo design: lessons learned from interbrand's top 100 global brands

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to classify Interbrand's Top 100 Global brands based on their logo design. Content analysis was used as the analysis tool in this study. It is a commonly used technique in corporate branding. All data, including brand logos, were collected from Interbrand's official website. This study used longitudinal data of 20 years (2001 to 2020) by Interbrand. During this period, 177 brands appeared in the Top 100 Global Brands list. Four major logotypes were observed. First, "Shape only Logos" are logos with distinct shapes and intensely work independently without using its brand name like Audi, Mercedes, Apple, McDonald's, and Nike. Second, "Text Only Logos" are logos made of simple and clear typography with a potent color combination like Samsung, Intel, Uber, and Nokia. Third, a combination of text and image represents the brands and logos, but the text is placed outside the distinct Shape like Amazon, Microsoft, Toyota, Cisco, LG, and Puma. Fourth, also a combination of text and image used to represent the brands and logos is made up of text inside a distinct shape like BMW, SAP, GE, UPS, Ford, Volkswagen, and Kia.