An early morning and back up in the air heading across the water to England I was mulling over logo concepts – where they come from, what they can represent and how they do so. It’s a real challenge for any organisation, new and old, to portray how they want the world to see them – in either a typeface, an icon or a few letters.

The Shamrock

Looking around me I can see the traditional, some would say old fashioned logo of Aerlingus, the shamrock. I’m sure at the time of it’s conception it represented everything Aerlingus was striving for, an Irish national airline. You can’t get more Irish than a shamrock! However, nowadays they more likely want to portray – value for money, international destinations, online services, reliability and so on, to compete in a very busy marketplace. So the shamrock is now slowly beginning to take a back seat to the more modern simple aerlingus.com using a circle for the dot!

Stand out from the clutter

The reason I’m noticing all of this is because we’re currently looking at our own branding and logos. We know what we want the world to think and feel when they see our logo but is it working? How do you represent a learning technology business in an icon or shield? It’s a really interesting subject, as once you begin to notice and think about brands and logos you soon realise that through subtleties, colour and innovation, organisations are sublimely influencing you without you even knowing it. With thousands of companies competing against each other getting it right is so important, you have to stand out from the clutter.

Then there are the cultural influences that must be considered – is your brand going global? Are you targeting very specific markets? Colours and symbols must be carefully selected, not offending or representing the wrong emotion or image. Your logo is everywhere – on stationery, websites, products, packaging, adverts, posters, the list goes on. If a company gets it wrong clawing back the intangible damage and the tangible costs can be a long and difficult journey.

Nike, Apple, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Dell, Shell, Google, Sony – I’m guessing as you read this list without even thinking you are seeing their logos and feeling the emotion each brand provokes. Isn’t this what we all want to achieve with our own brands? It’s certainly a challenge and one that provides plenty of food for thought.