If you’re interested in logo designs, check out Forbes Magazine’s list of the 100 most valuable brand names. The list includes the logos and the industry categories for all 100 brands. Here’s some of what you can find.
Squares
Around 15% of the logos are simple squares. There are 6 single colored squares with the company name written straight across, and halfway down the square. A few more logos are a slight variation to that theme, a single colored square with the company name within, but using a different orientation than across the center. Six out of the 13 financial industry logos are squares.
Circles
Chevrolet has the only logo with any sharp corners from out of 13 in the automotive industry. Two of the 13 logos are the company name by itself. Otherwise, when it comes to automotive industry logos, and it’s probably been said before, expect curves.
Animals
If you include human forms, there are 11 logos with animal elements. These appear scattered throughout the brands with no obvious industry bias. With 5 logos, horses are clearly the favored species. None of the top 40 brand’s logos contain images of animals.
Brand Names
While it is easy to recognize a significant number of the logos on the list, it’s not nearly as easy to associate them with the correct company when you cover, remove, or scramble the name. Even from among the 100 most valuable brands, in most cases only the name guarantees company recognition. This fact doubtless contributes to the heavy focus on names which is present in most of the logo designs. About a third of all the logos are the brand name and/or initials alone. Six out of the 13 financial industry logos are the company name alone, or the name with a few minor embellishments.
Ninety-four of the brands include the company name or initials somewhere in the logo. The six logos on this list that appear without the company name belong to Apple, Audi, McDonald’s, Nike, Starbucks, and Shell. Doubtless logo versions including the company name exist for them too. However, at least a couple of these 6 companies actively strive for brand association through a graphic design image that doesn’t have the brand name appearing anywhere. Apple and Shell have a clear advantage in brand name to logo association for obvious reasons and maybe that’s the trick. To guarantee that people will associate a brand with a logo that doesn’t include the name, just name the brand after an easily identifiable object.