Avoiding the Kitchen Sink Logo

What do you want to see in a logo? A clear representation of what a business or company does or sells? Some kind of distinct identity that tells you something about the kind of business it is? It’s personality? Generally speaking, the most successful logos convey to potential customers a concise idea of what they can expect at a glance.

What that means from a designers perspective is a logo that does the most with the least. As the old saying goes, less is more, and if you can convey what you want quickly, elegantly and without an excess of extraneous details, all the better.

There are a variety of different types of logos that range from purely type based such as Google, Progressive or Sony. These logos depend almost entirely upon their typeface and colors to convey their branding. The advantage here is clarity of readability, but as a result, they often really don’t do much to convey what the companies actually do.

Then there are logos that incorporate graphic imagery to reinforce that message, such as Nike, Starbucks or Apple. In some cases, such as all three just mentioned, the abstract design elements can be seen without any type and still clearly convey the message and, more importantly, personality of the brand.

Some logos incorporate mascot imagery into their design, like the KFC’s Colonel Sanders, Wendy’s or Mr. Clean being integrated into the logo and branding. These kinds of logos more directly engage with customers on a personal level. They imply a relationship and foster one.

These can all be great ways for your brand to connect to an intense audience. All of these are valid ways to create and define your identity with a logo, but as designers or clients, we need to be reminded that when you’ve picked one of those, to commit to that. Some folks, however, want it all. A logo that incorporates multiple graphic elements, mascot characters, taglines and everything that the clients could imagine: the ‘Kitchen Sink’ design approach.

Logos like this have the distinct feeling of being designed by committee, where multiple people all had their ideas of what was needed and everything had to be kept in. As such, you end up with logos with no real clear or defined focus, like a bunch of arrows all pointing everywhere but to where you want your potential customers to look.

As designers or as clients, clarity of message should be the goal. Streamlining the design down to only what’s necessary to avoid the pitfalls of over-designed branding. As a general rule, it’s smart branding to avoid logos where the pieces and parts are all shouting for your attention.

Because when everything is shouting, nothing can be heard except for noise.

Written by Blog Contributor: Dee Fish