Logos need to be simple, versatile, appropriate and most of all memorable. Differentiating yourself from your competition is common in most markets. Supermarkets are a good example where Tesco uses blue, Sainsbury’s Orange and Asda Green. However in the financial market I was astounded how many companies use blue! So, I decided to do a bit of research and came across some amazing statistics regarding the logos of the world's top money making companies. This is based on their brand value, rather than just being my personal favourites, which would be another great blog to write about.
The Facts
- 33% of the top brand’s logos use the colour blue.
- 29% use the colour red.
- 28% use black or grayscale
- 13% use yellow or gold
- 5% use more than two colours.
- 95% of the top brand’s logos use only one or two colours.
The Popular Kids
It’s not too surprising to see that the predominant colours are red and blue. Blue is a commonly used for business in particularly finance, where it's visibility in the market rises to over 40%! Blue is supposed to make us feel calm and serene creating a sense of security trust and professionalism. Red is often associated with intensity, passion and strength and has the benefit of being one of the more eye catching colours.
Going Against the Grain
The infographic above shows the variety of top brands and their logos. Funnily enough I had never thought of Gulf, a company synonymous with oil fields and money troubles, as a friendly, confident and cheerful company. These are the three words associated with the colour orange, which shows that colour use in the logo doesn’t always reflect on the company itself. Starbucks with its green logo is matched with the words growth, peaceful and health. Growth I get, there isn’t a corner in any major town without one of their stores sat on it, but I’m yet to see somebody more healthy after drinking its calorie heavy caffeinated drinks (not to mention the blueberry cheesecake) and nobody is more peaceful after drinking coffee, Horlicks maybe, but not coffee.
Never forget that different is good and rules are there to be broken. So what are you waiting for…let’s go break some!
