This Is Why You Need The Science Behind Logo Design
Are you sure your logo is simple and timeless?
Do you think you can’t design a logo?
Do you think that only a select few have the power to design a logo?
Do you think that it’s the job of artists to design a logo?
Do you think there isn’t any science behind the design of a logo?
If you answered any of the questions as “Yes”, then I must tell you, my friend, “You are wrong!”
Just because I say that you are wrong, it doesn’t make me right. To settle our dispute, we need somebody, something as a shred of evidence.
“A moment of Science Please”
Yes! Science would come to our rescue. Famous astrophysicist Niel de Grasse Tyson once said — “The good thing about science is, whether you believe it or not, it is the truth”
Are the best logos really simple and timeless?
Your logo is often the first impression of your business or identity. You want everybody to recognize you with the logo and you want this logo to be distinguishable. It must communicate who you are and what you stand for. It must serve its purpose. Right?
Logo designers would often say that the logo must be simple, memorable, relevant, timeless, and flexible. But is it the truth?
Do you think this logo is simple?
Do you think this logo is timeless?
No! right? Do not get carried away by fancy words or emotions. Everything we do as designers need to have sound logic.
And please don’t scream loud — “I want to create a beautiful logo”.
Who defines what beautiful is? It might be beautiful for you but it could be ugly for another person. Do you want World War III just to convince others that your logo is beautiful?
And you aren’t designing a logo for you. Are you? This is for everybody out there. Only your customers are the best judges of your creation.
Surprise! There is something called “universally beautiful” and that is Science. Nobody says that it’s ugly.
Let’s break it down!
There is a model which we are going to talk about. It’s called the ARMM model. It’s just an acronym. (Repeat ARMM after me 😄)
A — Attention,
R — Response,
M — Memory,
M — Meaning
Attention
Humans were not put on earth today. They have been here for long and they have evolved to grab the spot of most advanced species on this blue planet. We have become so advanced that now we are planning to colonize other planets. Elon Musk isn’t crazy or is he?
We evolved not to smoke weed and go in a trance but for our survival. The way human brains evolved, it meant business. Whether you know it or not, but your brain knows what to deal with and what to ignore.
Now this beautiful brain evolved and it responds to three kinds of stimuli. You could exploit all of them to grab maximum attention.
1. Novel Stimuli
Your logo must deviate from the norm. It needs to be different, new and unfamiliar.
Back in the days, when we were still hunting and we were called the early man with big bushy hairs, we didn’t know the world. Everything that was new to us was considered a life-threatening danger. It could be a new wild animal or it could be some new poisonous plant. We paid extreme attention to it to protect ourselves. And our brain has been trained to pay attention to novel stimuli.
2. Supernormal Stimuli
Take an aspect which produces an instinctive response and exaggerate it to amplify it for the response.
What’s the first thing you notice when you look at another human? Do you pay extra attention to babies when you are handling them? There are a few aspects of us which we can’t help but pay attention to. Eyes, lips, hips, etc. You can’t resist a hotty passing by!
A. Baby Faces
B. Proactive Design
C. Contrasting Colors
3. Partially Obscure Stimuli
Objects that incomplete in shape or are obscured/hidden grabs attention.
Our ancestors relied on hunting a lot for their survival. When they were into the wild, they paid close attention to rustling sounds behind the grasses. It could have been a hidden tiger or a snake that was partially visible and dangerous.
A. Mark-Up Logo
B. Negative Spaces
Response
We all are conditioned to give responses to different kinds of stimuli. Ever heard of Pavlonian Dog? When you watch a movie, you live it vicariously. Don’t you? You would cry or you would feel the adrenaline rush or you would laugh even though you know it that’s it’s all fiction. It isn’t real! They are acting! Still, you often get emotional.
Your company has values and your logo must trigger an appropriate emotional response in the observer. There are three basic kinds of responses.
1. Aggressive Dominant
The elements that are know to evoke this response are angularity, vertical lines and asymmetry.
2. Friendly Submissive
The elements that are know to evoke this response are round curves, horizontal lines and symmetry.
3. Neutral
The elements which set neutral emotional response are squares and rectangles. They are usually avoided. If used, other elements in the logo should set some emotional tone.
Meaning
Once your logo has successfully grabbed the attention and evoked a strong emotional response, the logo should strive to express meaning. Attention and Response work in the sub-conscious level of the brain but the Meaning part of the ARMM model works in the conscious level of the customer.
A good logo has multiple meanings which concur with the brand value. It is measured in Propositional Density.
Propositional Density
Amount of information conveyed per unit element is called Propositional density. It is equal to the deep proposition/surface proposition. A propositional density of more than 1 is highly recommended.
Memory
Every day you come across so many logos and elements. There is this tsunami of content out there. And your brain is pretty smart when it has to make a choice about retaining information.
Anything that seems complex and non-meaningful by your brain would be thrown straight into the trash. Now here are a few tricks which could be used to overpower this smart brain.
1. First Letter
2. Feature Name
3. Concreteness Effect
Concrete nouns are generally remembered than abstract nouns. Concrete nouns are — apple, chair, table, shell, dog, cat, etc. Abstract nouns are — quality, loyalty, integrity, etc.
4. Von Restorff Effect
It is also known as the “isolation effect”. It explains that when multiple similar objects are present, the one that differs or stands out would be remembered.
How do you feel now? Do you feel confident about Logo Design?
I hope the answer is YES!
When in doubt, use the ARMM model.
