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When it comes to describing what a good logo is, this old saying comes in handy: “A good logo is a dead logo”… Uhm, well, ok I’m just kidding :). Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
A good logo is a logo that lives.
The collection below features great, creative logos that have a message hidden. They try to convey that message through type, shape, negative space, and by triggering image and/or meaning associations in our minds. Enjoy!
I realize not everyone gets it from the moment they look at it for the first time, so I allowed myself to add a short description to every logo.
This logo utilizes negative space. As in the name, we see a dog house, and the brewing element is incorporated into logo by having a beer mug shaped entry to the dog house (which is accented with the mug’s handle and stand).
Another use of negative space. The holes between M’s legs are actually people holding hands, which expresses what matrimonial bureaus stand for – helping people find each other and fall in love.
The clock’s board is actually a pizza, so it’s kind of like the clock’s hand says: “It’s time for pizza”.
Clouds are round, but corners are edgy; the corner here is nicely separated from this cloud’s round shape. Also, the colors from the name are nicely reflected on the cloud and its corner.
The B’s shape is formed by bee swarm.
People associate vacation with traveling, and so this travel bag is actually a beer mug, with handle and wheels – which nicely reflects the logo’s name.
The logo’s shape is a heart, which stands for the “love” part of the name, and it’s made from a clip, which of course stands for the “clip” part.
This one is really good. Its shape is an “F” letter, rotated in away so that it reminds an air plane up in the air.
Fitmiss logo combines two shapes: barbells and female sex sign. Of course, barbells shape stands for the “fit(ness)” part, and the female sex sign stands for “miss”.
The logo’s is a folded “F” letter. Couldn’t be more obvious.
This one is great: the middle part of the word “families”, the letters “i”, “l”, and “i” are actually very simplified shapes of people. The biggest one is the father, the mid-size is the mother, and the smallest one is a child – a family.
The logo’s shape is a tree, but with a golf stick as a tree’s trunk.
The logo is a shovel (which is associated with building) with a heart at the end. So there you are, heart + building.
This one is one of my favourites: those lines look almost the same. Almost, because the middle one is slightly different, it’s tie-shaped. First of all, agents wear ties :). Second of all, good agent can blend in so good that it’s really hard to spot him. And that’s what this subtle middle line difference stands for.
The “i” of the “killed” word lies on the ground. Like it’s, well, killed :).
This one is kind hard to explain. You know locks have those little triggers inside them, and when you turn the key, those trigger rotate, causing it to lock. Now, look at letters “o” and “c”. That ring a bell?
Mister Cutts literally IS the logo. It looks like a mister with eyeglasses and mustache, but that’s actually a scissors upside down.
The name here reflects nicely in the shape. The shape consists from two wine bottles, but without the inner lines. This make it look like eyeglasses – and you often put eyeglasses on when you’re searching for something.
Another creative use of negative space. The white shape is a fork, which stands for the “food” part, and the fork teeth are the shapes of wine bottles, which of course stands for the “wine” part.
A coffee cup made of a film reel. Yup, a Cinema Cafe cup.
The balloon is actually a chef’s hat, and the balloon’s basket is a chef’s apron with kitchen utilities attached to it.
A game of words. The logo is a cow, but with zebra stripes; a Cow-Bra.
The city here is actually a hand cursor we see on computers, simulating a “click” on the sun above the city.
Another shovel here. Shovel itself stands for the “dig” part. It’s made from two elements people usually associate with saints: a cross, and a stained glass windows you usually see in churches.
The “clothing” part is reflected by a hanger. Most hangers are made from iron, plus it has a duck-shaped hook. So it’s an iron duck hanger. So it’s Iron Duck Clothing.
A good one, another game of words. “Monkey” has a word “key” in it already, so there couldn’t be a more obvious logo than a key with a monkey-shaped head.
Yet another creative use of negative space. We see two martini glasses standing right next to each other – forming the space between them into a house. And there you go, Martini House.
This logo is a nice combinations of concepts from the CinemaCafe and CityCliq logos. The city here, the buildings to be exact, are made from a movie reel too.
One more game of words. The name is a combinations of words “chemistry” and “tree”. And so the logo reflects it in this weird tree – the trunk is actually a test tube, and a cloud of fumes that is often produced in chemical experiments represents the upper branches.
One of my favourites. When you first look at it, you might say “nothing fancy here”. Just two words, taken out of the name, and rotated 90 degrees. There’s nothing to it, right? Wrong! Look at letters “C” in both words. They are actually cat’s eyes :).
A finger print in a shape of a brain, a brain-finger.
I like the concept here, this one triggers meaning associations in our minds. The logo is U-shaped, which obviously reflects the “uReach” part of the name. Also, letter “u” is commonly used as a replacement for “you”. The “U” has hands on both ends, which triggers in our minds a meaning association: reaching out for something. So it’s like “you reach out for media” -> uReach Media.
Quite obvious one. The logo is “e” shaped power cable with a leaf at the end. “E” stands for “eco”, and the cable for “energy”. Eco-Energy.
Awesome use of negative space. The “golf” part is reflected in two tees. The space between those tees looks just like a rocket, which reflects the “rocket” part of the name obviously.
Very simple one. The “O” letter out of the word “hole” is… in the hole :).
A bodybuilder raising a barbell. Only the barbell is not really a barbell, but eyeglasses, which stand for the “optical”.
Great one here, my favourite from this collection. The name is “Evolution X”, and in the logo we can literally see the “X” evolving from a one short line, to a fully shaped “X”.
The beer mug stands for the “bar” part, and it has a barcode pattern on it. Doesn’t get any more obvious than that, does it.
When you hear “empire”, you hear “king”. And when you hear “king”, you think of a crown. The crown here is made of water, and so it stands for the name: Water Empire.
Another one playing with associations. When someone’s lost, you need something to find them, best if it’s something unique that will point to that person, and that person only. What’s more unique than a finger print?
You hear “music”, and you immediately think of notes and clefs. The logo here is a clef, with horns on the top. You hear “devil”, and think of horns of course. Plus, the clef is red, which is also commonly associated with devil.
Very similar. A dog, only with music notes instead of legs; a Sound-Dog.
This logo utilizes negative space. Letters “W” and “M” are the first letters of words “Wiesinger” and “Music” from the name. Those two letters form piano keyes, which obviously reflects the “piano service” part.
Similar like the one above, only little different. The logo consists from three wine bottles, they reflect the “vino” part. The white space between them with bottles form a piano keys, which stands for the “piano” part.
Funny one :). What’s music? Notes! And so here the logo is a note, only the note ends with… a giraffe’s head. Plus, both giraffe and the note share the “neck” part. Long Neck Music.
Another negative space usage. Here, both “P” letter and the space inside it, which looks just like pelican, stand for the name – Pelican.
A word “pilot”, with cut out airplane-shaped part. Crystal clear :).
Another funny logo. The “O” out of the “shocked” word looks just like the emoticon we all know – two eyes and widely open mouth. Shocked, jaw-dropped, if you will.
The logo is a ladybug, only she has a shutter-shaped buckler. So there you go, nicely reflected “shutter” and “bug” words.
Negative space again. The “W” stands for “water”, and the space between the low part of W’s legs is actually a water drop -> W-drop -> Water Drop.
I hope you had fun looking at this collection and figuring out what each logo is trying to tell you :). I sure did!
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Monday, October 11th, 2010 18:42
#18 Looks like it’s supposed to be binoculars as opposed to eye glasses.
Thursday, October 7th, 2010 12:05
Truly meaningful collection.thanks for the inspiration.
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 10:07
Wow! Wow! Wow! Really hard to pick the one I like the most. Thanks for sharing!
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 09:46
…. a first class collection of very creative and meaningful logos with the thoughts behind them…. very cool !! Thanks again 1st Web Designer and Michael Kozak for showcasing and creating this post for us to visit !!
Friday, September 24th, 2010 12:56
Nice Buddy, Keep it up
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 10:34
really cool collection and great for inspiration!
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:49
I truly love your collection. Having a good concept is the most important thing when designing a logo.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 14:34
Excellent collection, some really really good and creative ones. Thanks for the roundup!
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:55
Thanks for all the kind words, guys!
I’m very glad you enjoyed it :).
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:22
Fantastic list,
always a good idea to add meaning to a logo so will keep this in mind for when I need some inspiration with logo design.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:19
awesome collection of Logo design, Thanks for sharing such kinds of collection..
Shajjad
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 14:15
Great collection but you didn’t attach the original links to some of them
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:56
That’s because they are all from my privet collection I keep for the inspiration on my computer :).
I did add the links to the ones I’ve found on the web, though.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 13:39
Some great examples. Although the “Pizza Time” for me looks like “Citrus time” ;)
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 04:37
These are awesome logo designs!!! love it!
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:57
Yup, “Evolution X” is one of my absolute favourites :).
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:15
These are the types of logos I evangelise and believe every designer should strive to create. A logo should capture the essence of what you do and communicate that visually, so that before someone even connects with the company they have a vivid idea of what the company does.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:59
Agree. That’s why I wanted to share this collection, to show what a good logo really is.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 07:33
Very nice and creative logos. Thanks buddy for sharing these with all of us.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 06:17
yes they said what they are…….awesome collection!!!!.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 03:31
The Families logo is brilliant. Great post, thanks for the inspiration.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 00:28
Amazing. My Graphic Design 1 Teacher was just having us do a project on this last week. I will have to give her the URL to this. AMAZING post.
-James
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:01
Thanks James, much appreciated. And thanks for spreading the word :).
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 00:26
Nice collection. There are so many lists out there, but I like the fact that you actually took the time to write about each one. :)
These are some great examples of artists who really get creative when it comes to adding meaning to a logo. It’s so easy to just make something that looks slick, but doesn’t tell a user what the company does.
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:02
Thanks, Sarah. I always try to add something extra, even to list kind of posts. Thanks for showng your appreciation :).
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Adie
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:22
Fantastic list,
always a good idea to add meaning to a logo so will keep this in mind for when I need some inspiration with logo design.
adikahorvath
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 12:20
Nice and expressive logos.
Caroline
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 04:37
These are awesome logo designs!!! love it!
Michael Locke
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 03:31
The Families logo is brilliant. Great post, thanks for the inspiration.
James D
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 00:28
Amazing. My Graphic Design 1 Teacher was just having us do a project on this last week. I will have to give her the URL to this. AMAZING post.
-James
Michal Kozak
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:01
Thanks James, much appreciated. And thanks for spreading the word :).
Sarah K
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 00:26
Nice collection. There are so many lists out there, but I like the fact that you actually took the time to write about each one. :)
These are some great examples of artists who really get creative when it comes to adding meaning to a logo. It’s so easy to just make something that looks slick, but doesn’t tell a user what the company does.
Michal Kozak
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:02
Thanks, Sarah. I always try to add something extra, even to list kind of posts. Thanks for showng your appreciation :).
rajaishbt
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 06:17
yes they said what they are…….awesome collection!!!!.
Harry
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 07:33
Very nice and creative logos. Thanks buddy for sharing these with all of us.
Michal Kozak
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:00
Me pleasure, Harry :).
Iliyan Petrov
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:30
Incredible. #30 and #37 were the best, for me.
Michal Kozak
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:57
Yup, “Evolution X” is one of my absolute favourites :).
nirmal
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:19
very creative logos!
Thanks for sharing!!!
Arthur Charles Van Wyk
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 10:15
These are the types of logos I evangelise and believe every designer should strive to create. A logo should capture the essence of what you do and communicate that visually, so that before someone even connects with the company they have a vivid idea of what the company does.
Michal Kozak
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 16:59
Agree. That’s why I wanted to share this collection, to show what a good logo really is.
Michal Kozak
Thursday, December 30th, 2010 16:54
Thanks everyone, it’s been a pleasure to put it all together :).
Rosalyn
Monday, October 11th, 2010 18:42
#18 Looks like it’s supposed to be binoculars as opposed to eye glasses.
dave
Monday, September 26th, 2011 00:05
Great logos, simple and effective – hence the fact that the explantation was not really required, i..e the killed example……yeah, got it!!!!!
Gadhi
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 07:40
In logo no:16, O and C are key holes not triggers :)
Saket Jajodia
Saturday, February 11th, 2012 22:59
Just mind blowing logo designs..!! Really awesome..!! Just got no words..!!
Yordan
Friday, November 25th, 2011 20:37
Bee logo is very creative. Very good job!
Nabil
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 00:49
hi,
Great collection and very creative ;) i like them ;)
by the way I have finally found a good place to sell my logos!
the site offer your logo only for $50
and your commission is %50, I tried to upload some of my unused logos
“logos rejected from my clients” there and i am waiting sales ;)
and wish it’ll happen soon. try to sell your logos there.
Tega Otojare
Thursday, October 7th, 2010 12:05
Truly meaningful collection.thanks for the inspiration.
Cristian
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 10:07
Wow! Wow! Wow! Really hard to pick the one I like the most. Thanks for sharing!
vou
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 14:34
Excellent collection, some really really good and creative ones. Thanks for the roundup!
Dani Raykova
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 17:49
I truly love your collection. Having a good concept is the most important thing when designing a logo.
Hermitbiker
Saturday, September 25th, 2010 09:46
…. a first class collection of very creative and meaningful logos with the thoughts behind them…. very cool !! Thanks again 1st Web Designer and Michael Kozak for showcasing and creating this post for us to visit !!
Harry Parker
Friday, September 24th, 2010 12:56
Nice Buddy, Keep it up
Guido Jansen
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 10:34
really cool collection and great for inspiration!