Why this idea means business : We use Paul Rand’s logo evaluation criteria to learn from 5 of the world’s most famous logos. Be inspired by the thinking and stories behind stand-out logos from Nike, Apple, Starbucks, Mercedes and Qantas. Read this to learn more about the art of logo evaluation.
As we’ve covered before, your brand logo works hard on your behalf. It introduces and identifies your brand to customers and differentiates it from competitors. Brilliant brands stand out, and a well-designed logo is part of how they do that.
As per our logo design process guide, you write a brief for a graphic designer when you need a new logo. You check that their ideas fit your brand identity and do research to get customer feedback on them.
But you can also use design-led frameworks to do further logo evaluation and check it uses good design principles.
We particularly like the one from well-known designer, Paul Rand. He recommends you evaluate your logo design against these 7 criteria – is it :-
- distinctive?
- visible?
- adaptable?
- memorable?
- universal?
- timeless?
- simple?
You score each out of 10, apart from the final one about simplicity, which you score out of 15. A 75 is perfect. Anything below 60, you should do more work to refine it.
How to practise logo evaluation
One of the challenges with logo evaluation is you get few chances to practice it. Once you approve your design, you usually stick with it for a long time. Only graphic designers get the chance to regularly practise logo evaluation.
However, as a way to stretch your logo evaluation brain cells, you can practice your creative evaluation by using these principles on other logos to see what you can learn. This is what we’re doing this week with a look at the logos from :-
- Nike.
- Apple.
- Starbucks.
- Mercedes.
- Qantas.
Logo evaluation - Nike
The famous Nike “Swoosh” logo was designed in 1971 by Portland State University graphic design student, Carolyn Davidson.
It’s an instantly recognisable icon of this global sportswear brand and has been valued at a staggering $26bn.
The brief she got from Nike co-founder Phil Knight was that it be a simple design that is fluid and conveys motion and speed. It also symbolizes the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.
Looking at Paul Rand’s logo evaluation criteria, the Nike logo scores highly across the board. Its strongest points are that it’s adaptable, universal, timeless and simple.
Adaptable
For example, look at the many different types of sports clothing and equipment it appears on. It appears in a variety of colours, sizes and locations. Plus, all the many media channels it’s used in. The Nike Swoosh logo is clearly very adaptable.
Universal
They’ve picked a shape with positive connotations in most cultures. A “tick” is a good thing. There are no obvious negative connotations so it can be used across all ages, genders and cultures.
Timeless
Its timelessness is highlighted by the fact it’s barely changed in 50+ years. Any changes have been very minor, mainly relating to whether the company name and tagline (Just Do it) appear. The Swoosh itself is much the same as the original design.
Simple
Simplicity is the Nike logo’s strongest point. It underpins how well it does in those other areas. It’s simply 2 curved lines, drawn at a diagonal angle to imply speed and movement.
Nike logo learnings
Nike’s logo offers interesting learnings for designing (or re-designing) your own logo.
For example, you could test your logo for adaptability by seeing how it would look on different items. e.g. on a baseball cap, T-shirt, shorts and a pair of shoes as the Nike logo has to. Are the shape, dimensions and colours of your logo adaptable enough to work?
You could also test if your logo would appeal to (or offend) people from a completely different country and culture. Would it work in Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, for example? You may not sell there now, but who knows where your brand will sell in future? Nike was only selling running shoes in the US when its logo was designed. Now look at it.
You could also test if you had this logo 50 years ago, or 50 years in the future, would it still work? Fashions change over time. Something that’s “in” right now, could look “out” in a few years, never mind, 50 years from now. You should look at logos which haven’t changed over time and identify what makes them timeless.
Usually, that’s simplicity. The clearest, most memorable logos are simple. Nike’s only has 2 lines. Their rival Adidas has only 3 stripes. It’s often tempting to overload your logo. But in reality, cutting things out usually works better than adding more in.
Logo evaluation - Apple
Another good example of simple yet stand-out is Apple’s logo.
Designed by Rob Janoff in 1977, you’ll find it on laptops, tablets, phones and watches; on digital screens; and in their stores. It’s an instantly recognisable symbol of one of the world’s biggest technology brands.
Based on Rand’s logo evaluation checklist, it’s notably strong on visibility, memorability, universality and simplicity.
Visible
Most of the items where the Apple logo appears are square or rectangular (even allowing for their bevelled edges and soft corners). So, a round logo creates a strong visual contrast. Its curved lines stand out against the straight lines of its surroundings. Then, you’ve then got that “bite” out of the apple (apparently so it wasn’t confused with other fruit), and the leaf on top. These help create more stand-out than you’d get with just the apple shape alone. These elements help make the Apple logo more visible.
Memorable
The Apple logo is easy to remember, as the visual matches the company name. There’s no cognitive processing needed to work out it’s an apple. The original logo included the company name (Apple Computer) and a coloured striped pattern (which highlighted their computers worked in colour and which Steve Jobs felt would create more of an emotional connection). Both those have since faded into the background, leaving the apple shape as the real memorable part of the logo.
Universal
Like Nike, Apple used a shape with no negative connotations. The apple shape is also instantly recognisable, no matter which language you speak. Apples also have some interesting connotations beyond being a fruit. For example, their link to Isaac Newton and the discovery of gravity gives a subtle nod to Apple’s creative culture and appreciation of innovation and breakthrough ideas. (They even called one of their early products the Newton).
Simple
Though slightly more complex than the Nike design, you could still draw this logo with just 2 lines. There are no added design gimmicks other than the bite and leaf, and both of these are done simply e.g. no teeth marks even though that would make it clearer it’s a bite.
Apple logo learnings
You could follow Apple’s example to make your logo more visible, by contrasting its shape with the shape of the places where it’ll most often appear. For example, look at car tyre logos. Tyres are round. But most car tyre company logos are in rectangular boxes and use straight-line design elements. e.g. Continental, Bridgestone and Dunlop
You can also make your logo more memorable if the logo shape reflects the company name or what the brand does. Butchers could use a cleaver icon. Bakers could use a loaf of bread icon. And candlestick makers? Well, you get the idea, right?
Apple’s logo also has broad appeal across age, gender and cultural types. If there’s a chance your brand will diversify in the future (see our Ansoff Matrix article for more on this), you should make sure it won’t put other customer groups off. You don’t want it to be polarising unless polarisation is part of your brand identity.
Finally, there’s that simplicity check again. Could you make your logo simpler? The number of lines to draw it is a good indication, though it’s not always that simple (!). For example, our logo has 12 lines. But it’s basically 3 identical star shapes, each linked with 3 lines (there’s an obvious “Three” theme to our logo). And it’s quite simple to draw.
Logo evaluation - Starbucks
The Starbucks logo has an interesting history. The current version is its 4th iteration.
The original Starbucks company was founded in 1971 in Seattle. Its logo featured a topless mermaid to reflect the city’s maritime heritage. The idea was that Starbucks would lure in coffee drinkers in the same way mermaids lure in sailors.
In 1987, the founders sold the company to Howard Schulz. He’d worked for them previously and had set up his own coffee company in the meantime called Il Gionarle. It had its own logo.
He merged the companies and asked Terry Heckler (who designed the original logo) to design a new logo to represent the newly merged company.
This kept the mermaid but covered up her toplessness with long hair. The green colour scheme of the Il Gionarle logo was used, replacing Starbucks’ previous brown colours. The new company name, simply Starbucks Coffee went around the mermaid.
There were further minor changes in 1992 (zooming in on the mermaid’s face) and in 2011 when the company name was dropped from the outside.
Starbucks logo strengths are that it’s distinctive, memorable and universal.
Distinctive
Though Starbucks’ logo is more complex than Nike’s and Apple’s, the unusualness of the mermaid design means it catches the eye, with all those wavy lines. Given there are now 35,000+ outlets worldwide, the green mermaid is distinctive no matter where you are. You know it’s somewhere you can get a decent coffee and a comfy seat.
Memorable
The design’s unusualness also makes it more memorable. It may take longer in the first instance to remember it as there are less obvious links to coffee or the Starbucks name. In fact, we’re not even sure everyone gets it’s a mermaid. But the design is so unlike any other brand, that you’d never mistake it for something else. (Apart from perhaps other coffee shops trying to copy Starbucks). You know right away what the brand is.
Universal
Those 35,000 global outlets suggest the idea of a mermaid doesn’t have negative connotations anywhere. Interestingly, they recognised the need to cover up the toplessness in the 1987 redesign, as this could have caused issues in some countries. But otherwise, this design seems to work well globally and has broad appeal across ages, genders and cultures. (Except perhaps with fussy coffee drinkers in Australia who prefer local coffee shops).
Starbucks logo learnings
Starbucks logo helps reinforce the value of being distinctive (a key part of building brands). That’s what helps it be highly visible and memorable. Go down any high street or into any shopping mall, and there’s only going to be one mermaid-based logo.
It’s got a less obvious connection to the brand’s origins, but still enough for it not to be a random connection. They’ve made more changes than Nike or Apple to their logo, but these have been subtle and in line with changes in the company. From a one-shop place in Seattle to sell coffee supplies to a global coffee shop powerhouse, whose logo is recognised across the globe.
Logo evaluation - Mercedes
The famous Mercedes 3-pointed star logo was created in 1909 by Paul and Adolf Daimler, sons of one of the company’s co-founders, Gottlieb Daimler. It was originally a gold star, inspired by how their father used to mark family postcards.
This evolved as the company grew. The 3-pointed star came to represent the power and presence of Mercedes engines on the land, the sea and in the air. It’s now synonymous with the brand’s luxurious and refined positioning.
Based on Rand’s principles, it scores highest on being distinctive, timeless and simple.
Distinctive
The 3-pointed star in a circle stands out because it’s so understated. It’s distinctive enough without trying too hard to be so. This interestingly reflects Mercedes’s overall positioning. Compared to the horses, bulls and rams in the logos of Italian and American supercars, it’s quietly elegant and balanced. It says more by saying less.
Timeless
Given the logo has barely changed since its original design, there’s a clear argument that it has a timeless quality. You could look at that logo in 1909, 2009 or 2109 and it’d still work as there’s nothing in the design which dates it.
Simple
While not matching the 2 lines of Nike or Apple, a circle with 3 lines is still simple. You could ask someone to draw the Mercedes logo unseen, and you’d get a reasonably accurate version of it. That simplicity makes the logo design feel elegant and sophisticated, a great fit with what Mercedes stands for.
Mercedes logo learnings
The Mercedes logo is a good example of why you should look at your competitor’s logos when designing your logo. You want your logo to stand out and be noticeably different. Compared to most car brands, the Mercedes logo looks very different. Even versus its main German competitors, you’d never mistake the 3-pointed star for Audi’s 4 circles or BMW’s Blue and White wedges.
Again, it highlights the value of simplicity in creating a logo to stand the test of time. The more elements you use, the more risk they could soon look dated, or be affected by changes in cultural values. For example, the topless Starbucks mermaid was fine in liberal 1970s Seattle but didn’t translate to a wider global context. But a 3-pointed star in a circle in 1909 Stuttgart has managed to stick as the Mercedes brand’s logo, and they’ve never had a reason to change it.
Logo evaluation - Qantas
The current Qantas logo was last updated in 2007 by Hans Hulsbosch of Hulsbosch Communications. It’s the 5th generation of the logo, with the kangaroo appearing on every design, but in different forms.
The original 1944 logo adapted the kangaroo design from the Australian one-penny coin.
In 1947, Sydney designer Gert Sellheim updated it, adding wings to the kangaroo and a globe at its feet to symbolise the growing global reach of Qantas.
In 1968, the globe was dropped and the flying kangaroo was placed in a circle. There was another redesign in 1984 by Tony Lunn of the Lunn Design group in Sydney. The kangaroo wings were removed, and the design was made to look more slender and stylised. The latest design has the kangaroo’s feet more visible and not touching the ground, and its tail is up more than before.
Based on Rand’s logo evaluation criteria, the Qantas logo scores strongly on being memorable, universal and simple.
Memorable
In addition to its safety record (as immortalised by Dustin Hoffman in Rainman), what makes Qantas stand out for air travellers is its clear link to Australia.
So, using an image of something closely associated with Australia – the kangaroo – helps cement the logo’s memorability. It creates a triangulation of data points that make it easier to remember i.e. Qantas – Australia – Kangaroo. As per our design psychology article on chunking, people are good at remembering things in groups of 3.
Universal
The kangaroo has no negative connotations around the world. That’s even though they can be quite aggressive (check out fighting kangaroo videos on YouTube) and damage farmland. Yet still, most people see kangaroos as cute and likeable. Arguably, koalas could have been another option, but they’re very sedentary compared to kangaroos, so you can see why they chose the kangaroo.
Simple
The Qantas logo is a simple line drawing of the outline of a kangaroo. You get what it is without adding details like facial features or fur. There’s also its posture which suggests movement with the angle of the legs and the tail which fits with the idea of what Qantas do – they move people from airport A to airport B.
Qantas logo learnings
First learning from the Qantas logo is that if you’re going to use a symbol in the logo, it should have some relevance to your brand. It doesn’t have to be a direct relevance e.g. kangaroos don’t fly. But there has to be an obvious connection between the symbol and your brand, like the Qantas – Australia – Kangaroo link. Creating these connections creates more data points for people’s memories to hook on to.
You should also look at global recognition levels for any symbols you use. For example, most people can recognise the outline of a kangaroo. It’s similar to why those car manufacturers we mentioned earlier use horses, bulls and rams as these are universally recognisable. Other universally recognised symbols could include body parts, food items or common household objects.
Finally, we come back to that idea of simplicity. The Qantas logo makes an instant connection from kangaroo to Australia to Qantas. Previous versions which included wings on the kangaroo and a globe arguably overcomplicated the design. The interesting lesson is that in its last 2 iterations, the designers streamlined and simplified it.
Conclusion - Logo evaluation
Your brand logo works hard on your brand’s behalf.
It’s on all your products and packaging. It tells customers it’s you in your advertising campaigns and sales promotions. It sticks around for a long time and becomes an integral part of your brand identity.
So, it’s key when you create it, you get it right.
Paul Rand’s 7-step logo evaluation criteria is a useful framework for critically assessing logo designs. In this article, we applied these principles of distinctiveness, visibility, adaptability, memorability, universality, timelessness and simplicity to 5 of the world’s biggest brands.
This logo evaluation review of Nike, Apple, Starbucks, Mercedes and Qantas should have prompted lots of ideas about how you could test and improve your own logo. To make it stand out more. To make it more visible and easy to remember. You want a logo that’ll work in any market with any audience and which will stand the test of time.
But most of all, the best logos are about simplicity. There’s a reason Paul Rand’s logo evaluation criteria give extra weight to this. The more you add to a design, the harder it is for the audience to mentally process it. Taking stuff out makes it easier for customers. That’s why 4 of the 5 designs we looked at here stood out strongly on simplicity. When it comes to logo evaluation, the key is keeping it simple.
Check out our logo design guide and our logo or nogo article for more on this. Or get in touch to learn more about logo evaluation.
Photo credits
Starbucks : Photo by Khadeeja Yasser on Unsplash
Phone with Nike logo : Photo by Kristian Egelund on Unsplash
Mercedes Benz logo : Photo by Chad Z on Unsplash
Apple laptop : Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Qantas tail : Photo by John Kappa ツ on Unsplash
