Chances are, if you saw the image above, you would think, "Wow, that looks like a bad McDonald's parody" . Now, obviously you would be right, I just made this image to discuss the topic of familiarity. When creating this image, I had the intent of wanting it people to immediately associate it with the McDonald's brand. I wanted it the image to seem 'familiar' enough that you would associate with the restaurant brand. I'm sure hard I maybe taken out the words, and changed the colors, you wouldn't connect the two.
So, the ability to recognize a product is very important. This is why redesigning logos is tricky. Sometimes you want to move your brand to a new direction. Be it because of controversy, wanting to find a new audience, or just an pitching an idea. So, in that instance, you would see a more drastic logo change. That being said, other times you more of less just want to update the logo or brand. In that case, it's best to keep some semblance of what you originally had, that way people still recognize you.
Something else you want to factor is nostalgia, and people's comfort zones. A lot the time, you probably prefer the look of things in the past than now. So, since companies want to speak to the masses, they'll try to cash in on nostalgia, and lure people in. Whatever makes their audience comfortable, that will be the route they want to go.
You can make your logo seem familiar to a place, time, or feeling. At the end of the day, whatever your audience is, you want to show them something they would recognize. Give them something they could understand from just one look. With that however, thank you for reading. As always, make sure to comment your thoughts, give any criticism, and stay tuned!
