How Your Logo Could (and Should) Build Trust

A brand’s logo has the important job of communicating the brand’s essence pointedly and immediately. Of course, any designer knows the success of a logo is measured by much more than its visual appeal – typeface, spacing and iconography have to be taken into account in order create a mark that is high-quality and recognizable. Regardless of the variety of aspects that go into logo design, certain styles are proven to work better for certain brands.

An interesting study was conducted to determine how logo designs impact brand trust in different industries. Researchers created and tested six different logos for six different industries, and the results revealed the styles and colors that perform best for each. For example, an icon-dominant logo was most successful for an educational organization, while it was the least-preferred style for a financial service provider. Strategic color choice is also highly dependent on the industry you’re working within – red could attract readers far and wide to your news site or drive your law firm bankrupt.

The most important insight from this study is that good design is subjective, and any visually appealing logo may not create equal results for different brands. When it comes to design, it’s important to create attractive work – but even more important to tailor our work to client needs and audience perceptions.