I recently read a post by Seth Godin on logo design, or more specifically logo re-design, undertaken by Best Buy and Pepsi.  Godin points out that logo design can’t increase market share, since logos are just identifiers.

I have to add a definitive ‘sort of’ to the point.  Logos should be a visual expression of brand, and as bits of visual communication we absorb information from them.  You have two ways to go when designing a logo: you can design a logo that creates a certain impression on a customer, or you can create an impression on a customer and then attach it to a logo.

If a logo is part of an integrated group of brand messages, and the experience is consistent, it becomes exceptionally useful in communicating to customers.  Apple, for instance, is really good at this.  The Apple logo, which is simple and elegant, implies all that the products are meant to be.  Good brand stewardship means making certain that the interactions customers have with Apple reinforce the message conveyed in the logo.

When a company does a logo redesign it’s saying something new to customers.  The new logo implies new direction.  If that new direction is something customers like, and that new direction is carried through in other relationships with customers, then the logo becomes the first step in a rebrand.  

We don’t do a lot of identity design, but we do take it and incorporate it into the content we produce.  Understanding the relationship between a logo and a brand helps us develop work that conveys a consistent experience for the user and reinforces the brand.