Logo Design: A CRU Guide.
At CRU, we love a good logo—and not just from a design standpoint. A great logo, when combined with a solid brand identity behind it, can trick you into thinking of golf and country clubs instead of swamps when you see a green crocodile. Logos can be the most recognisable element of a brand identity, powerful enough to conjure up the entire brand without even having to read the name: three stripes: Adidas, two golden arches: McDonald’s, a curved hook: Nike.
On the flipside of the token logos are indeed powerful—and a bad logo can do some damage to the brand: think of the 1 billion dollar Pepsi rebrand in 2008, the GAP rebranding disaster in 2010 or the Tupperware rebrand from just last year. Not all logos are created equally. So first, let’s take a look at the styles of logos that are out there, and show you how we approach making logos.
Types of Logos
As typography nerds, we love a monogram or lettermark. Normally composed of the Brand’s initials, these are some of the earliest forms of logos out there. Ancient coins dating back to the early fifth century BC were stamped with the monograms of the people who created them. A tradition that royalty would go on to use (Elizabeth famously signed with an «ER») and why luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Chanel do it to this day.
Similar to the lettermark, a wordmark is a typography-based logotype, but instead of just a few letters, it spells out the business’s full name. This is the most essential version of a logo that you should have: you’re going to have to spell out your brand name anyway, you may as well create a distinct asset out of it. You can also highlight and emphasize your company’s characteristics through typographic nuances and add graphical details to convey the essence of the brand.
A pictorial logo is a graphical representation of your brand, often these are real things: an apple, a bird, a burger. These are normally (at least initially) paired with the wordmark, but eventually you can train your audience to recognize your brand by the pictorial logo alone.
An abstract mark is a different type of pictorial logo that uses abstract geometric forms rather than recognizable things. By using this approach you can symbolically convey the spirit of your company without depending on, or getting hindered by, cultural associations tied to specific images. Through thought out colours and intentional forms you can attribute meaning and evoke emotions that help to define and strengthen your brand identity.
Thinking back to your childhood breakfast table, you were probably greeted by them first thing in the morning. A colourful cartoonish character with a cereal bowl half its size. The mascot logo is a great way to create your brand’s spokesperson—an illustrated character to represent your company. One doesn’t see them too often in the western world, but in Japan, for example, these characters can be seen everywhere. CRU has yet to make a mascot logo but that’s not to say we’re opposed to it, should the right client appear.
The name says it all. A combination mark is a logo in which you combine typography-based and image-based logos. So you take a word- or a lettermark and place them with a pictorial mark, an abstract mark or a mascot. There are a lot of elements so it requires an eye for composition to create something that is harmonious and balanced.
The formula for the emblem logo is quite similar to the monogram. Taking the example of badges, seals and crests you incorporate a typeface inside of a symbol or an icon. These logo designs often make a striking impact with their traditional appearance and are the go-to choice for many schools, organizations, or government agencies. But not just them, you could take your pick between two luxury auto brands with a crest of a horse and red accents: Porsche or Ferrari (we lean more Porsche ourselves).
Choosing the right logo design depends entirely on you and your company—your identity, values, and vision. At CRU, we see every logo as a chance to create something truly unique and impactful.
If you’ve worked with us before, you already know: we love typography. Why? Because it’s more than just letters on a screen—it’s a tool to convey emotion, character, and the very essence of a brand. The subtle curves, sharp edges, and deliberate spacing all work together to tell a story, often on a subconscious level.
That’s why many of the logos we design are wordmarks or combination marks. We believe strong typography isn’t just a detail—it’s what makes a logo unforgettable. And when typography and creativity collide, that’s where the magic happens.
Now that we’ve explored the different types of logos, let’s dive into how we bring them to life in our design process. And if you’d like to dive deeper into the logoverse: check out the 2024 Logo Trend Report for the state of affairs.
Logo Design made by CRU
So now that we have a rough overview of the different types of logos out there we can get to the process of designing one. After we get a feel for your company, your values, inner workings and visions, we really get into the topic of research. We take a look at your competitors—what are they doing? What kind of designs already exist in the field? This is all important, but the real fun begins with the inspirational research.
Depending on the direction of the storyline and moodboard that we create, we begin to search for the creative spark that’ll help us make your mark. To create an iconic logo that sticks in your mind, we have to create something that is simultaneously recognizable and novel, bold but not overwhelming, unique but familiar. To do this, we look for inspiration: paintings that we’ve seen in museums, forms in the natural world, historical maps and diagrams—and yes, other logos. We compile this research and create logos that fit to your brand and (hopefully) will become a valuable asset for you to use.
When it comes to creating bespoke wordmarks—custom-made and tailored specifically to your brand—we take this concept to the next level. Each letter is crafted from scratch, ensuring every curve, line, and detail is a true reflection of your brand’s identity. This level of care and customization ensures your logo isn’t just memorable but truly one of a kind.
When working creatively you need freedom. Some of our designers start by grabbing their notebook and hand-drawing numerous letters, symbols, shapes, graphics, in the form of scribbles and sketches on the paper. Others like to begin with typography research.There’s something fascinating about how the right typeface can convey emotion and character, subtly shaping how people perceive a brand. To let your company name shine, we dive into experimentation—testing it in various fonts, formats, and colors. This process allows us to explore combinations that truly represent your values and goals, creating a design that feels both authentic and distinctive.
This is followed by an exploration phase: Here, the motto is «all is fair in love, war, and logo design» Chaos makes the muse. Scribbled sketches are scanned and digitized/vectorized. Designers experiment wildly with shapes, typography, and more. Fonts are tested, sometimes deconstructed, and reassembled. Graphics and shapes are explored, and sometimes custom letters are developed to create a custom logo. The exploration phase follows no system—and that’s a good thing.
But before we can pitch them to you, they go through a repetitive process of exploring, sorting, team discussions, pursuing individual drafts, developing iterations, discussing them in the team, and filtering them out. We design and construct them with care, so that our logos fit into a framework of four tension fields: aesthetics, story/concept, client preferences, and target audience expectations.
We typically present 2 to 3 logo proposals to our clients. But before we can show them to you every one of them must pass several tests:
- It must be scalable to both very large and very small sizes.
- It must be suitable for all applications (digital, print, etc.).
- It must be invertible and work in black and white.
- It must not evoke negative associations.
And now, carefully created and thoroughly tested, the logo not only meets technical requirements but also aligns with the deeper philosophy of good design:
«A good logo evokes. A bad logo illustrates.»—Unknown
It’s the logo’s time to shine. To be presented and feedbacked. And after your approval, the design is finalized—the spacings are checked, edges refined and everything is cleaned up.
Finally, we export a logo package with all relevant file formats for web (RGB) and print (CMYK).
Our thoughts on Logo Design
Designing logos is something we truly love—it’s where creativity meets purpose. A logo has the power to tell a story, create connections, and make a brand instantly recognizable. But a logo isn’t everything.
A strong brand identity is about more than just a great logo. It’s the interplay of typography, colors, and other design elements that bring a brand to life. While the logo may be the star, it’s the full team of brand elements that truly gets the job done.
With this mindset, we craft logos that stand out and seamlessly integrate into the bigger picture of your brand. Confident. Clear. Impactful.
