It takes a logo to know a logo

By the 1950s, Modernism had shed its roots as an avant-garde artistic movement in Europe to become an international, commercialized movement with adherents in the United States and elsewhere. The visual simplicity and conceptual clarity that were the hallmarks of Modernism as an artistic movement formed a powerful toolset for a new generation of graphic designers whose logos embodied Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s dictum, "Less is more." Modernist-inspired logos proved successful in the era of mass visual communication ushered in by television, improvements in printing technology, and digital innovations.


The fact of a logo defining a business is a brilliant idea. One discernible recognizable symbol, that can be mass produced that when recognized, it instantly makes the view of the business that its representing. Its essentially a virtual time stamp of sorts.

These logos cross the world over!!

mtv music television

apple computers

batman (i couldn't help myself)

federal express

target stores

puma apparel

mcdonalds fast food

other fast food

Its the better symbols that cross a smart simple image with a subtle surprise in it. A logo that can be printed any size, and the world over

look at how the words burger king act as the hamburger meat in between 2 buns

or the word subway has 2 subway arrows at each end of the word

or dominoes pizza logo is in the shape of a pizza box, and has a domino design

the fedex sign, wich is a mail service, a little arrow forms in between the "E" and the "X"

some are so simple they still work amazingly

the apple logo is a macintosh apple silhouette with a bite out of it

batmans symbol is a black shape of a bat

mcdonalds is just a big gold M

Puma a puma silhouette

and target is just a red and white target

these logos are all over the place, and they work tremendously. As soon as they are seen we instantly know the company, their products, and their message.

its amazing how one small logo can do so much.

a forerunner in this fact is the late great Paul Rand

Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum, (August 15, 1914 — November 26, 1996) was an American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Westinghouse, ABC, and Steve Jobs’ NeXT.

here are some of his famous logos

and the man himself