Of Logos and Personal Branding
When it comes to identity on the web, we seldom think of ourselves as having or needing any kind of personal brand. What I mean is, nothing quite as drastic as burning a mark of some kind on your thigh, but rather, a identifier that people recognize and remember as a symbol, beyond your name.
Those who’ve known me for awhile can tell you that I’ve tried this myself a few times, with little success. The logos I’ve chosen never really seemed to make much of a difference on audience saturation, memorability, or even feedback. I rarely heard about the success (or failure) of the icons, since the most memorable thing that people seemed to take away from my site (or even myself) was my name.
Dropping the old made-up names (80p Studios, Spine-Arrest) was easy. I had decided to just go by Anton. I think this is a good move for my future because it’s always been my name and my art that people remember most about me. However, something that I hadn’t considered was whether or not I still needed some kind of an iconic logo that best represented, in a symbol, who I am, and what I am about.
When Jon Hicks recently redesigned his logo, he chose something that (I think) represents his style and personality quite well. I’m not sure that his audience has been very forgiving, but I beg to ask, how important is it that your audience “likes” your logo? Wouldn’t you think that the importance should rely on how well the logo fits the personal brand of the individual wearing the badge? We can’t after all, make everyone happy, now can we…?
So, with that in mind, I am going to attempt to create a logo for myself that accurately represents who I am, and what I do. It’s important to me that people like it, but not nearly as important as coming up with something that just FITS me (probably a cute lizard, or small dragon, or something…).
Think about logos that you’ve seen around the web. What works, and what doesn’t? Are some far too obscure to be recognizable? Is yours so personal that you have to explain it every time you show it off? What about the mood of the icon - does it convey a soft smile, or just bring terror into the hearts of all those who look upon it? If that’s your thing, then by all means, go forth and be scary!
Comments Back to Top
1. Andrea
Apr 7th, 2006
I’ve been thinking about this too, and my current thinking is that it doesn’t matter what the logo *is*, just that you use it consistently and associate it consistently with you.
Lots of times I don’t take the time to really look at a logo or a gravatar to see what the heck it’s depicting, but the overall shape/color/feeling get associated with the person and helps me pick them out of the crowd at a glance. There’s no need to be really deep about it—just pick something you don’t mind seeing all the time next to you name! :)
2. David Martin
Apr 7th, 2006
If you are attempting to create a personal logo then I tend to agree, it should be something that reflects you… who you are… what type of style you would like associated with yourself. The icon I ended up using for my personal site ended up being a bit of a free-flowing little guy type of creature to me, really my initials on their side with some Illustrator work. I look at it and smile, it seems goofy to me. It may look like absolute rubish to others, but I really don’t care.
A proffesional logo have other requirements. However, I think unique and noticable are high on the list. Who cares if noone knows what it is, if they remember it… it was a success.
3. Jonathan Snook
Apr 7th, 2006
I agree with Andrea. It’s about consistency and constantly presenting that personal brand. It’s something I’ve consciously done with my site. It’s been green, white and black for awhile. Those are “my” colours and every redesign will have those. Likewise, I had the same logo for a couple years and have only recently revised it—but I still kept it very similar to before.
In any case, I look forward to what you come up with. You’re a heck of a lot more talented than me. :)
4. Jeff Smith
Apr 7th, 2006
My logo may be pretty obscure, but people are starting to recognize it as my logo. I have to explain it to nearly everyone I meet (it’s a pisces rune), but I like explaining it, it seems to intrigue a lot of people.
I also have a tattoo of the pisces symbol (looks a lot different than my logo), so that makes it even more personal to me.
5. Anton
Apr 7th, 2006
And here, in my own comments system, are four great examples of logos all right in a row!
Andrea, Jeff, and David - although your logos are obscure, I do like them to various degrees because they all seem to fit you.
Jon, I love how your logo looks - the circle with the S curve is just sweet as mint ice-cream!
6. Jonathan Snook
Apr 8th, 2006
btw Jeff: I like your logo. It looks like a basketball, though. hehe.
7. Jeff Smith
Apr 12th, 2006
Thanks Jonathan. Looking at it a little closer, it does sort of look like a basketball, exchange the blue for orange, the grey for black, and away we go. :)
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