Word and Image: Logos and the like

Nike

The idea of design using words alongside images is not a new one. Design (specifically advertisements) have been using words with images for hundreds of years. I want to look at modern advertisement and logo design and think about how words function as part of a logo in modern society.

First, there is the Nike Swoosh. Arguably one of the most famous and recognizable logos in modern society the swoosh is so simple: not a word or letter, one solid colored, single mark. It is beautiful in its simplicity and so effective. Words are not needed to identify the brand, yet fancier logos have far less recognizability. Does this logo lead to the question: is design better without words? I don't know that it's quite saying that, but I think that simplicity is the most effective. Another logo in this same vein that comes to mind is the uber simple Apple logo.

Google's logo

On the other hand there are incredibly effective logos that only use words. Take for example, the Google logo. They basically picked a font (a simple one), typed their name, and colored each letter. That's the whole logo, their name. But it's immediately recognizable as Google's logo, not just their name. But there's nothing more than words here. No fancy swoosh or image, just a single word. It's great design, and I wouldn't dare argue with the world's most popular website. Another logo that I think uses a similar technique effectively is the Coca-Cola logo, again just the text, stylized a bit, but very recognizable. The dichotomy of the two different logo designs presented here illustrated the interesting uses of words and images together (or apart) in design.