Typography Talk: Logos

I love discussing logo design and I also love typography, so I thought that, for the second installment in my Typography Talk series, I would focus on the typography of logos.  I have several great examples of logos for you to look at, and following each logo, I'll talk a little about why I like them, and maybe I'll even mention a few ways I think they could even better.

Let's start things off with a classic example of a logo with extremely wonderful and recognizable typography.  Can you guess?  It's the Coca-Cola logo!

Wow.  I absolutely love this logo, from the swirly "C" to the last little ending on the "A."  I honestly think this logo is just exquisite.  First off, I'll share a few things I love about this logo specifically...

I think you probably get the picture that I like this logo.  A lot.  But I would say that there's one tiny thing that I don't love so much, and that's the way the curl of the "C" in "Cola" is incorporated into the "l."  The idea is fabulous, but I feel like the spaces between the curl and the "l" could be refined a bit, especially the second one.

But that's such a small thing in comparison to the overall picture of the logo.  

Next up, a newer logo: Charlotte Russe.  I've only been there a couple times, but it's fun to browse around there.  I noticed their logo when I was observing their excellent shopping bag design.  The main thing I love about this logo is that it's not just a logo.  Charlotte Russe has done a great job incorporating their logo into an entire brand identity system, including some other great typography.  Here's a look at some of the ways they've done this.

First, I'll tell you a little bit about each piece.  Number one was something I found on Google images, perhaps a past website header for Charlotte Russe?  Numbers two and three are pages from Charlotte Russe's "Lookbook," a fashion guide that I like for the graphics.  Number four is simply the logo.  There are things I like about each of these pieces, and I've picked one to share for each piece in the collage!  The numbers correspond to the numbered items in the collage.

  

The thing I like most about the Charlotte Russe branding system is something that I can tell you in just two words: diverse continuity.  Sounds like an oxymoron, right?  How can something be diverse and have continuity, or consistency?  I'm honestly not sure how the Charlotte Russe designer did it, but I think they succeeded.  The colors and general feeling of Charlotte Russe's branding system is cohesive, but yet they incorporate quite a few different fonts.  Usually this isn't such a great idea design wise, I've been told, but somehow, it works for Charlotte Russe.  I think the reason for this is mostly because of the image they want to present.  Their image, and even their clothing and accessories, are very eclectic, and so the eclectic design scheme is perfect.

I've got to mention one little tiny thing that I don't prefer about the Charlotte Russe logo.  It's a part of the logo itself, actually a very small part...the lower case "t's" in "Charlotte."  I don't really like how they are connected - it makes them look more like one upper case "H" to me.  But like my complaint about the way the "l" was intertwined in the Coca-Cola logo, this is a pretty minor thing, and it's really only noticeable if you look at the logo a certain way.

The next logo I want to share with you is one that has been the center of some designer paranoia, outrage, and controversy in the recent past.  The Gap logo.  I'm not sure if any of you had heard, but Gap had supposedly changed their logo to something very ugly, which caused quite the hubbub.  Then they apparently changed it back, for whatever reason.  But despite all of this controversy, I really like the logo that Gap is using.

I just realized that this is the logo for another clothing store, just like Charlotte Russe!  I guess that clothing stores tend to value typography?  I'm not sure.  Anyway, the Gap logo is one that I really like, and I'd love to tell you why. 

You know, I can't really think of anything that I don't like about this logo.  It's simply great.

For my fourth and final logo of the day, I am going to transition from retail stores to a restaurant: Chipotle.  This Mexican restaurant seems to have changed their logo in the fairly recent past, and I think the new one is quite great overall.  Here's a look at the traditional logo (the circle one) and the secondary version that appears to be for signs on the storefronts.

Here are a few things I like about the logo, and I promise I won't mention "the color" this time.  Although I do like the color.  It's red, and so I like it.  Anyway, though, besides, the color, I like...

I do like this logo, but I've got to say that I think this is probably my least favorite of the bunch, not because of the general look of the logo, but because of little things that seem to make the logo slightly less stunning.  One thing, as was mentioned on Brand New, is the "E" in "Chipotle."  The second line of the "E" is positioned lower than normal, and, as the author on Brand New put it, it "looks needlessly retro."  I would agree with that statement, but what bothers me more with regard to the "E" is the fact that it's different from the "E" in "Mexican."  In my opinion, if they had wanted to change the way the "E" looked, it should have at least been done consistently.

The other thing I don't like quite as much is, surprisingly, the typography!  This actually surprised me as I thought about it, because, on the surface, I do like the font.  But when I read the Brand New article and looked at it some more, I started to think that the modern font, while it is nice, is a bit anti-climactic.  I can't really come up with a better solution, but the font does lack a little bit of pizzaz.

However, there's one more thing I really do like about the Chipotle graphic design, and that's the website.  See?

As would be expected, the logo appears on the site in a central location, but what catches my eye about this homepage is the notepaper, doodle-y looking piece of greatness right in the middle.  That is so cool.  I really love that, and I love how the doodle-y nature of the graphic comes close to mimicking the little pepper icon on the logo.  And, to tie it all back into typography, the font (hand-drawn, I'm guessing) on the notepaper is stellar.

I hope you haven't gotten too bored with all my ramblings about logos and typography and such, and I hope you've enjoyed looking at some good examples of typography in logo design.  Well, mostly.  And I'd say even the Chipotle logo is a good example, just maybe not quite as stellar (in my humble opinion) as the other three.

I hope you all have a super great day.  And please comment and do all the other stuff if you want for a chance to win in the giveaway!