Logos, Icons, Pictograms, Photographs in Social Media

 

Most of us are aware that viewers respond to pictorial signs, for we are visual creatures and remember things we see – especially images.

Those in advertising know pictures are key to marketing, and these include logos, icons, pictograms and photographs. So what’s the difference between these four? Below are short definitions as they relate to the world of business.

Logo

In marketing, a logo is a graphic depiction or representation of a company name and is designed for instant recognition. As mentioned in my last post, a logo can consist of just an image, or it can be a logotype, or a combination mark.

 

 

The important elements of logos are scalability, and adaptability to both colour and black and white. The first of these, to be scalable, is because the logo must be identifiable within any media – for instance, in a large format for a billboard poster or else reduced in size for a thumbnail web graphic. For this reason, vector-based logos are more common.  As for colour versus black and white: most logos generally will be produced in colour, but they need to be recognizable in black and white too. How else would logos stand out if company brochures were photocopied, for example? A well-designed logo will be seen and known at any size and in any colour/non-colour format.

 

Icon

Icons are graphic depictions like logos, but utilized differently. They started out being used in a mainly informative manner – and still are – but now icons are also an entertaining way to convey messages. Examples of an icon’s use are as metaphorical or abstract analogies that a reader can understand quickly; for instance, a cursor turning into a pointy-hand when a line of text is linked and clickable. Icons are great at fulfilling functions on tablets and smartphones where a screen can’t hold sufficient explanatory text.

 

As well, icons can be animated: lines visually pulsate, buttons change colour when activated, cartoon characters move. Emoticons are a good example of moving icons: they are entertaining for they smile and wink at us, poke their tongues at us, and nod their cute little heads.

Well-thought-out icons are understood globally, across boundaries of language. This is why commonplace figures such as hands, vehicles, geometric shapes, animals and humans make the best figures for icons.

Pictogram

These are for guidance and are used to protect and warn the viewer; therefore they must be instantly decipherable.

 

There is an art to creating simple, single images that convey very clear messages. Pictograms, like icons, must cross cultural lines and be understood regardless of language. Therefore they must resemble that which they signify, or else be globally agreed up signs. Pictograms as such are not often used in the advertising world to market products, but they are important in keeping us from walking off a cliff…

 

 

     

Photograph

In marketing, an effective shot of the merchandise – think shoes, cars, lipstick – or an image demonstrating a lifestyle the merchandise gives us – think hammock on the beach; being admired by observers; jumping for joy – can do wonders for getting viewers to realize the benefits of your product.

Photographs are not logos, but can be as memorable and are another tool for alerting your clients and enabling them to recall your image when shopping around. One trend in contempory advertising is to use photographs of people performing a function or animals making eye-contact with the viewer.