If you’re familiar with branding, you must also be familiar with logo design. It’s okay if you’re not because you can check out our other blog about the definition of a logo! Anyway, for a lot of brands, logos aren’t just icons or images that represent the brand but it’s an image that attracts just the right target audience. It’s a matter of leaving an impact on people’s memories by incorporating both colour and shape psychology. Previously, we published a blog that explains colour psychology. So, in this blog, we’re going to be focusing on shape psychology.
A successful logo has to be attractive while also clearly conveying the brand’s message. Understanding shape psychology and incorporating it into your logo design ensures that you better communicate your brand. Thus, we are delivering this blog to tell you almost everything you need to know about shape psychology and why it’s important to incorporate it into your logo design.
What is Shape Psychology?
Source: Freepik
Allow us to shed some light on what shape psychology is. Shape psychology is the study and understanding of the emotional and psychological associations that different shapes evoke. This means that different shapes can deliver different meanings and evoke certain emotions. It’s important to learn and understand this to properly attract the right target audience. This is why shape psychology is so important to consider when you’re designing your logo as it plays a significant role in shaping your brand identity and communicating your brand’s focus. In the end, all this contributes to creating a memorable and long-lasting impact on viewers.
The Shapes & Their Meanings
First, we’ll dive into the different shapes and the meaning they convey:
1. Circles and Curves
Circles and curves can be shown in a few different ways in a logo design. For instance, circles can be used primarily in using the Golden Ratio while designing your logo. In other instances, circles and curves are incorporated into a logo design to show unity, harmony or community. Since a circle is a curved line with each end meeting, it can also represent endlessness or wholeness. A few examples of famous logos that use circles and curves are Audi and Pepsi. Both these logos perfectly represent how circles are used in logo designs and how they clearly communicate each brand’s image.
Source: seeklogo & Logowik
2. Squares and Rectangles
Everybody knows that squares and rectangles have four sides and this makes them stable and balanced. Most buildings are made of squares and rectangles too. Logos that incorporate these shapes want to show a sort of structure that lets people know that they are reliable and trustworthy. A couple of great examples of famous brands that do this are Microsoft and YouTube. When people see both these logos, they already know that those platforms are reliable and provide what they need whenever they need it.
Source: 1000 Logos & YouTube
3. Triangles
Triangles in logo designs can mean a few things. For some, it could mean growth or good progress. For others, it could portray power or energy. They are commonly used by brands that want to convey a sense of ambition, innovation, and forward-thinking. Even the direction of the triangle or how it’s positioned may evoke different emotions from consumers. For instance, an upward-pointing triangle can represent progress and achievement while a downward-pointing triangle can portray stability and foundation. Paramount and Adobe’s logo both shows how brands incorporate triangles in their design.
Source: Logos-world & Adobe Blog
4. Curves and Spirals
For a more playful or creative logo design, brands can incorporate curves and spirals, but it isn’t limited to being playful or creative. Curves and spirals can also convey fluidity, flexibility or flow. Basically, it can give a sense of movement that allows your brand to look a bit more easygoing. Usually, curves and spirals can be seen in logos for brands in industries such as fashion, beauty, and art. Two good examples of that are Coca-Cola and Pinterest. Coca-Cola’s logo looks fun and flexible while Pinterest’s logo looks very artistic and creative.
Source: Vecteezy & 1000 Logos
5. Vertical Shapes
In most cases, vertical shapes imply an upward movement of strength, growth or stability. Brands that use vertical lines or shapes in their logo design want to convey that their brand is strong and efficient. Spotify is one of the famous brands that incorporate horizontal lines in a vertical manner that shows the audio aspect of the platform. It’s a sound wave symbol that is turned vertically and can mean enhanced sounds or experience.
Source: Vecteezy
6. Horizontal Shapes
Horizontal logos tend to deliver sort of a calmness to whoever sees it. This may be because of how horizontal shapes look stable and balanced. For instance, LinkedIn’s logo looks professional and reliable thanks to how it’s designed. Their logo is arranged horizontally and consists of the company name with the word “in” encapsulated by a blue square. The horizontal layout makes reading and recognition much better for their targeted audience.
Source: LinkedIn
7. Natural or Organic Shapes
Natural or organic shapes are shapes that aren’t typical geometric ones. They’re usually derived from shapes in nature. Usually, brands that incorporate natural or organic shapes want people who see their logo to feel a sense of comfort, harmony or relaxation. As if they want to let their consumers know that they’re kind and approachable. For instance, The Body Shop’s logo incorporates a green leaf shape with a person’s silhouette inside it. This communicates the brand’s focus on natural, cruelty-free beauty products. Another good example is the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) logo which is a black and white panda.
Source: 1000 Logos
8. Abstract Shapes
Abstract shapes that are used in logo design are unique. There aren’t really any rules or steps to it because it’s up to one’s creativity. They are meant to enable one-of-a-kind and symbolic representations that evoke all sorts of emotions, ideas, and brand values. As an example, let’s take a look at Nike’s iconic “swoosh” logo that’s meant to be a checkmark, resonating with their own focus. Another example would be NBC’s logo that’s meant to represent a peacock showing off its feathers. Both these logos show people what their brand represents in a unique way, allowing them to stand out among other brands.
Source: 1000 Logos & NewscastStudio
Importance of Shape Psychology in Logo Design
- Shapes convey and evoke different emotions and moods. With the right emotion or mood, you attract the right people.
- Every shape symbolizes different ideas. Some can make your brand appear more fun and some can make it look professional.
- Having the right shapes incorporated in your logo design would build and strengthen trust between a brand and its consumers. Plus, it also creates professionalism for a brand.
Let’s Wrap It Up
Whenever you’re designing or redesigning your logo, keep in mind that shapes play an important role in delivering the right message for your brand. Different shapes have different meanings and evoke different emotions in your target audience. Not only that, shapes are also powerful visual elements that can communicate a brand’s personality, values, and emotions.
Understanding shape psychology enables designers to create logos that resonate with the target audience, differentiate the brand from competitors, and establish a lasting impression. Thus, taking shape psychology into account when designing your logo will help your brand in the long run. Creating logos that are strong and memorable happens to be one of CR8 Consultancy’s strong suits. So, if you ever need assistance in creating a logo that suits your brand while evoking the right emotions from your target audience, we’re always prepared to lend our expertise.
Want to create an impactful and memorable logo? Give us a call!
