Capricious Communication

Communication is a very fickle thing.

We experience, use, and dive into it every second of our lives and yet it is still so misunderstood. Everyone reacts differently to all kinds of communication. You have verbal, visual, audio, written and then you have language barriers those who can’t hear or those who can’t talk and yet we still somehow manage to get across a very simple version of what we want in those situations. It’s truly fascinating to sit back and simply watch how others communicate — or fail to do so. Visual communication seems to be the one type of communication most people respond to the best. Sitting there being able to see how things work instead of being told and having your imagination take flight to see something completely different than what the person explaining it does. Math would be so much worse without visual communications along with learning an instrument or how to cook and so on and so forth. Learning a trade by reading a book with just words or simply listening to someone sounds awful — just like trying to put something together with directions that are just words, or even worse are in a different language. Now most directions come with photos but they’re not the best and everyone is still confused. 

 

All “tools” of communication are extremely necessary. 

You can’t read without type and symbols, you can’t express a certain feeling without playing around with colors in your label of photograph. Things would not exist without type, images, symbols, or color. Yes, all have they’re strengths and weakness of courses based on what it is you’re aiming for but that doesn’t mean one is more “necessary” than another. From the very beginning of our ancestry, cave men communicated through the use of different images and symbols, they added color to enhance what it was they were showing and they eventually turned symbols into type. Everything we have today would not be if it wasn’t for the forms of communication and how they work together to create wonderful things that please our little eyes.  

 

What makes a strong logo? 

Its functionality? It’s ability to be recited off hand by the public? It being “structurally sound”? It’s remark-ability? According to The startups “What makes a great logo?” The answer is all of he above and then some. Here’s a simple example — the Target logo:

 

This logo is very simple but it gets the point across very well. When “the Target logo” was mentioned you all immediately visualized it in your heads, right? That’s its ability to be recited off hand by the public along with its remark-ability. It’s functionality is also very strong. The name of the store this logo belongs to is “Target” as everyone knows. The logo is a solid red circle, followed by a white rim, and closed by a red rim. The logo is a literal target. It’s use of the color red pops out to use because red is the color that’s used to grab everyone’s attention. The color used in the Target logo is a decently saturated red which is the kind of red that stands out the most to human eyes. The logos bullseye ( the center red circle) also stands out to the human eye as the other circles in the logo aren’t full. 

 

Another example is idearoute:

 

The lightbulb is a very common symbol for an idea. This company took that and then inserted another symbol that almost everyone will relate to as street signs which usually goes along with route. They used very calming colors of blue and grey along with the white space that is the silhouette of the street signs. This color combination relaxes the brain and makes the person more likely to go to that company to fulfill their needs. By taking advantage of simple symbols the company has made it very easy for people to recognize and recite this logo off hand — if someone never heard of this company and was shown this logo they’d most likely be able to figure out what it was for. 

 

A final example is McDonalds: 

 

 

 

 

Everyone knows the McDonalds Logo. It’s another pop of red with a contrasting yellow that brings your eyes to its notorious yellow arches. Legend says that the arches were designed this specific way to remind people of boobs thinking that it will draw them to their fast food franchise — sirens much? It passed the test for being recited off hand and it remark-ability not only in the US but in countries all around the world.