5 Questions about Logo Design, Branding and Identity, Part 1

5 Questions about Logo Design, Branding and Identity, Part 1
by Mitchell Eismont

1. How many logos do you think are designed in a year?
2. How many of them last past 5 years? 10 years? 50 years? 100 years?
3. Why do these logos stand the test of time?
4. How much does logo design cost and why?
5. Why have a logo in the first place?

Not sure if I can answer all these questions in one blog post, this may be a two day affair. I wanted to bring forth these 5 questions, because I often ask this to myself when I look at other agencies design work and branding of major corporations. It take a lot of thinking to go into a symbol or mark. You have to know your target audience and have a consistent message.

1. How many logos do you think are designed in a year?
I wonder if there is any actual way to tabulate this data. I personally make anywhere from 5-10 different logos a year. There has to be at least 50,000 + designers in America doing the same as me.   This would equate to about 250,000 logos or more. Lets try and figure out this statistic in another manner: How many new business are started in a year? According to the Kauffman Foundation there were 565,000 business started in America in 2010. Each of these business’s would need a logo. This doesn’t factor in logo redesign, branding for specific products, packages, subsidiary brands etc. If I were to take a educated guess I am going to say that at least 2,000,000 logos are created in the United States alone in a year. That is a logo for every 150 American Citizens.

Why does this statistic even matter? 
The reason it matters is because your logo has to stand out in the 2 million logos that are designed every year. How do you do that? You hire a professionals such as myself to make your mark and branding speak to your client base.

Stay tuned for the answer to question #2 tomorrow.

Written by Mitchell Eismont
Eismont is a professor in graphic design as well is the Art Director at a branding agency with branches in both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.  To get help with your logo or brand click this link.