ImageWord - WordImage - Logos

Thinking about how images and words interact at the simplest level brings you to a situation where you have one image and one or possibly a few words. Most of these situations occur in business and company logos. In a world where we are surrounded by advertisements and company logos a business has to be able to communicate to the public quickly, clearly, and efficiently who they are and what they're all about in a few seconds with a logo and their name or a slogan. In my last post about Fie's lecture I said that using words and images together was a great way to deliver ideas and information quickly and efficiently in the form of comics and graphic novels and the same seems to apply here. The only difference is rather than the words and images working together as separate things to create an experience, in a logo the image and word almost become one in the same like the signified and signifier. The best example I can think of is Nike.

When the company first started advertising with this logo out I'm sure the word Nike was next to or under the famous swoosh until they became well known and now when you hear or see the word Nike you picture the swoosh or vice versa when you see the swoosh you automatically think Nike. So in a way Nike created its own 'dog' in terms of the signified and signifier that everybody can read and understand. In creating this symbol Nike has created a way for consumers to instantly recognize their brand just as quickly as you can hear the word dog and picture one in your head. Having that instant connection and recognition makes you feel comfortable in what you're purchasing and trusting that the company who has put their mark on the product has sold you something they can stand behind because they as a company have created this entity through their logo that can be held responsible for any unhappy experience the consumer may face from use of the product. In short the relationship of images and words are imperative when used in logo design to quickly connect and inform consumers of a companies worth and integrity.