1 minute read
Logos 4: Initials94
by iKnow
94
LOGOS 4: INITIALS
Advertisement
Abbreviating your company name to something snappier became so popular at the end of the 20th Century that brands are running out of unclaimed initials. The brands that own URLs (unique resource locators) for wesbite names aren’t always the ones you’d expect to see there.
It’s not fashionable at the moment to give yourself a brand name and logo that are made up of your initials. The trend at the moment is to unfurl your initials back into the original brand name. If you are better known as the abbreviation than the full name, stick with the short version; no-one would expect the BBC to change back to the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BMW back to Bayerische Motoren Werke or even Bavarian Motor Works.
The idea One of the most sought after (and most counterfeited) luxury brands is Louis Vuitton, whose logo is made up of a crossed L and V. The company keeps the full brand name, but uses its initials as its logo. Monsieur Vuitton, manufacturer of luggage for the better off Parisian in the 19th Century, was tired of having his elegant striped design copied, so he added his initials to show that his trunks were the real thing and that others were mere imitations. Little did he know, his LV logo is now the badge of those who can afford to spend a great deal of money on a canvas bag, and are happy for everyone to know it.
The LV logo has appeared in different colours and in designs alongside Murakami’s smiling daisies and cherries, but has never been dropped from his range of canvas luggage.
When a logo has used initials for over 100 years, and is a widely recognised part of the brand, ignore the trends and keep using it.
In practice • Be prepared that if you shorten your company name to its initials, then people will start to call it by the short form. • Initials might be short and snappy, but they might be confused with someone else’s brand. Use your own name if your initials are too generic as a brand name. • If you’ve been using your initials as your brand and your logo for longer than anyone remembers, like IBM, JCB and NCR, keep them.
