21 Jul Are you a Logo Guru? Take the Quiz to Find Out!

Logos are an everyday part of our lives. From billboards, to magazine ads, to commercials on television, we see them everywhere. A good logo helps us remember brand names. An even better logo gets us to associate the image with quality content and customer service. No matter the product or service, every business brands themselves with some sort of logo. So much of our product knowledge is connected with logos, but how much do you really know about them? Take this quiz and see if you can call yourself a logo guru.

1. Where does the term “logo” originate from?

• German manufacturers
• Ancient Greece
• The American Industrial Revolution
• Japanese business culture

If you said “Ancient Greece,” congrats! You nailed it. The word “logo” is a shortened version of the word “logogram” and was first developed by the ancient Grecians. Similar to today, its original definition is “a sign or character representing a word.”

2. In sports, another word for “logo” is:

• Monogram
• Seal
• Crest
• Icon

The correct answer here is C — crest. Inspired by heraldic designs and coats of arms, logos that represent sports teams or clubs are also commonly known as crests. But, don’t make your logo too close to a coat of arms. Resembling an established family crest too closely may get you in trouble with monarchs in some countries.

3. What was the first ever logo to be trademarked?

• Bass Brewery
• The US Postal Service
• Betty Crocker
• The McDonald’s “golden arches”

A — Bass Brewery takes this question. With its simplistic red triangle design, the brewery trademarked their logo in 1876, almost 100 hundred years after the company was established. Even today, barely anything has changed with the logo and it remains as recognizable as it was at the turn of the century.

4. What is considered the key element in creating a good logo?

• Size
• Slogan
• Shape
• Color

While any good graphic designer knows that all elements must work in tandem, D– color, is largely considered to be one of the most important elements in creating a memorable logo. By playing on visual markers that the human brain is most likely to hone in on, logo designers use contrast and other tools to make a logo pop in our memories.

5. What is the most popular color used for social media and other similar online platform logos?

• Green
• Yellow
• Blue
• Purple

From Facebook to Twitter, the answer here is definitely C– blue. Most industries have color schemes that are unofficially used by designers. According to Designmantic, social media logos are typically blue for two reasons. 1) The color blue is widely referred to as people’s favorite color when surveyed. 2) Psychologically, blue is associated in our minds with trustworthiness and helps in improving the flow of communication. Both of these reasons make blue the best color for social media logos.

6. What is the difference between a “logo” and a “trademark?”

• Logos are always pictures and trademarks contain words
• A trademark is any image associated with a brand, while a logo is a kind of trademark
• Trademarks are illegal to reuse, but a logo can be passed around among companies without express permission
• Trademarks cost money and logos are free

The answer here is B — trademark is more of an umbrella term covering lots of different branding options, and a logo happens to be one of them. Your trademark and your logo could be different or one in the same. Either way, all logos are trademarks, but not all trademarks are considered logos.

7. How do you officially trademark a logo?

• Place a ™ symbol next to your logo to ensure that it can’t be reused
• You don’t have to trademark a logo — redistribution is illegal on its own
• Contact the US Patent and Trademark Office
• Use your logo strategically enough that all other companies will know it belongs to you

While trademarking your logo isn’t absolutely necessary for use (as long as no one else is using one so similar that they may accuse you of stealing intellectual property), your best best in maintaining sole use of your logo is to C– register it with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Their website contains contact info and step-by-step instructions on how best to trademark images associated with your brand.

8. What is the most recognized brand in the world?

• Apple
• Google
• Coca-Cola
• Disney

Any one of these answers would be a great guess, but in this case, technology giant A — Apple, is the winner. With its signature partially eaten apple logo delicately placed on a myriad of products, people across the world are most familiar with the legacy of Steve Jobs. Sleek design and slick commercials for iPods and Macbooks certainly haven’t hurt this logo’s ability to stick out in our memories.

9. What is the “color of the year” according to Pantone?

• Seafoam Green
• Magenta
• Burnt Orange
• Rose Quartz & Serenity

If you said D– Rose Quartz and Serenity, then you’ve been following the color trends closely and know that 2016 is the year of not one, but two, colors. Every year Pantone names a color (or in this case, two) of the year. The colors for 2016 indicate a trend in hue and saturation to be seen in logos and branding across the board. According to their site, this year’s choice of Rose Quartz and Serenity (a light blueish-purple) is meant to embrace mindfulness in a world consumed with stressors.

10. How many different kinds of logo styles are most commonly used?

• 6
• 4
• 2
• 8

According to Entrepreneur Magazine, the four main types of logos mostly used by designers are Wordmarks – freestanding abbreviations (CNN, IBM), Letterform – single letter logos (Honda, Uber), Pictorial – illustrated symbols (Starbucks, Twitter), and Abstract – images typically unrecognizable outside of their logo association (Nike “swoosh”).

How did you do? Are you a total logo guru or a logo newbie? There’s always more to learn and research when coming up with a logo to properly brand your company. Brush up on all the things that make a good logo “pop” and before you know it you’ll brand will be featured on logo quizzes across the internet!  

Photo credit: Véronique Debord-Lazaro / CC SA 2.0