As mentioned in an earlier post, not everyone needs a corporate type logo.  There are many businesses that are well served by an illustrated logo. I did some research to find some famous illustrated logos and found that many of them have to do with food, restaurants, fashion, womens items, vehicles and sports. (see below)

Unquestionably, two of the most famous illustrated logos are Coke and KFC.  I know Coke is known around the world and I’ll bet KFC is pretty popular in other countries also.

In my personal experience (backed up by the illustrated logos I have done over the years) you can add to the list of types of companies well served by illustrated logos businessess to do with children, service businesses such as plumbing, locksmith, construction and music bands.

(I know there are some cool band logos, but I couldn’t think of any, besides the Stones tongue.)

Usually when you see an illustrated logo it tells you something about the business it represents, such as the bottle of coke, or something about a person or thing involved in the business such as the Colonel for KFC. Sometimes, like the Hermes logo they tell something about the history of the business. Hermes started way back in the day as an upscale saddle company and later became famous for fashion, perfumes and leather products.  The Ferrari logo was painted on the side of the plane of a legendary pilot during World War I—an Italian count named Count Francesco Baracca. He was shot down during the war, but later his mother asked that his horse be the symbol for the Ferrari, saying it would bring luck.

And then there is the Margaritaville logo…just looking at it you are ready to amble along the beach until you find the first bar serving margaritas!

There are many more reasons for going illustrated and you shouldn’t be intimidated by the common wisdom that applies to corporate logos—less is more.  With illustrated logos, they are charming little pictures that describe in some way, your business and you should be proud to put it on the sign outside of your shop/restaurant/business, on cards, flyers whatever. It speaks of your business, your taste and your style. Let the customers come!

Here is a list of of some famous (and familiar) logos that went the illustrative route, rather than the corporate simple-glyph route, such as Nike:

Fashion and Women Businesses

SPORTS AND HEALTH CLUB LOGOS