How do graphic designers use shapes to change the way consumers view a brand or product?

Images taken from Nintendo and the World Animal Foundation

The shapes that designers use in logos aren’t arbitrary, they’re there for a reason. The subconscious mind responds to shapes in different ways. Straight lines, circles, curves and jagged edges all invoke different feelings and have different meanings. Circles, ovals and other rounded and soft shapes tend to send out a positive and emotional message. Using circles in a logo’s design suggests community, friendship, love, and unity. Straight edged shapes like squares and rectangles give a sense stability and imply balance and triangles have a good association with power, science, religion and law. Straight lines and precise shapes also show off strength, professionalism, and efficiency. The subconscious mind also associates vertical lines with masculinity, strength, and aggression, while horizontal lines suggest community, tranquillity and calm.

    Let’s look at Nintendo. It’s a popular brand with a distinctive logo, so let’s pick it apart. First thing you notice it the color, a bright elementary red. From my last post we know that it represents energy and excitement something that makes sense for an entertainment and gaming company. Next thing you’ll notice is the rectangle around the text which we now learned symbolizes stability, power, and professionalism all things that can be said of the company itself. But notice also how the edges are rounded, bringing in the feeling of community and family, something Nintendo and their products endorse.

    It’s not just geometric shapes that impact us, natural and abstract shapes are used in design as well. Natural shapes like plant and animal silhouettes show originality organic, balance, and refreshment while abstract shapes show duality, uniqueness, and creativity. Let’s now look at a company that uses both natural and geometric shapes in their logo, World Animal Foundation. You see this logo and without reading any text you know it belongs to an animal oriented foundation. A frog silhouette is a recognizable shape and also lets you know the animals involved with this foundations aren’t domestic but wild. The rings encompassing the logo give a sense of unity and connection, showing off the purpose and ideals of the foundation, and with the desaturated green, this all but screams nature.

    Shapes play a monumental roll in our lives from the moment we’re born, growing up playing with colorful blocks, to now where these shapes are shaping our feelings about companies and giving off silent messages. The last step in a logo is the composition which will also be the last, and next, blog post.