Logo vs. Logotype vs. Logomark – What is the difference?

This article is originally posted at Zavoral Design blog and it is available also in Czech language.

Among many design agencies, designers and also among the general public, there is still widespread confusion regarding the terms logo, logotype and logomark. You may find that many design agencies use the term logotype for entire compound logos, but they not realize that the terms logotype and logomark are just parts of which their logos are composed. So you can very easily find yourself in a situation where you want the studio to create a design towards logotype direction, but the agency will unreasonably deliver logo with an integrated logomark, which is not what would meet your goals and solve you business problems.

The logotype is the text part and the logomark is an icon / pictogram. Logo is therefore final whole representing the brand regardless of whether it is designed only with logotype, logomark or it is logo composed of the two mentioned.

If you find the topic and terminology very chaotic, don’t worry. After reading this article, you will be completely clear in everything. At the following lines, we will explain everything in detail and give examples for better understanding.

Logotype

A logotype is a part of a logo, but it can also be an entire standalone logo if it is designed as a separate element and is not accompanied by a logomark, ie an icon. The concept of the logotype is entirely based on text or letters. Although it may not looks like it, in most cases it is not just simple generic font, but a sophisticated graphic element with a clear purpose.

The logotype itself can be used either alone (eg Google logos, Netflix) or in combination with a logomark, ie an icon / pictogram (eg Microsoft logo). If a logotype is combined with a logomark, the complete unit should be called a logo and not a logotype.

Logomark

It is an icon / pictogram that does not contain any additional text element and is therefore used completely independently – a beautiful example is certainly the well-known logo of Apple. Logomarks can be found in all shapes, from complex and complicated to completely simple.

If the logomark is supplemented by plain text or a logotype, then the logomark becomes just an element of the given design and we, therefore, do not call the whole a logomark or a logotype, but a compound logo.

Logo

A logo is a general and main term for a graphic representation and an identification symbol of a brand, company, product, or individual. In short, both logotypes and logomarks are subsets of logos and can generally be called logos.

In practice, you can most often meet with logos, which are formed by both a logotype and a logomark and together form one unit. One of the indisputable advantages of such a solution is that the brand does not have to expend such effort and cost to help their customers and the public to associate the logo with them or the product of the brand, and thus fulfills its primary identification goal much more effectively.

As mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this article, we should avoid labeling the combined logo from the logotype and logomark only as a mere logotype, or vice versa only as a logomark.

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