This is probably the most vague concept that I have presented in the “5 Qualities” series and it’s only number two. However, hopefully, I will clear up a lot of cloudiness in this post. Recognizability is mostly about consistency in branding; creating a brand for yourself or your company that can be identified in any situation. The best way to do this, when it comes to designing a logo, is to break down the logo in to two parts: the graphic and the wordmark. The graphic and wordmark should be able to work just as well independently as they do together. If your logo does not work when deconstructed, it is only half a logo and your branding is not as versatile as it could be.

Let’s take the Nike logo as a perfect example of a logo that can be deconstructed and still be recognizable. The forward slant of the work mark matches the forward motion of the “swoosh” and the weight of the two elements are similar. Keeping the elements of your logo similar in this manner helps to maintain recognizability when the logo is deconstructed and gives the branding more strength at the core. If you saw an ad in a magazine and it contained only the “swoosh” or only the wordmark, you would still be able to look at the icon and say “Oh, hey, it’s a Nike ad.”