So we’ll start by describing what we mean by an ‘icon’. By this we mean a visual device that people can use to recognise your business without the business name. Here are some famous logos that you could recognise by themselves.
So the clear benefit to having an icon as part of your logo is that you can use it by itself and people recognise it. This is particularly useful if you are limited on space, putting your logo over a complex image or if it will be very small when people see it. We use just our ‘lightbulb’ icon for our social media profile pic and you know it’s us right?
Some brands are typographical, this means they are just made up of letters, which are sometimes stylised. Here are some great examples of brands like this
With these brands you usually have to use the whole logo every time.
So the answer is that no, you don’t NEED an icon, but it does make life easier.
If you’d like to chat about logo design for your business then get in touch.