12: Corporate Logos

The term logo, which has its origin in the ancient Greek term logotipos, is defined as “a graphic element, symbol, or icon of a trademark or brand” (Logos, 2007). As key visual devices that cause immediate recognition of a company, these iconic symbols represent specific identities that are linked to products and services for companies and are therefore important components of marketplace identities. With businesses competing in increasingly global economies, logo uniqueness is essential to avoiding confusion. Individuals must be able to read these logos in order to ascertain indices of quality that are associated with certain companies. As a result, knowledge of logos is a necessary postmodern alternative literacy for consumers.