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Three Great Logos I saw on the Motorway
Recently, I traveled down south for a BBQ celebrating my Aunties 50th Birthday. For once this Summer, it was actually quite sunny and didn’t rain here in England!
Here’s me (er, the one sat down, pointed out)…
…and here’s my beer (in a Guinness Glass, yeah)…
Now that’s out of the way, I’ll talk about some logo design…
Logos on the Motorway
Whilst traveling on the M1 Motorway (highway) down the Chester, I was being overwhelmed with the amount of logo designs printed on billboards, cars, lorries and buildings on the side of the road. It was then I remembered a few blog posts I read, where designers listed all kinds of that they viewed varied logo designs in a day.
With this in mind, I singled out three logo designs I saw when traveling, each pertaining to a differnet reason why it is a great logo design, so here goes…
Travelodge Logo
When you’re cruising down any motorway in the UK, you’ll see plenty of these Travelodge Hotels tucked away amongst the Wimpy’s and McDonalds that feed our motorists with their daily dose of burgers. When road-rage is setting in because someone just cut-in on you — or all you want to do is sleep, this logo is perfectly targeted at you, the driver.
This design cleverly shows calming blues with abstract ‘hills’ imagery depicting someone asleep with a pillow, but set against a red background. I’m sure that red was used to convey a subliminal message along the lines of ‘flee the brake-lights’, or similar notion.
GreenCycle Logo
This logo design is nothing spectacular in itself, it’s more the whole concept behind it that makes it special. I clocked eyes on a white van with the GreenCycle Logo printed onto one of the doors. At first, it confused me a little, as I saw the word ‘Gen’ in the lighter green. Although just after I read the logo this way, I realised that it was actually the word ‘ReCycle’ spelt out in the darker green.
Because of this, I knew exactly what the company did. So, although this logo won’t win prizes, it still impressed me. Yeah, it also confused me a little — but it stuck in my mind. Isn’t this what logo design is all about?
DPD Logo
Now, quite the polar-opposite when it comes to instant recognition, this logo design for DPD gave me all the information about the companies services in a split second.
In the bat of an eye-lid — and even though I’d never seen this design before, I knew two facts about this company straight away.
1. It was a delivery service
2. It was a national delivery service, as the red arrows point in all directions. (This was reinforced by the fact that the vehicle was large and traveling on a main motorway).
For a logo to deliver (mind the pun) this information to the viewers eye in an instant is a credit to the company. The logo isn’t outstanding (it’s unbalanced for a start), but it communicates the viewer — the basis of Graphic Design. What do you think of these designs? I’d like to hear your opinion…
Further Reading from other Blogs:
A Binary life: A day in brands
Designers Who Blog: Branding before Breakfast
PhilsBlogging: Where we encounter brands
Aaron Russell: 13 Logos without moving a Muscle
Afs Blog: 12 logos in 12 Minutes
Mike Vogel: Brand Timeline Portrait
The Happy Corp: What Time is your Brand
Rafie: 10 Logos as you open my door
Dehog: My day in brands and logos
The Marketing Student: Day in a life of Gen Y
LogoDesignLove: 33 logos in 33 Minutes
Brand Awareness: 14 Logos in 14 Minutes
Vivian: Brainwashed in 8 minutes
Why not take a look at one of these Articles...
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19 Comments
Hi Andrew, great explanation of the logos you saw at the motorway. I especially like TravelLogde. Thank you for mentioning my website, appreciated.
19 Sep 2008 09:09 pm Sander
No problem Sander.
The Travelodge is a great logo, I do believe this is a re-design also. I bet it’s done wonders for their business!
Thanks for stopping by…
19 Sep 2008 10:09 pm Andrew Kelsall
Interesting take on logo recognition on motorways. Most people do not realize how they are influenced. Like big poles having the Golden M of McDonald’s on top and leading people to take the next exit, because they felt hungry “anyway.”
Great site you have.
Phils last blog post..My Daily Superhero Routine
20 Sep 2008 04:09 pm Phil
Hey Andrew, thanks for linking through to me
A nice addition to the collection of logos that this little meme has brought. I’ll be off down the motorway tomorrow on my way to Gatwick, so I’ll be looking out for logos too (as well as cars and other driving-related hazards).
Aaron Russells last blog post..How to check whether an element exists using jQuery
20 Sep 2008 05:09 pm Aaron Russell
@ Phil
I agree with you there, anyone who drives down the motorway will diffinatey be influenced by the vast array of logo Designs out there We as designers, though, are both influenced, but intriqued by the designs. I can’t help analizing every logoI see.
Thanks for the compliment about my site.
@Aaron Russell
Thanks. Hope all goes well on your journey, and keep your eyes on the road rather that the designs out there
20 Sep 2008 08:09 pm Andrew Kelsall
Thanks for the link love, Andrew. It’s nice to see a different take on logos that we come across in our daily lives.
Looks like you had a great BBQ there
really like the yard: the brick walls and the slate… looks very cosy 
22 Sep 2008 01:09 am inspirationbit
I’ve seen the DPD logo quite a few times too, and I love the bold lines and sharp corners; shame, as you say, that it’s unbalanced.
Isn’t it sacrilege to drink something that isn’t Guinness from a Guinness glass?!
22 Sep 2008 04:09 pm Richard, Peacock Carter
@inspirationbit
No problem Vivien, I’m always finding interesting blogs out there just from interesting-looking links, so I like to do the same.
And yeah, it was a really nice yard, house, motor-home in the drive and outdoor Plasma TV…pitty it wasn’t my own home though
@ Richard
The DPD logo just needs taking a stage further, or a slight redesign, then it would be perfect.
Lol, my Irish friend Martin is going to hunt me down for that one! BTW, congrats on the David Airey post mention…
22 Sep 2008 06:09 pm Andrew Kelsall
Andrew, thank you for your blog post on logos. Logo has to deliver a message of what the company is all about. I liked the DPD logo, it really sends strong message across – logistics.
30 Sep 2008 04:09 pm Printoutlet
“Printoutlet”, thanks for the comment.
02 Oct 2008 06:10 pm Andrew Kelsall
Hi again, Andrew.
Had to make a comment about the Travel Lodge logo. I don’t feel the graduations are doing it any favours, and would like to see how it works as flat art (e.g. for use on uniforms).
Nice to get a little insight into your personal life, with the first two photos (I realise this is an old post, and I’m sure I caught it before, so not sure why I didn’t comment back then).
05 Dec 2008 08:12 pm David Airey
No worries David. I can see where you’re coming from regarding the Travelodge Logo, but I feel it would still ‘work’ in B+W. However, that said, the whole mood of the logos’ icon may be lost. The jury is out…
07 Dec 2008 07:12 pm Andrew Kelsall
[...] featured the following list of related articles in my Three Great Logos I saw on the Motorway post, but they are still relevant to this latest article, so here they are again―and worth a [...]
[...] while ago, I wrote an article named 3 Great Logos I saw on the Motorway—and one of the logos I wrote about was the Travelodge logo. In the comments section, fellow blogger and designer David Airey made the following comment: Had [...]
Brilliant post – I love the TravelLodge one too… you know if you broke that logo down into little pieces, you’d pretty much be able to know what it was with any of those little bits. That’s brilliant branding!
26 Aug 2010 02:08 pm Mike Dodgson
HI Andrew
Your Blog is awesome. I really like to see your blog along with logos. Your logos express your creativity. Best of luck…..
31 Aug 2010 10:08 am Ishita
I’m familiar with the Travelodge logo because there’s one near my house. I don’t like the logo much purely because it seems a bit amateurish to me, but that’s the critic in me talking. I did wonder if it would work in black and white.
I love the Greencycle logo because it’s so simple and the typography is perfect for the purpose. It tells me that it’s modern, and the colours used fit the purpose really well too. Of course, it’s a bit obvious because green is often used in “eco” stuff like posters, logos, etc. I love the cleverness of it too. It didn’t confuse me at all.
The last logo, I didn’t “get” it until I read what you posted about it. I did suspect after a few seconds of looking at it that it was probably something to do with delivery but the meaning was lost on me until you said what it was about.
10 Oct 2010 03:10 am Gemma
@Mike → Hmmm, that’s a good point!
@Ishita → Thanks
@Gemma → Thanks for your detailed opinions of the logo designs. Ever since writing this post, I see the DVP delivery vans everywhere, lol
12 Oct 2010 05:10 pm Andrew Kelsall
Interesting read regarding the logos Andrew, having just had a long journey on the M25 one billboard stood out for all the wrong reasons, a dating service called “Sugardaddy”. Probably don’t have to elaborate further than that.
24 Aug 2011 01:08 am Marlon Nicholls
(Twitter: @mazzleuk)