The Difference Between Logo Design and Header Design
I often hear and notice many people identifying logo and header interchangeably. Please take note that these are two different things and have different purposes.
By definition, logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition while header is a graphic that is place on the top of marketing materials to attract people to become curious of its content.
Characteristics of Header Design
In print advertisements, the header usually contains the headline or the title of the promotion or event with illustrations and attractive images. Sometimes, the business logo is also found as part in the header.
In some cases, graphic designers imitate the characteristics of logo on designing a header to make a campaign more effective – the graphic designers create a header that looks like a logo.
Please take a look at the featured image above. I used that header design on banner, on the newspaper advertisement, on price signage and other materials while that promotion was running – to have consistency on our published promotional material, and I heard many of my workmates saying that it is a nice logo because it is colorful; it implies excitement. It is not actually a logo, it is a header.
Another example of a header is that beautifully designed graphic that you see on the top a website that entices you to scroll down and look for more content.
Here is another example of a header design which is mistakenly identified as logo.
Logo is Symbol of Identity
Now, let us go back to logo. It is already mentioned above that logo is for a quick recognition.
Logo is a representation of a ‘corporate image’. Logo is like an I.D. of an organization or business. It is the symbol that speaks the totality of what it is representing for in its simplest form. It is compact with the identity of the business. It is the symbol that tells the entire story business, organization or person as brand.
A logo design without a story has no life. A logo design with vague meaning doesn’t stand out.
Summary
- A header may contain many elements as the designers wants but a logo usually contains a maximum of five elements.
- A header is decorated attractively while a logo should be simple.
- A header is for instant attraction; a logo is for instant recognition.
I hope that I made myself clear about the difference between logo and header. ^_^
Thank you for reading. Godspeed!
Great explanation. Logo is the brand identity. It shouldn’t be changed if you want to mark a strong branding at any place (online or offline).
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When it comes to a logo, I prefer the minimalist approach. Most top brands have logos that are just simple, with few elements; the design is easily understood and identified by the consumers.
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I have no idea about the Logo and header designs,that is one reason why my site has no logo and personalized header made by me.
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Yes a good logo will help create your brand recognition but a header is just for marketing and these can and probably should change regularly to help keep interest
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a LOGO should be simple yet creative, easy to recognize(remember) and unique. =)
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