Top New York Branding Agencies – 2019 Branding Company Rankings & Reviews

The Power Of Logos

Logos are a powerful way for a brand to makes its presence known and standout. And they are a great marker for a brand to determine if it's still modern or fresh, or if it's falling out of touch with current generations.

Brands often shakeup their logos and identity from time to time, but most hold the most integral parts of themselves throughout the years. They are the features that make these logos timeless and lasting. And these brands have created logos that you won't be able to easily forget.

And a lot of factors go into good logos.

Studies show that 40 percent of consumers are first pulled in by the color of a logo itself. And it only takes 10 seconds for a consumer to decide on their first impression of a logo design.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there’s no denying their influence. So without further ado, here are the 35 biggest and most powerful brand logos in the United States.

What Makes A Successful Brand Logo

These logo designs answer questions we never knew we were asking about these brands and their identity. They tell a story and make you think. They make you feel something. When logos and brands work together and mesh seamlessly, sparks fly.

There are a variety of elements that can go into a logo design to make it successful -- from the color choice to the imagery used and even down to the font. Logos have a way of making an impact on your audience in both subtle and striking ways. And it's up to you to decide in what way you want your logo to hit.

Logo designs are an integral part of a brand strategy and branding itself. They are the face of a brand. They are the visual part of a brand — its soul. A good logo can leave consumers feeling happy and positive, a bad logo can make them look away and never give your company a second chance.

Designing a logo that will define a brand is challenging work for a designer, but once it’s done and a logo has become entrenched in our cultural awareness, it’s nearly impossible to imagine it any other way. 

For consumers, a logo is the first piece of content that is interacted with. Logos build a brand up and set it on a path to either success or failure -- so design wisely.

These 35 should offer up some inspiration, guiding you along your path to design success. These brands have an impact on society as a whole, and their logos play a powerful role in this prominence.

Yours can too.

Spotify

The Spotify logo is immediately enchanting and extremely eye-catching. And considering the growth of music-streaming services in the past few years, it's no wonder that Spotify decided on such a poignant image to illustrate its brand identity.

Made up of an iconic lime green coloring, the Spotify logo takes on the form of a wordmark and symbol. The symbol looks like mini soundwaves encased in a circle, while the wordmark itself is bold, striking and demanding.

This moody and enchanting design fits the overall tone of the app itself, with these colors and this personality infused into the mobile platform with ease.

This is an exciting and playful logo design that intuitively captures the brand and its audio services, condensing it into a clean, straightforward and elegant design.

Target

Target is one of the biggest retailers in the market today, with a following young and old. You know a brand is popular when there are countless memes made after it — welcome to 2018 everybody.

But the Target logo is equally impactful and bold. It’s a blunt, bright and big design that stands at attention and embodies the brand’s name so succinctly. It’s a responsive image that grows with the brand, holding onto a modernity that you can’t ignore.

The Target logo is quite literally, a target. It’s a vivid, red bullseye. There is a red dot that sits in the center, followed by a ring of white and then another ring of red.

This aligns the store as a destination for all consumers, and for all of their needs. And it’s an image so minimal and clean that it sits in minds and captures a creative and exciting persona that matches the experience in-store.

FedEx

FedEx is one of the most well known American delivery service providers, and one of the biggest privately owned companies in the United States. Their name is instantly recognizable, and their logo is unmistakable

What looks like a simple wordmark is so much more. The word FedEx is written out in bold, sans-serif font. One half of the word is in a purple color while the second half is in orange. This color makes the design pop from packaging materials, but it’s the hidden symbol inside that really makes this a winning logo in 2018.

In between the E and the X lies the image of an arrow! It’s created in the empty space between the letters and it gives the symbol depth and movement, showing consumers that regardless of the weather, FedEx will get your mail delivered.

Google

Google is an iconic brand, and the biggest search engine in service today. After all, a word was even added to the dictionary thanks to this giant.

And to match such a versatile, strong and widespread brand identity, Google knew it needed a visual identity in the form of a logo that stuck with people.

The result was a multicolored, sleek and stunning wordmark that shows users the world over that this is a brand with a knowledge, an authority and a talent that is unparalleled not just in its industry, but in the entire tech sphere as a whole.

Starbucks

Starbucks is a popular coffee chain based in Seattle. But it’s made waves in 2018 with its forward-thinking initiatives to better the earth and society as a whole. That’s made it one of the biggest brands of the year, but its logo is nothing to laugh at either.

This prestigious symbol is stunning, modern and elegant. It takes on the shape of a mermaid in a creative and cool way — holding onto that playfulness while also adding a regal and refined quality in the intricate way this mermaid is displayed.

It’s an image everyone instantly recognizes — and for good reason. It stands as a symbol for the brand and has for years now. But now, it’s better than ever and dominating the industry.

Apple

The Apple logo is truly a timeless piece of design excellence. With a modern and minimalistic feel, a moody vibe and creative flair, it's no wonder this logo lives on in infamy. Who'd have thought a half-eaten apple would resonate with so many people?

Going strictly with a symbol was a bold move for Apple and one that helped to solidify itself as a leader in its industry.

American Express

Big, bold and bright, the American Express logo has stood the test of time well. With its soothing blue box and big, bold copy, you recognize this logo from a mile away. It feels oddly comforting considering its tied to a consumer financial institution.

This sleek, modern and sophisticated wordmark captures the authority of the brand fluidly, and it certainly stands the test of time. 

Boeing

The Boeing logo is simple and sophisticated, with a small and intricate image and a big, powerful Stratotype wordmark that's entirely capitalized. The logo gives off an air of power, authority and strength which is exactly what you want from a company making the planes you fly in.

One look at this symbol and you know the brand means business.

Nike

The iconic Nike swoosh. Need I say more? It simple. It's stunning. It's modern. It's minimalistic. It's timeless. It's an amazing logo design.

A logo doesn't need any crazy elements or additional features. It can be a basic, solid image. And this logo didn't even cost that much either! Your brand can learn from this success.

Microsoft

Microsoft is a well-known brand with a well-known logo design. A cube made up of smaller, multicolored cubes sits beside the simple, subdued wordmark. It's instantly recognizable whether you're a Microsoft product user or not.

Merck

Merck is in the business of saving lives through innovative medicine, and the seafoam green in the design definitely gives off a health and wellness vibe. The wordmark is strong and entirely uppercase, with an hourglass-like design that signifies the time and effort the company puts into its health initiatives.

3M Company

Intense, definitive and in your face, the 3M logo exudes power and superiority. It's a cohesive and powerful design that gives insights into the strength of the company itself.

McDonald's

Is there any logo design more memorable than those yellow arches? Like two curvy french fries, the McDonald's logo lets consumers know what they're in the business of — fast food. And don't you forget it!

It's a simple design, really. It's just a big, golden letter M. But it packs a punch and has remained as an iconic image for decades.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

This regal and royal font definitely alludes to the fact that these banking pros take their clients seriously. Your money is in good hands, and this serif font is here to prove it.

The JPMorgan Chase logo is regal, sophisticated and refined. There's an elegance that's unmistakable and a class that is tangible.

Johnson & Johnson

...a family company! Anyone else read the logo as their slogan?

The Johnson & Johnson logo is made up of a wordmark. In bright red coloring, this cursive font lays out the brand name in a regal, sophisticated and satisfying way. It's modern, but old-school. Sleek, but full of history and heritage.

It's a symbol that stands the test of time.

From the hearty red color to the whimsical cursive font, this logo design for Johnson & Johnson is stunning and compassionate. It feels fun, while also feeling sophisticated and knowledgeable. 

Intel

The sophisticated blue swoosh of the Intel logo is futuristic and fun. This logo design shows movement in a fun way that almost propels you forward, much like its products propel us forward technologically. 

IBM

Blue is a common logo design color, but IBM turns it on its head by using parallel blue lines instead of filling in its wordmark entirely. It's edgy, and some might even find it to be an optical illusion. But it certainly grabs your attention.

In other instances, the IBM logo is made up of a variety of colors, celebrating charities and social initiatives that show that a logo can be fluid and flexible and still be effective.

The Home Depot

Look at that bright pop of orange! Not many brands can rock such an obnoxious color, but The Home Depot can.

It feels powerful and strong. Even if you didn't know what The Home Depot was, you could probably assume they're there to help you with any hardware needs. The stencil-like white copy pops against such a bright background, and it works.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is a powerful company with years of experience and excellence. Its logo design embodies that excellence with a very soft and sophisticated blue background, and the regal wordmark taking up the top left corner.

This is a soft design. It's serene and inviting. It's modern, however, in its alignment. And it sells.

General Electric

There's no doubt you've come across this logo at least a dozen times in your life. This cool, blue logo with a swirly and fun monogram is an obvious logo design success story.

The logo is made up of a symbol, a baby blue, soft and swirling image. Inside sits the GE monogram. But it's more than just a simple monogram, with a few letters and a straightforward design. The organic, fluid nature of these letters is serene and eye-catching. It pulls you in even if you don't know what GE is.

Whether you owned GE products growing up or not, you know what it means. There's a nostalgia to this logo that is intriguing which is thanks to its prominence and strength as a brand in its entirety. 

ExxonMobil

There's no way you can overlook the ExxonMobil logo, and there's no way you don't instantly recognize those crossing double Xs. This logo is big. It's bold. It's red. You can't miss it! The logo, much like the company itself, doesn't back down. And it works.

DuPont

The DuPont logo is big, block-like and impactful. It's a simple logo made up of a wordmark and an oval surrounding it. They aren't playing around when it comes to design, nor are they when it comes to their work.

This is a bit of an older, more retro looking design. But it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Logos don't have to be modern to be effective, and the DuPont logo proves that.

Coca-Cola

Does anyone else look at the Coca-Cola logo and immediately see a big, jolly Santa Claus? Just me? Ok.

But really, this bright red, creative and curly logo needs no explanation. All it is, is a wordmark but it works effortlessly. I'm thirsty just looking at it.

Chevron

When you look at the red and blue chevrons of the Chevron logo, you instantly think about blue-blooded America life. It's familiar and passionate. It's resilient and strong. No wonder it's for an oil company!

And the decision to go with a more image-focused design was definitely a strong choice here.

Caterpillar

Strong. Resilient. Powerful. Ready to get down and dirty. This no-fuss logo is the perfect design for a construction company. There's a resilience in the typography and the subtle pop of yellow.

The black, block lettering is mighty and the yellow triangle makes you smile. You already trust Caterpillar to get the job done.

Cisco

The baby blue of the Cisco logo immediately pulls you in, and the lines of varying sizes give a sense of knowledge and power. It's a high-tech company after all. Do the lines resemble those of the wifi signal? Do they resemble the Golden Gate Bridge? Who knows, but it works.

These towers stand like a symbol of prominence and prestige. And they are extremely intuitive, giving the brand a clever edge.

Procter & Gamble

The simple and subtle logo design says all that it needs to. Procter & Gamble have been in the business for years, giving consumers exactly what they've wanted. This blue logo with the company initials is strong and resolute, just like the company itself.

Pfizer

A light blue oblong shape makes up the Pfizer logo, with the brand name itself etched out in a bright white, sophisticated font. This design is simple, yet powerful. It's serious, yet relatable. It's a design that tells consumers that it can be trusted and that it's there to give people the pharmaceuticals they need.

The Travelers

Rain or shine, Travelers insurance will protect you. And this strong logo design proves it. The black and bold wordmark followed by a bright red umbrella emphasizes their passion for ensuring nothing gets in your way.

UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group dropped a design that used to be included in its logo, a kind of striped shield, and they couldn't have made a better decision. This blue and powerful logo stands on its own. It puts its patients and their care first. They don't need a fancy design to prove it.

United Technologies

Is that a turbine engine kicking off we see? The United Technologies logo is encased in a bright, sophisticated blue, with a moving fan or engine design that gives off very powerful and very sophisticated vibes. This logo design oozes excellence.

Visa

Trusted and reliable, Visa is one of the biggest institutions when it comes to consumer banking. You almost certainly have a Visa debit or credit card. It's everywhere, which is why a simple blue wordmark is all that is necessary as its logo.

When it comes to Visa, the name says it all.

And that's what they went with here -- putting all the focus on the name itself.

It's a slightly slanted wordmark written in a bold, thick and strong blue typography. There's an edge to the design that comes from the added wing on the V of Visa. It's just enough to make the design look like more than just a word, but not enough to overwhelm.

And it certainly gets the job done.

Verizon

Verizon. The reliable cell phone company. It's modern. It's ahead of the curve. It's the best wireless cell phone carrier around, couldn't you tell by the little red checkmark next to the completely lowercase wordmark? This logo tells consumers that Verizon is the best, and it's approachable too.

Walmart

We all know Walmart. We've all probably been to Walmart at least once in our lives. And this logo is familiar. The blue copy is classic, and the bright yellow star sitting next to the wordmark gives off feelings of joy and happiness. It's reliable and modern.

This might not come off as necessarily a stunning design. But it knows what it's doing and does it well.

Walt Disney

When you look at the Walt Disney Company logo, butterflies fill your stomach. It's a nostalgia thing, of course. Disney World is the happiest place on earth! But this logo does exemplify it, with its signature whimsical font. It makes you happy instantly.

The font itself is customized, and the way it flows in with the overall identity of the brand is serene and effortless.

Memorable

The top logo designs foster success by creating a memorable brand identity that consumers remember each time they want to make a purchase. Unfortunately, it can take between 5 and 7 views to ensure a customer will remember your brand, but there are a few design tactics that can speed that up.

A signature color can increase brand recognition by up to 80 percent -- and you can increase that even more by utilizing blue, which fosters the idea of personalization and communication between a company and customers. Plus, aim for a more artistic symbol over words -- like General Electric’s clever blue monogram. People process images 60,000 times faster than text, making detailed symbols a safe better for recognition.  

Timeless

A brand isn’t what you determine it to be -- it’s how your consumers perceive your company. While some logo designs miss the mark and rebranding is always an option, creating a classic logo design that stands the test of time is in your favor -- especially because 70 percent of brand managers place emphasis on cultivating a regular audience.

The high-fashion line Chanel epitomizes a timeless logo design. Instead of incorporating fancy fonts and trendy design elements, they kept the branding streamlined with a minimal symbol and sans-serif font. By avoiding too many bells and whistles, they created an iconic brand identity that has been remained the same since 1909.

Versatile

In the age of social media and mobile devices, a versatile logo design is imperative. Email open rates on phones have increased by 180 percent and 71 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow on social media. What’s more? Ninety percent of consumers expect a consistent experience on every platform, meaning that all of your mediums need to be clearly branded.

Unfortunately, not all logo designs lend themselves to content marketing, email campaigns, and small mobile phone screens. Enter: The responsive logo design -- a brand identity that evolves to fit every screen size and marketing medium.

To incorporate a versatile design, create a catchy symbol that will transition anywhere -- like Airbnb’s abstract heart, which users would know with or without the company name accompanying it. A responsive logo gives you more flexibility in your creations while ensuring that consumers always recognize your products.

On-Brand

Did you know it only takes 10 seconds to form a first impression of a brand? This means you truly have one shot to describe your company’s mission in a single image.

Before your designers even attempt a logo design, do some research first. Learn about your demographic and determine your overarching goal. All of these items will inform your brand identity, ensuring you create something appropriate and on-brand with your message, products, and services.

23andMe is the perfect example of an on-brand logo design. Its versatile symbol adapts to various designs and packaging, ensuring the company is recognizable. Most importantly, it showcases the company through simple visuals. Its minimal motif symbolizes DNA, while the sans serif type and bright colors demonstrate that the company is a trendy tech startup. Overall, the logo design represents the brand perfectly, ensuring it will be memorable for years to come.

Amazon

As the world’s largest online retailer for everything, Amazon hopes to bring a smile to their consumers’ faces -- and that’s exactly what they reflect in their brand identity by Turner Duckworth.

The company was founded in 1994 as an online retailer for books, but just six years later, founder Jeff Bezos was itching to provide consumers with every e-commerce product while maintaining the illusion of human interaction. To signify this shift in the business model, they created a new identity: The Amazon Smile.

The design agency describes this logo design as one with “visual wit” -- the playful smile aims to create them in real life, while the arrow points from A to Z, signifying that the company sells everything imaginable. The agency then went above and beyond, transforming the smile into a responsive design element to brand packaging, gift cards and more. This whimsical, identifiable and informational logo successfully built the most valuable company in the United States, which brought in a whopping $177.87 billion in revenue last year.

Apple

Apple is the most valuable company in the world, bringing in over $229 billion each year. But we don’t need an inspirational video of Steve Jobs or the name of the company splashed across their products to recognize the company -- their signature design branding tells us everything we need to know.

Their original logo, created by co-founder Ronald Wayne, was a detailed, intricate design that told the story of Adam, Eve and the temptation of an Apple. Although their current minimal logo design is a simple apple silhouette with a missing bite, the allure that inspired that first design still runs throughout the brand identity.

This logo propels the company forward marrying high-quality products with a single symbol across every digital platform. Every product, advertisement, and social media post is marked with the responsive logo design -- which is key, considering 75 percent of consumers crave a consistent experience across all channels. This strong association and strength drive the brand forward. One bite into Apple, and you’ll unlock the knowledge you’ve been searching for -- just like Eve.

Microsoft

Microsoft brought in over $90 billion in revenue last year -- which is expected from the brainchild of the second richest man in the world, Bill Gates. But that massive revenue was supported by a strong, long-standing brand that provides consumers stability.

Up until 2012, Microsoft utilized a bevy of typography-only logo designs, all of them bold and straightforward, which allowed the products to speak for themselves. From the very first logo in 1975, Microsoft positioned itself as a brand whose products you want and name you will know.

The company rebranded in 2012, and instead of simply choosing a new font, they merged elements from their most popular program -- Windows. The new design is much softer than the other custom logo designs they utilized. A grid filled with primary colors is complemented with a delicate gray sans-serif font -- a far cry from the bold, harsh black 1980s fonts that screamed “world domination.”

This redesign demonstrates that Microsoft can adapt to changing times while always providing users with the best products -- a hallmark of any great company and top logo design.

The Walt Disney Company

Never before has a signature garnered so much success -- until Walt Disney. The media conglomerate -- which also encompasses high-profile brands such as ESPN and ABC -- is the most powerful brand in the world.

Walt Disney’s logo -- inspired by the founder’s real-life signature placed between modern sans-serif font -- signifies happy endings, good triumphing over evil, and a strong moral compass. The signature instills a personal touch on every animation, movie, and character.

The Disney logo’s signature represents achieving dreams through kindness while carrying on an unmistakable legacy. And since 66 percent of consumers gravitate towards a brand due to shared values, the logo’s connotations give the company strength, allowing it to grow and expand to become the seventh highest valuation in the world.

Gives Social Media Structure

It’s easy to dismiss social media marketing, but nearly 59 percent of consumers interact with brands on social media one to three times each day. What’s more? Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media.

But producing the right kind of imagery is key. The good news is that your logo design creates the perfect framework for your social media strategy. Use your brand style guide to create a signature color palette for your social network feeds -- which studies say make a marketing message 40 percent more effective -- and incorporate your versatile logo design throughout various images.

Men’s grooming company Harry’s promotes their brand through a cohesive blue color palette, modern product shots, and user-generated content, showing that Harry’s is a high-quality product line that consumers know, trust and love.

Improves Email Marketing

Email marketing is 40 times more effective at securing new customers than Facebook and Twitter and has the highest conversion rate. With proper branding, you can capitalize on those click-throughs to grow your business.

Email marketing reinforces your brand identity while allowing consumers to engage with the company -- something they desire to do when they consent to receive emails. And branding itself is more than just a logo -- it is the way in which consumers view your brand. Your banner images, fonts sizes, styles, and colors, and calls to action should all reflect what you present on your website design, print designs, and social media channels. This will help increase conversions while promoting the overall brand.

Need some inspiration? Clothing retailer Forever21 incorporates engaging animated GIFs, bold text that appeals to their target young demographic, and a sans-serif logo and header that resembles the menu on their website design, re-enforcing consistency and appealing to their consumers well.

Betters User Experience

Successful branding should increase customer loyalty and awareness while minimizing confusion. Studies overwhelming show that a consistent brand experience across all channels increases the likelihood that consumers will interact with it.

What’s more? Sixty percent of consumers have more positive feelings about a brand after consuming branded content from it -- and since user experience is all about cultivating positive feelings associated with your business, it seems like a strong brand is a major win for UX.

Pampers executes strong branding across their website well. Their playful logo design influences the color scheme found on their website, which caters to new and expecting mothers. The website isn’t just an e-commerce site for babies, though -- instead, the brand includes creative content marketing in the form of guides and interactive quizzes, improving the overall user experience.

Facilitates Partnerships and Collaborations

Designing a strong logo and well-defined brand allows you to place parameters around your customers wants and needs. By maintaining this structure, you can better determine professional partnerships that will breed successful campaigns.

When you’re looking for other businesses to collaborate with, industry and location don’t matter as much as your demographic. If your brands both aim for the same people with the same interests, a collaboration will likely prove fruitful.

GoPro and Red Bull have a longstanding partnership, collaborating on events and campaigns that appeal to young, athletic and adventurous consumers. Their partnership culminating in an epic 2014 Super Bowl ad called Stratos, which equipped daredevil Felix Baumgartner with a GoPro camera as we saw him jump from outer space, embodying the exciting experiences of both brands in a single ad.

Find A Design Team

Finding the perfect team to create your brand identity is no easy feat. Should you utilize in-house designers or find a branding agency to guide the way? How can you ensure they capture the vision and demographic you worked so hard to determine?

First thing’s first -- define your budget. There are pros and cons to outsourcing a design project, but they can be pricier. Conversely, by investing in an agency, you’ll be privy to plenty of expertise, a structured process, and be released of the energy    

Plenty of successful brands have gone both routes. Yahoo’s brand new modern logo design was created in-house. Meanwhile, the National Basketball Association (NBA) -- which raked in $5.9 billion last year -- found long-term success with the help of agency Siegel+Gale.

Create A Process

Creating the perfect requires innovation and a solid process. This gives structure to an otherwise artistic process.

Whether you’re using in-house designers or a design agency, be sure to outline a timeline for each part of the process, such as mood boards, design concepts, and sketches. After all, you can’t just coast along with no due dates and unlimited revisions. At some point, you’ll have to make decisions and move the project along.

To achieve this, meet with your team, determine your point of contact, finesse your company goals and decide on each deliverable you want to see and every step the designers need to take to refine the branding -- such as pen-and-paper drawings and constructing vectors. Then, stick to that schedule! This will ensure that every box is checked, resulting in a custom logo design that builds your brand and boosts your bottom line.

Ensure It’s Versatile

Seventy-five percent of consumers expect a consistent brand experience on every platform -- and the brands that can’t deliver in the digital age lose customers. Seventy percent say it’s easier than ever to take their business elsewhere with the help of technology.

In order to achieve that seamless experience and cohesive brand identity, companies need to create a logo design that can transition to any marketing collateral or screen size at the drop of a hat. One tip is to create a responsive logo, like Nike. Mobile apps, products and even social media posts can be subtly branded with the iconic swoosh, negating the need for the word “Nike.”

Brands can also create a logo design that adapts to a variety of color schemes. This opens to the door to potential partnerships and marketing campaigns without limiting media and imagery. DesignRush’s own identity does this, showcasing the versatile logo design in different gradient hues across the website. This allows DesignRush to foster an identity without committing all future creations to one color scheme.

Brand Everything

Once you have your logo design finalized, there’s only one thing left to do -- brand everything! This will make your products, promotions and information crystal clear to consumers and facilitate better brand recognition.  

Just remember, branding isn’t just about the clean logo you just created -- it’s also the fonts, colors and overarching visuals that your company evokes. Those design elements can cement your brand identity without slapping your company name and logo on every surface you see.

Take a cue from the beauty brand Glossier. While they incorporate their type-based modern logo on certain package designs, print ads, and their website design, not everything touts it. Instead, they reinforce the brand through consistent imagery (fresh-faced, healthy women) and a cohesive color palette (white, black, soft gray and blush pink). This facilitates a more organic brand following, as 45 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand if they self-promote too much. What’s more? Glossier just received $52 million in Series C funding, proving this business tactic successful.