As Chicago graphic designers we love logos and icons that perfectly symbolize what a brand is all about. Since our company is made up of graphic designers and marketing strategists, we love discussing the branding decisions made by other companies. Recently our attention was turned towards Twitter and the little blue bird they use not as their logo, but as an icon or symbol that still helps to represent their brand. The Twitter bird may not actually be their logo, but it is still somehow one of the most recognized symbols out on the web. Below is the actual official logo for Twitter:
The company
Launched in the summer of 2006, Jack Dorsey launched the website as an online social networking service. The social networking site was intended for users to be able to share short bursts of information, just like the “chirp of a bird.” Ah, now perhaps that’s where the idea for the little blue bird came from! I digress—Our Chicago marketing company and social media experts use Twitter daily along with 500 million other users. There are over 340 million tweets submitted daily handling over 1.6 billion search queries each day. Who would have known that the company would turn into the one of the most popular social networking websites in the entire world?
The blue bird
Twitter utilizes the color blue, just as it is represented in the official logo. On their website, the colors include many sky blue variations. With the combination of the blue color scheme, the Twitter logo design and the unofficial bird mascot for Twitter, the company is using a very identifiable branding strategy. Not only can web searchers find multiple different variations of the Twitter bird on the website, they are also easily recognized on outsourced websites.
Where did the bird come from exactly? After finding an illustration of a bird by a Japan-based British illustrator, Simon Oxley, on iStock, the Twitter team fell in love with the image. Twitter only paid $7 dollars for the usage rights of the illustration. After spending under $10 on an illustration, Twitter started decorating their site with the blue bird on every page. Now, over six years later, the $7 dollar investment is the face of a $140 million dollar a year company. Now that is some powerful branding!
Creating your own brand
Finding your own brand’s identity can be extremely difficult. If you are looking to create a brand identity for yourself or your business, we suggest taking note of the successful brands you see around yourself everyday. Take cues from popular brands to help you envision the potential for your own brand. When in doubt, calling in a Chicago marketing company like us doesn’t hurt either. Feel free to leave comment below or contact us.