Law firm logos: What can a logo do?

Let’s start here—A logo is an identifier. It becomes shorthand for a firm, company or brand. When thinking about what a logo can accomplish, it’s tempting to assign it a myriad of responsibilities. A logo doesn’t have to do everything though, but it should do something.

We’ve all heard attorneys say, “our logo doesn’t matter, logos don’t win business.” This is the disconnect. Logos do help you tell your story and that story, if true and relevant and differentiated, does help you attract prospects, potential employees, and yes, win business. I generally say that a logo can do 3 things and I’ll outline those below.

1️⃣ Reinforce your name
Recall of name is incredibly important in crowded sectors and the reinforcement of your name through logo design is a strategic choice. The best way to reinforce your name is using a wordmark, which focuses solely on your firm’s name. This is actually where law firms are most comfortable, simply staging their firm name in a straightforward typeface, perhaps with some customization.

You can tell which ones haven’t changed in a long time and I don’t see that as a badge of honor. If you look at other sectors like consulting, IT, and financial services, you’ll see that they have progressed and better link their visual identities to their brands. Having an old wordmark could be holding you back.

2️⃣ Show what you do
A logo can be an illustration of your business. An icon of sorts. The goal here is to quickly and easily convey a key part of your business. In law, that may mean that your logo is a visual representation of a gavel or scales of justice. Prestigious law firms avoid these cliches for good reason as they tend to be associated with smaller firms.

3️⃣  Convey an idea
Logos are often used to convey a key idea from a brand’s story. This is the largest of the three types of logos and can house a myriad of ideas. The idea may be about heritage, people, or really anything. For example, Rolex, Hallmark, and Budweiser all use crowns to speak to royalty and excellence.

Law firms have started to embrace this area in recent years with firms like Herbert Smith Freehills, McDermott, Seyfarth, Nixon Peabody and others adopting abstract symbols that point to ideas like process, connection, precision, and focus.

*️⃣ Ignoring your logo is also a choice. Many firms haven’t touched their logo in over a decade and it puts immense pressure on the rest of the firm’s visual tools. It also puts more pressure on their brand story and forces their people to make up for what may be a visual/verbal conflict. What I mean by that is that a firm that says they are “innovative” should look probably innovative in some way. If all of their marketing and BD materials look dated and conservative, then it becomes a harder story for everyone to tell and harder to believe for external audiences.