Every logo has to depict a particular thought, idea or be representative of a particular company, group or individual. In other words, whenever you look at a logo, the symbolism behind it should be clearly apparent. Otherwise, the whole purpose behind the creation of the logo gets defeated.
This does not necessarily imply that every stroke and every element of the logo needs to denote something. Rather, in its entirety, the logo needs to have a certain instrumentality behind it. It is only when you produce such powerful, representative logos, that potential employers will consider hiring you for creating their logos.
Take for instance the Citibank logo. At a glance, it does not seem to imply much, with a lowercase 'citi' in sans serif font, with a red line above the 't'. Yet, a closer look reveals that this logo has immense imagery behind it. The lowercase font is on purpose, to denote the fact that the bank is quite approachable. The red line is in fact the top of an umbrella with the 't' denoting its handle. Together, it denotes a bank open to people from all walks of life, which it wants to take within its fold. That is the power of a simple yet prevailing logo.
Overall, the 'citi' logo is simple yet proves its mettle in terms of representativeness. At the same time, there are times when this representativeness goes overboard. Now, when is that?
Take for instance the 'Visit Malaysia 2007' logo. It had all the trappings of an overly symbolized logo, with its red shaped heart petal denoting Malaysians who welcome people openly; five dots which symbolized fifty years of the country's independence and the yellow color which denoted various aspects, including the monarchy of the country, the God fearing nature of its citizens, and their law abidingness.
Unfortunately, this logo had too many elements and symbolism packed into it. Instead, the ideal approach would have been to take only one or a few of these elements and depict them in the ensuing logo. That would have made an ideally balanced logo.
If one looks at the star shaped, blue-colored logo of the Houston Southwest Airport in Texas, USA, one gets a good idea of an idealistic logo. While the star symbolizes Texas, the compass ensconced within it points in the Southwest direction. Overall, even though the imagery of the logo is simple, its connotation is powerful, meaningful and representative.
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