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A
logo is an
emblematic design which a company adopts to identify itself or
its products in order to distinguish them from its competitors.
The logo is very important for the pharmacy as it
encapsulates its identity and offers the clientele an
immediate message which makes the pharmacy easy to remember.
Adopting
a new
logo or combining your old
logo with a new one is a good way of letting your clientele
know
that a radical change is about to take place. This is
because the novel and new attracts customers and
grabs their attention, just as when a pharmacy is
refurbished or new fittings installed. In many Sartoretto
Verna pharmacies, the logo has been placed by the entrance
or in a strategic position. It is made out of various
materials, including copper, aluminium, bamboo and mosaic,
depending on the surrounding interior so as to enter into
synergy with it. Sometimes the logos are lit up or
transparent too. Whatever they are made out of and however
they are made, they always symbolise the pharmacy's
personality - its professionalism, specialisation and
characteristics.
A logo
can be figurative or abstract.
A
figurative logo associates the pharmacy with
something architectural (a church, statue or a monument)
that helps bring the pharmacy to mind because it is located on the
same street or in the same city. In Italy, the most popular
images are usually instruments which used to be used in the
dispensary (the pestle and mortar, ancient vases) or symbolise
healing, such as the
caduceus (the ancient Greek or Roman herald's wand, typically
with two serpents twined round it, carried by the messenger god
Hermes or Mercury). Italians identify these images immediately
with a pharmacy, although they are not very original, which is
one the most important characteristics of a good logo.
Therefore, to make this traditional symbol more original, you
could start of with a traditional caduceus, making it more abstracting and
combining it with other more images which are more specific to
your pharmacy. It is also very important to bear in
mind that a logo is a symbol that should get instant
recognition, not a painting, and must be able to be transferred
to
other formats (letter heads, business cards and envelopes for
example) without becoming illegible.
An
abstract logo is image composed of
geometrical lines and does not transmit a message immediately.
Let us consider three traditional geometrical figures - a
circle, a square and a triangle.
The circle is the most simple of curves and is a
polygon with an infinite number of sides. It suggests
movement and dynamism. According to an old Chinese saying,
the infinite is a square without corners. The square
suggests a lack of movement, solidity, and the idea of
justice. The triangle expresses divinity, harmony and
proportion. In alchemy, it is the symbol of fire and the
heart. Once one of the three figures has been chosen (or
more than one), you can start to insert the standard
elements, such as the first initial of the family name or
the cross. It is also important to speak about colour. Logos
rarely have more than two colours because of the cost of
colour printing and fact the less colours you have, the
easier it is to read to logo.
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