30 Dec Pharmacy logotypes and logos
Pharmacy Logotypes
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.
Creating a logo seems a very simple, but it is a lot more complex then it looks. You need to have the target audience of the pharmacy clear in your mind, gather as much information as possible (what is the colour that best characterises the pharmacy, which merchandise sector is the most prominent). Only afterwards can the creative phase begin.