When you’re developing an amazing brand, you cannot ignore logo design.  In fact, the power of a well-crafted square logo can never be denied.

Your logo will have a profound effect on the way both current and potential customers view your products, services, and your company’s brand as a whole. An impactful logo might look simple, but there is absolutely nothing simple about the process behind the creation of such effective logo shapes.

The Psychology Behind a Square Logo Design

A square shape is the diametrical opposite of the circle. It’s made up of right angles and straight lines. The square shape is suggestive of organization and sturdiness. Think along the lines of building a foundation and property demarcations. The typical plot of land a house is constructed on is almost always measured in square yards or square meters.

Circular shapes occur in nature, while squares are typically found in man-made structures.

The square design is the most basic building block in both architecture and education. Most of us already have an affinity towards the square shape because of our experience with it as a child. This is because we have all played with square building blocks or chalked out hopscotch squares. This shape has helped us learn the letters of the alphabet, geometry, colors, and so much more.

Since rectangles and squares are so familiar to us, we’ve learned to trust this shape. From eating at a square shaped table to sleeping on a rectangular bed, we feel relaxed and comfortable when surrounded by square shapes.

Many companies choose square logos because of their intrinsic ability to inspire stability, trust, and strength. In fact, such logos are particularly common among companies operating in the Information Technology sector, as well as banks and other financial institutions. Let us take a closer look at the more popular square shaped logos and see for ourselves the messages they communicate to us.

H&R Block, Inc.

H&R Block is an American tax preparation company. It operates in Australia, North America, and India.

Conveying Trust and Innovation

Their logo is simplicity itself.  A simple green box. No more and no less.

The company has been around since the mid-1950’s, but the square logo is a comparatively recent addition. Most financial institutions tend to opt for conservative colors, at least as far as their logos are concerned. For instance, dark and navy-blue hues traditionally dominated the financial service sector because of their association with stability and expertise.

H&R Block’s bold green color and square shape enables them to be more prominent and also invokes a certain level of trust and stability in the brand’s services.  This is one of the reasons why they have literally hundreds of millions of satisfied clients.

If their logo could speak for itself, this is what it would say: “Trust our hard-earned reputation and our highly modernistic approach towards handling your financial affairs.”

The Home Depot

The Home Depot both empowers and supplies their customers with relevant tools to take care of various small-scale home improvement projects on their own and at an affordable cost.

Their Logo: The Epitome of Planning and Structure

Their square-shaped logo design and the Avant-Garde orange color inspires activity, showcases enthusiasm, and suggests affordability. They understand the value of their logo to such an extent that they’ve left it untouched for over three decades. Today, it is arguably one of the most instantly recognizable and well-known logos in the interior décor industry. Its bright orange color symbolizes happiness, cheerfulness, and boundless energy. In addition, both the color and shape are associated with the construction industry.

If the Home Depot logo were to describe itself, this is what it would say: “We are there to provide you the right materials and confidence whenever you want to spruce up your home.”

Microsoft

Microsoft created this logo in 2012.  They have shown no inclination to change it over the past seven years. The design consists of a square box with four equally shaped boxes in red, green, blue and yellow.

The Logo and What It Conveys to the Target Audience

The logo showcases digital motion and the different square-shaped colored boxes denote the company’s many products which include the following:

• Windows Operating System
• Microsoft Office, and
• Xbox

Microsoft’s general manager of brand strategy, Jeff Hansen’s, describes their logo in the following words “…the new Microsoft logo takes its inspiration from our product design principles while drawing upon the heritage of our brand values, fonts, and colors.”

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

The BBC’s logo is a near perfect example of the square logo. Its stark black and white colors convey the two qualities for which it is known all over the world— trustworthiness and stability. People regularly tune into BBC’s many services when they want to know about the state of the world around them.

The Logo is a perfect variation of the powerful use of positive and negative spaces— bold white letters in square black boxes. If it could speak, it would describe the brand in the following words “I have informed people all over the world of the key events that have defined us over the last century. When you tune in to a BBC broadcast, you will get the bare-bone facts without any window dressing.”

Lego

In some form or the other, the LEGO square logo has seen continuous use since the company was founded back in 1932. Its design looks like their bricks and the boxes they package their products in. This particular iteration of their distinctive logo has been around since 1998 and the company has shown no desire to leave its square-shaped roots.

The logo itself resembles the bright, multi-colored bricks that so many generations of children have used to create the iconic structures that Lego is known for all over the world.

If the logo could talk, this is what it would say about itself: “I am the gateway to a world where you can unleash your imagination and create a whole new world of fascinating shapes and structures.”

American Express

American Express has been using their square blue logo for many years. In fact, it is one of the single most widely recognized square shaped logos in the world. The logo’s minimalistic design creates a highly recognizable and strong visual identity.

It has a very simple blue and white color scheme. The light blue square shape containing white lettering sets it apart. Currently, it uses AMEX instead of the full ‘American Express,’ but the color and shape remain the same.

The American Express logo coveys, “I am a visual representation of the innate honesty and solidity of the American Express brand. You can trust us to deliver when others can’t or won’t”

Conclusion

The square shape is a natural shape for many kinds of logos. Not only is it very easy to create and manage, but it’s easy to translate on many different media platforms. Square logos are exact from all irrespective angles.  Looking at it from the visual perspective, a square actually demands the recognition of equality.

However, square logos are sometimes seen as unimaginative. You can merge them with bright colors and catchy slogans to create a more modernistic look.

Its sharp and clearly defined edges allow users of the square logo to perceive a certain level of discipline among all their lines.

Put the innate qualities of the square to good use to create your perfect logo.

Brands interested in trying to send a message of conservatism and solidity along with a forward-looking approach should consider using a square logo.