Design Context

We have been asked to bring in 5 examples of logos and branding to do with our chosen topic for the design practice 2 brief. It seems that Viking is quite a popular name for general businesses and brands, so as you can see below there is quite a large variety of logos, difficult to compare to each other as they in essence all are trying to promote or brand different messages, products, ethics, messages etc. 


many of the logos I have found have nothing to do with the traditional viking what so ever, either in its business or its visual identity. So it seems in many cases the word viking is used rather than the meaning that comes with vikings.

1.

Quite a dull logo, i can see it's relevance to the Vikings, the typeface used looks like the style of type that is usually represented to the vikings, but this i think is more what people portrait the vikings visuals to be like rather than the design style that was actually used.


2.

Viking Wong is a London fashion designer, so again i don' think their is much relevance to my topic other than the name that is used.

3.
 

This is related to the fact the club initially focused only on the Norwegian forest cat and as Norway is where the Vikings came from I can see how it makes sense. As a logo it is pretty horrible,The colours used don't relate to either Norway, Vikings or Cats. As logos go I think the simpler it is the better. This is not always the case but i have never been a fan of illustrated logos, they are often over complicated.

4.

The relation between vikings and boats but again the logo doesn't really represent a link between the 2 topics, it uses a bold condensed font to make it appear more butch and manly with the 'elegance' of the script font underneath but it doesn't really make itself stand out as a brand.

5.

This again uses a serif medieval looking font which is visually related to the middle ages which is all very well and good, but the cross in the centre makes it look like a 't' and The Vikings were pagans for a long time and had their own religious beliefs so the cross was not related to the vikings at all.
 
6.

Use of a bolder uppercase font, again i guess to keep a masculine and butch link to the word viking. colour relate to the specialist area of the brand, but the symbol associated with the text relates much more to the Seatech part of the brand than the Viking.

7.

this logo even though it is related due to the name it is totally different to what you would ever expect to be associated with the Vikings. it is much more slim and thin, with light more feminine colours. the flag relates more to the viking era which kind of links the logo to a viking long ship, however that probably wasn't the intention. 

8.

Another illustrative logo which is way too over complicated to be classed as good, the imagery on its own, even though a little over complicated, could pass as an acceptable logo, but then 2 entirely different typefaces have been used in random positions and it makes no sense. 
 
9.

 

i actually quite like the look of this logo, well the typeface used for it at least, I am not really sure what it is the logo for, but I think the typeface chosen suits the topic and personality of the word, this of course is just a personal opinion but it has a bold and manly, aggressive, sharp look which i would associate with Vikings.  

10.

this is another logo that i like, for Viking Gardens, it is a pretty successful logo, and this is mostly down to its simplicity I would say, nice solid bold type, with the simple imagery of the helmet linking it to Vikings, which in all honesty is a smart thing to do, what is the point of naming your business something to do with Vikings if what you do or the way you want to look has nothing to do with vikings. The colour choices are also simple and effective.

11.

The Minnesota Vikings logo is by far the most popular when you Google search 'Vikings' and as it is a logo for a popular NFL American Football team then the logo like nearly all American sports teams is bright bold  and in your face, because that is the way sports are run out there. I really like the colour scheme that the vikings have and visually I really like the illustration used as the main logo, but I would still probably say that it is too over complicated for a logo, especially with the weird script text used to go with it.However it is still a very successful logo and is known commonly around the world.  

12.

Viking FM i was surprised to find again had nothing to do with vikings visually it is just a name that was used originally, perhaps the design has evolved since the initial concept was created.  

13.

 I think this logo is again playing towards the strength and force that the vikings were matched with, the block uppercase letters, highlight that fact, and the thick simple symbol used seems to look like a man posing in a body build position, maybe representing strength.

14.

All capitals, bold masculine type, maybe the 'V' is meant to represent horns that were meant to be on the helmets of vikings? but there is again not real relevant link to the topic and logo.