There is no denying that the heart logo is very popular. It is the most prevalent of all the shapes used for logo design. Due to the positive associations of love and life, the majority of designers and audiences find the heart shape to be warm, welcoming and charming as a design element. This is why the shape has graced so many logos across multiple fields and industries.

It will interest you to learn that the heart logo is not a 20^th century phenomenon but was in use many years before then. It is only that by the early 20^th century, its use became rampant, and there were warnings that the shape would no longer appeal due to overuse. But this was not to be the case, as many designers continued to be more creative and continued making stellar trademarks and logos using the shape of the heart as the dominant shape.

Rise in popularity with I Love NY Logo

When people thought that that using the heart logo was just about to die, Martin Glaser revived it in 1977 when he came up with the massively popular I Love NY Logo. This was to inspire lots of designers to find more creative ways to use the shape in logo making but it also important to point out that a lot of imitators were also inspired as this is the most imitated logo in the world. Official records of United States Patent and Trademark Office show that there are currently over 1400 trademarks registered using the Glaser’s concept of I (heart) Logos.

More about I (heart) Logos

In the past years, many designers have continuously realized the potential that the heart logo has. They have come up with creative and intuitive ways to use the shape for better and more effective logo design. For instance, in some of its application, designers can turn the shape of the heart into an alphabet letter and use it within wood mark logos. The versatile shape of the heart can be used intuitively to take the forms of letters such as a, b, c, m, o, u, v as well as y. This versatility alone provides a wide range of design inspiration if you can get creative enough with using the heart shape.

Frankenmark Heart Logos

The other reason for the continued growth in the popularity of the heart logo is due to the Frankenmark logos. With this kind of logos, designers try to make logos that use two fingerprints, two hands, a handshake, or use a paw to form the shape of the heart . These types of logos are very popular owing to the fact that they use already popular symbols and combining it with the heart.

The omnipresent nature of the heart-shaped logos continues to increase, with big brands and companies adopting it. For instance, some of the big companies with heart-shaped logos in the present times include companies such as Airbnb, Thomas Cook, Southwest Airlines and CVS Health. But the use of heart-shaped logos in identity is no limited to such companies alone.

The social media is also now becoming awash with the heart symbols with big industry leaders Twitter, Instagram and Periscope all having something to do with it. For example, Twitter recently changed the starred favorites to heart-shaped likes. This was significant in the sense that it signified strong emotions of love, acknowledgement and appreciation of the people who used the symbols in their contents.

Overusing the heart logo

It is true that the use of the heart logo has continued over the decades. But does this increased adoption of this shape by designers tantamount to an over use? Analysis of USPTO data, in essence, shows that the use of heart-shaped logos is actually on the rise, and this might negate the notion that this type of shape is overused by the designers.

Presently, the heart logo makes up to 2.25% of all the logo designs. This is according to 2014 statistics. But even though this is a large percentage, considering the usage of other shapes in logo design, it doesn’t constitute an overuse in the heart logo design. Ideally, every heart logo is always unique and distinct, though they may adopt same design principles.

For graphic designers, as long as there is still room for creativity, the world is not about to stop seeing more heart logos. Designers will continue to come up with creative and unique inspirations to create quality and enticing heart logos. As days go by, more inspiration sources are discovered and so are different ways to use the shape in creating the heart logo. We can thus expect to see more uniqueness and freshness in this type of logo for many more years to come.

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The Olympic Games is one of the most celebrated sports events in the planet. It attracts participants from across the entire globe who come together to compete in a wide range of activity. Given the popularity of the event and the popularity that accompanies it, hosting it is usually a dream of every country. Tokyo got the privilege to host the 2020 Olympics Games and ever since they were awarded the bid, they have been preparing earnestly to have everything ready for the global sporting event. However, their hapless preparations for the Olympics games have been hampered by allegations that the Olympics logo might have been plagiarized.

Plagiarism in logo design is such a grave concern because it puts in doubt the designer’s ability to come up with fresh and unique design concepts. Additionally, for a global fiesta like the Olympics, it is utterly embarrassing to use a logo which appears to have been plagiarized. This is why Japan had to scrap off the logo in question and look for other alternatives.

When a design is copied on this level it can lead to some extreme controversy. This kind of problem can also detract from the games as a whole. While a major design contest does sometimes have this type of controversy associated with it, it is not often that a major designer is ripped off for the use of such a high profile logo. It will certainly be interesting to see if any future legal repercussions occur as a result of this case. If a logo was protected under copyright however then it may not be applicable due to differing copyright laws between international law. This is still a major international story however, worthy of design attention.

The accusations of plagiarism of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Game logo sparked off when a Belgium designer, Olivier Debie accused the 2020 Olympics logo designer of stealing his concept. Olivier claimed that Sano (the Olympics logo designer) didn’t just take his idea but also used other images in the logo design without acquiring permission to do so. This forced the Olympics Committee to ditch the design since they didn’t want to be associated with such claims.

The controversial Olympics logo has some semblance to a logo designed for the Theatre de Liege in Belgium, by Olivier Debie. Sano as well as the Olympics Committee have accepted the presence of the similarities between the two logos but have however refuted claims of plagiarism in the design.

Though Olivier is set to move to court to start the legal process of ensuring that the logo is not used during the Olympic Games, the organizing committee has asserted that the Belgium design was not a registered trademark. Hence, Sano cannot be guilty of plagiarism. They explain that Sano’s design features a “T.” This was inspired by the fact that the games will be held in Tokyo, so it was more appropriate for the logo have a letter T in it. The other inspiration on the logo is the red circle, and this was inspired by the Japanese flag characterized by the red circle representing the sun.

But after some time, the official organizing the Olympic Games decided to unveil Sano’s initial design, claiming that its emphasis on the shape of the letter “T” had no semblance of the Belgium’s theater design. The committee was, therefore, keen to promote the use of the Sano-designed logo and make it popular ahead of the games in 2020.

But the controversies surrounding the Olympics logo designs seem not to be far from over. It has emerged that Sano’s initial design also had semblance with the late German typographer, Jan Tschichold. Additionally, the local media has alleged that Sano had used images from a certain website without being given permission to do so.

On his defense, Sano stated that the inspiration for his design had come from the emblem used when Tokyo held the first Summer Olympic Games in 1964, claiming that he had never set his eyes on the Belgium design before. But some people found this defense difficult to buy since Sano had been in the past accused of plagiarizing other people’s work. As a result, this has put his credibility to test, and he will find it an uphill task to convince everyone that the Olympics logo design is his original creation.

Now that the authenticity of the logo as well as the credibility of the designer are in serious doubt, the officials organizing the games have decided to distance themselves from the logo and have thus commissioned a new design. They hope that they will ultimately find a designer and a design that will be clean from all allegations and which they can to restore the already dented image of organizing committee.

Check out the controversy surrounding the 49ers Logo here!

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