Here, some of the basic terms are defined and/or explained. We often don't use these terms according to the actual definition. However, to help you understand the following chapters more easily, these terms will be defined here.

 

The following subpages are available in this chapter:

 

Pictogram


A pictogram is a graphical symbol. It is supposed to evoke an association to a particular term. The design of a pictogram should be unambiguous and simple. 

Symbol


Symbols are characters or glyphs with an agreed meaning. The origin of such signs lies mostly in religion (e.g. the peace dove of christianity), and frequently,... 

Signet


Signets are also used to identify a product or a company. "Signet" is the actual term for "sign". The word is based on the latin word "signum" and actually mean... 

Character


In relation to writing and logo design, a Character is part of a font - no matter if the characters consist of pictograms or symbols.  

Icon


The term "icon" is certainly well-known among many computer users. They're the little images that are commonly used instead of written commands. 

Emblem


In earlier days, peers, kings and sovereigns highlighted their domain using emblems. Emblem originally means "figure of heraldry". Emblems were also used to sig... 

Cachet


Besides a logo, many products also have a cachet printed on them. They were invented by technical inspection agencies or government agencies - but why? The basi... 

Trademark


A logo becomes a trademark, whenever the logo is used explicitly to identify a particular ware or product. 

Logo


Logo is derived from a greek word. The full word is actually logogram, and it is composed of "logo", which means "word", and "gramma", which stands for "charact...