Whether you’re providing a prepaid taxi service, premium Limousine service, or simply operating a trucking business with a handful of trucks, having the right branding is important. At the end of the day, it’s a business and you’re there to grab the audience’s attention and make money.
However, like any other business, irrespective of its type and size, creating a memorable brand identity isn’t easy. Remember, even some of the biggest international brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Burger King took years (sometimes decades) to create a strong and unforgettable brand recognition.
Today, they are so famous that even a small symbol like a swoosh, a bitten apple, or their brand name acronyms are enough to make people recall them. Such is the power and intensity of their brand logos. If you’re already running an automotive business or considering launching one, getting a creative automotive or trucking logo is essential. Else, you might end up getting lost in the crowd with poor business prospects.
But, what makes a good automotive or transport logo? And, how can you get one? Can an automated logo generator do justice to your brand or do you need to hire a professional logo designer? Below, we will try to cover everything you need to know about designing the perfect transport logo. Here’s a quick look at some of the best transport company logos, so you can better understand your expectations and plan everything accordingly.
Top 10 Transport Logos to Take Inspiration From
- FedEx
A pioneer in the field of logo design, the FedEx logo was created by Landor Associates in 1994. As a powerful logistics company, the brand’s award-winning emblem became one of major factors behind its unparalleled success. While the design may appear simple to the casual observer, you’ll be amazed at its tricky optical illusion – a white arrow between the letters E and X.
This symbol works on various levels. Aside from suggesting speed and timely delivery, it also stands for perfection and perseverance in attaining business goals. The font is bold and clear, the letters are well spaced, and the blue and gold color combination speaks sophistication.
What’s more, every color in the logo holds its own significance. You must have noticed that the “Ex” part of the wordmark changes color across various displays. This is a quick and smart way to differentiate the departments in the organization. For instance, green is the official color of FedEx Ground, orange represents FedEx Express, and red denotes FedEx Freight.
- UPS
A famous transportation and logistics company based in the USA, UPS delivers parcels, goods and urgent documents both locally and internationally. The current brand logo features an abbreviated form of the actual brand name, United Parcel Service- one that has always been a part of the emblem.
It is a flat logo consisting of two contrasting color zones, yellow and brown. While the outer yellow color design closely looks like a shield, the brown one works as a frame with an arched top. Standing for trust, protection, strength, and authority, the shield is a positive symbol for a famous logistics brand like UPS.
- MSC
Although not as popular as UPS or FedEx, the MSC or Mediterranean Shipping Company is an international container shipping company offering digitized global services. Since they mostly deal in freight shipping by water, the “waves” in their logo do proper justice to their business. The design is so meaningful and realistic that even those who see it for the first time can presume their services or at least what industry they’re in.
The center of the logo features the brand name in two levels – “MSC” in capital letters and “Cruises” beneath in smaller letters. There’s a compass on the left, featuring an insignia that represents the abridged brand name. The stylized wave divides the compass into two parts, with the alphabet “M” placed above it and the other two alphabets “S” and “C” underneath.
- DHL
A global logistics company offering international express mail services, DHL is equally famous for its unique logo design. The trademark bears the brand name, DHL, after the surnames of its founders – Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, and Robert Lynn. The wordmark is accompanied by long horizontal lines that indicate speed and consistency.
The designers have given a bold look to the letters and also italicized them to give dynamism to the logo. Thereby, they used a custom typography designed exclusively for DHL, inspired from the typefaces of the Minion and Frutiger groups. It is a combination of wide serifs (“D”), bold geometric symmetry (“H”) and smoothed corners (“L”).
Two yellow stripes cross the wordmark. Both the underlay and the yellow lines behind the word “EXPRESS” are in bright yellow (Pantone 116). All the characters are in red (Pantone 200), clearly distinguishing them from other background elements.
- Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd is a German organization, dealing in global container shipping and logistics services. The brand logo features a simple yet tricky design technique that makes it memorable. The symbol on the left of the wordmark combines the initials of the brand name in a creative way.
If you look closely, you’ll find the letter “L” is hidden within the “H”, which adds fun to the design, much like the FedEx secret arrow. The blue color of the emblem stands for trust, competence, and honesty. These qualities are very much in sync with the transport industry, where the customers entrust their products or documents with the logistics company.
- Venture
Located in Miami, Florida, Venture Logistics is a transportation business providing trucking and logistics services with technical expertise. Whereas DHL features parallel stripes in its logo in a traditional way, Venture Logistics uses the same technique with a twist.
Vertical and horizontal lines impart a sense of movement to the emblem, symbolizing speed, accuracy, and dynamism. Horizontal lines suggest stability and being grounded, whereas vertical lines suggest success and prosperity. The most interesting feature about this design is that there are several empty spaces in the emblem that give an appearance of grooves and wheels. Also, the bright red color suggests a sense of urgency to assure their clients that their packages are in safe hands.
- XPO Logistics
The XPO Logistics emblem is the perfect example of how you don’t require flashy design elements to create a memorable transport or trucking logo. The bold color palette (red and black) is one of the very first things that you’d notice about it. However, when you take a closer look, you’ll notice something unique about the typography.
There’s almost no space between the letters, thus giving the logo a compact and professional look. The font style is also very basic – sans serif with no dots in the letter “I”, and a stylized “T” with a sharp edge to boost memorability.
- Hutt
A cargo and freight company providing logistics, frozen warehousing, and different types of transportation services, Hutt Trucking features a simple yet effective logo design. The most unique feature about it is that there’s no specific symbolism in the logo. The emblem is more abstract, although the shapes speak volumes about the company.
Only straight, blocky, and angular features have been used to denote security and strength — no usage of curves or slants to soften the design. The bold color combination of red and black gives the impression of authority and dominance. While it’s not a friendly or casual color scheme, it helps provide the clients with a sense of security and confidence.
- Maersk
The current Maersk logo features a white seven-pointed star within a light blue square with curved corners. The wordmark “Maersk” goes in black and is placed just beside the emblem. When used on the company’s transport vehicles, the star is featured against a light blue setting without any specific shape.
The name and color of the brand are showcased on various places across the ships and they don’t always contain the logo (for example, the name can solely appear just against the blue background). Neat and simple, the logotype used for the Maersk logo has superb legibility that makes it prominent even from a huge distance. This is possibly done so the brand wordmark can be used on their ships.
- Lineage
Famous for its temperature-controlled logistics services, Lineage features a logo design that deviates from the conventional transport logos. Aside from using a blue and green color palette (unlike the typical red and black), it is also the only one to use a serif font. These things help Lineage stand out from the crowd, the key purpose of using any brand logo. However, it does follow some conventions, such as the shield-shaped emblem.
Similar to the UPS logo, the shield denotes that they’ll ensure the safety of your goods during transportation. The best and the most unique thing about this logo is the triangle pattern that uses various color shades – something that lingers in your mind for a long time.
How to Choose the Right Color for Your Transport Logo Design
When it comes to branding, colors provide important visual cues. They create a strong visual identity for your brand across various platforms and help make it stand out from the crowd. Colors are even more important for a high-stakes and service-oriented business such as trucking or transportation. When you choose the right color palette, you can convey loads of information about your business to the audience.
According to color psychology, every color has its unique inherent meaning and psychological effects that can be used to amplify a brand’s individual character. For example, red is often associated with passion, energy, and a sense of urgency. Orange expresses enthusiasm and a sense of positivity. Blue and brown are used to denote care, dependability, and consistent service.
Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most popular transport logo colors and how they convey different mood and psychology. The idea is to help you figure out which color best suits your brand personality and showcases its unique selling propositions (USPs).
Orange: Efficiency, Speed, Energy
One of the most popular colors in the transportation industry, orange is the color of joy, positivity, safety, enthusiasm, and speed. These are some of the most common traits that the transportation companies aim to promote through their logo designs. Whether you use it as the primary or even secondary color in your trucking logo, you’ll make it instantly noticeable in the crowd.
As a warm and gripping color, it makes heads turn, and its playful appeal helps the audience relate to it. However, unless you want to go overboard and announce your authority with a bang, consider using muted shades of orange with minimum or no glare. Even if you’re using a vibrant tone, try balancing it out with some subtle visual elements in the logo. For example, the FedEx logo uses a darker shade of orange (PMS 021 C) along with purple (PMS 2685 C) to create a subtle yet attractive logo for their brand.
Green: Organic, Natural, Earthy
Green, being an intrinsic part of nature, instantly suggests everything natural and organic. It is often associated with feelings of safety, abundance, peace, and productiveness. When a transport company uses green in its brand logo, it clearly stands for their credibility, professionalism, progress, faith, and eco-friendliness. If your trucking business is sustainable, fuel-efficient, or supports carbon-neutral initiatives, choosing green for your logo would be a wise choice.
Red: Energy, Positivity, Passion
A red transport logo proclaims power, emergency, energy, and passion. Also, as the warmest shade in the color wheel, it ignites feelings of fearlessness and professionalism. For example, when someone wears a red costume, we consider them to be brave and outgoing.
Going by Color Psychology, we interpret red as a sign of courage and confidence. Thus, if you want your trucking logo to promote your brand as a powerful, confident, and forward-thinking company, go for red. You may also consider using complementary or analogous shades to balance the vibrancy and intensity of red.
Brown: Strength and Dependability
Just like green, the color brown is also related to nature. Nevertheless, unlike green that gives a happy and calming vibe, brown is subdued. It stands for strength, stability, protection, and responsibility. Transportation companies that want to appear strong, dependable and experienced often use brown in their logo designs.
Transport is one such business. UPS (United Parcel Service) features a famous logistics logo using brown and gold as their key branding colors. Since the brand takes pride in being strong and reliable, they chose brown for their logo design. In their words, “We don’t need bright oranges to get your attention; our dependable service will do that for us”. If you’re willing to put in the effort and dedication to validate your claims of dependability, brown is certainly your color. However, like any other color, avoid using too much of it as it can make the logo appear boring or outdated.
Wrapping up,
When it comes to automotive logo design, choosing the right color palette and other design elements is very important. No matter what color or design you choose, avoid going over the board with anything. Try to keep things subtle yet attractive. Take cue from the above mentioned logistics brands and create something innovative. The best option would be to hire a professional logo designer or design agency with experience in this field. Since it’s about the reputation of your brand and its success, consider investing in custom trucking logos.
Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the Media and Digital marketing sector, Passionate about innovation and bringing the future into new business solutions.
