Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

We already know what makes a successful logo—remember, simplicity is key. But what about its color scheme? 

A Brazilian graphic designer, Paula Rúpolo, recently experimented with 22 major brand logos, swapping the colors of a brand's logo with that of its competitors. The results are mesmerizing and, surprisingly, viscerally unsettling. 

"There's something unbelievably awkward and uncomfortable about seeing globally-familiar brand logos wearing someone else's clothes," as Rúpolo puts it.

For brands like Dunkin Donuts and Sprite, where the design is minimal and the brand relies on color to make its logo pop, the outcome is especially off-putting. For others, like Amazon, where there's very little color to begin with, the swap totally overwhelms the design. ...