There are countless logos out there, but only a few are truly exceptional. The best blend concept, uniqueness and instant recognition. A great logo requires thoughtful choices of font, icon and colour. Done well, the logo tells a brand's story in the most concise and compelling way possible.
The typical pharma logo is an all-caps word picture mark with a sans serif typeface, reflecting the industry's seriousness.
When it comes to composition, the pharma industry presents a diverse picture: Almost two thirds of pharma brands (64%) carry word/picture marks, while 36% use pure word marks. No brand has yet dared to drop its word mark entirely.
With logo lettering, the pharma industry is a mix of all-caps logos (44%), lowercase and mixed letter logos (20% and 36% respectively). A clearer picture emerges from the fonts used: 76% of brands go for sans serif typefaces, with Novartis and Astellas being prominent exceptions.
capital
lowercase
mixed
serif
sans serif
other
It’s a colorful world: With the exception of yellow and pink, the 25 biggest pharma brands worldwide cover almost all color ranges. Reflecting the seriousness of the industry, blue is used by almost 50% of the brands. AstraZeneca clearly takes a stand with its main color, purple.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
AbbVie
Amgen
Astellas
AstraZeneca
Bayer
Biogen
Bristol Myers Squibb
CSL
Gilead
GSK
Guangzhou
Johnson & Johnson
Lilly
Merck & Co
Merck KGaA
Novartis
Novo Nordisk
Pfizer
Roche
Sanofi
Sinopharm
SPH
Takeda
Teva
With a tendency towards monochromatic logos the pharma industry shows a variety of colors in their logos. Please note: Logos that exist in different color variations (e.g. Merck) are only listed here in one version.
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