The Best Logos

What a logo tournament taught me about opinions

Author

Jon Haines
March 20, 2025

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This week’s edition:

  • The Best Logos: What a logo tournament taught me about opinions 

  • Design articles i found interesting

  • Design jobs I found interesting

Every year in the United States, the country gears up for March Madness — a college basketball tournament where the best teams go head to head until one remains. Many people go crazy for it.

This year, I decided to do a March Madness version for logo designs and ran it on my Instagram.

Definitely not the same sort of traction as the basketball version, but I did have a lot of fun doing it. And really, it led me to understand a lot of things about people’s behavior.

Designers and non-designers view logos differently

At the beginning of the tournament, I was sure that awesome, simple designs would dominate the tournament, but I was surprised by my non-designer followers who ended up choosing brands that — from a design perspective — do not have a great visual insignia.

More well-known companies did better

The final four consisted of some of the most well-known brands — Nike, Chanel, Coca-cola, and Apple. Logos that I did like, but weren’t as well known, ended up not going far. For example, Open AI beat out DeepSeek. This was surprising, considering how bland Open AI’s circular logo is. But hey, it’s a company that more people are aware of.

Simplicity is key

This is always the case. It’s why brands like Nike succeed so well. The simplicity invokes an emotion that is so primal to a person’s brain that even something like a logo can tell a person how to feel.

Design Articles for the Week

Apple's cool Major League Soccer logo mash-ups are changing the rules of co-branding

Brand collabs often a similar pattern. So it's remarkable to see Apple modify its logo for each of the 30 Major League Soccer team uniforms.

www.fastcompany.com/91289259/apple-major-league-soccer-logos-and-the-art-of-the-logo-mash-up?utm_source=news.todayin.design&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=apple-s-major-league-soccer-logo-mash-ups-are-changing-the-rules-of-co-branding&_bhlid=c60b654d7cb09de6c37fb2ec8de62168fad684b3

This free web-based image editor gives Photoshop a run for its money

A web-based Photoshop alternative with no accounts, payments, or downloads required? Yes, please.

www.fastcompany.com/91285707/free-photoshop-alternative-photopea?utm_source=news.todayin.design&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=apple-s-major-league-soccer-logo-mash-ups-are-changing-the-rules-of-co-branding&_bhlid=3a35383e2ab6e6155878c0a73551321a8e6c65f4

Why Figma is the dominant collaborative design tool for enterprises

Figma's tools keep designers and developers—and everyone else in an organization—on the same page.

www.fastcompany.com/91270817/figma-most-innovative-companies-2025

Design Jobs for the Week

Hi, I’m Jon, a UX and Product Designer from Brooklyn, New York. I write the Design Breadcrumbs newsletter to express my own thoughts on the design world, freelancing, and career advancement. Subscribe to get this news delivered to your inbox every week.