Has your brand made a memorable and long-lasting impression on your target audience? We discovered an interesting and simple test to find out.

The basis of any great brand / logo design is defining an image that helps communicate your company’s message in a benefit oriented manner. This is done through the creative use of type, color, shapes and sometimes even photography.

Many surveys (formal and informal) have been conducted over the years to test the memorability of a brand — how recognizable it is. One such test we’ve seen for evaluating company slogans is the ever popular, fill-in-the-blank. e.g.; “Plop, plop, fizz __ __ __ __ __ __.” Or “______ Airlines. The only way to fly.”

Another such test is to show an assortment of logos (minus any company verbiage or name) and then see how many someone can correctly name.

Although both of the above tests do a good job at ranking memorable, the failing element is that the person taking the test is preempted — they’re given half the answer. Sort of like asking; 2 + _ = 4.

So the question is, how can you really test how memorable your brand is, or the impact its had on your target market — or even the world for that matter? Well, the folks over at Monochrom came up with an interesting and downright simple test.

They asked people to draw logos from memory. Wow! What a great and simple way to evaluate the power of a brand. And the results are fun to see. No long, boring report filled with buzzwords and statistical tracking, just the raw sketches and drawings.

And it came as no surprise that of the twelve logos that were part of the test (Adidas, Apple, BP Oil, Coca Cola, Eskimo, Iglo, Lacoste, Maggi, Peugeot, Philips, Raiffeisen Bank, and Toyota) Coca-Cola was the biggest winner.

The point to this exercise is to do some thinking about your own brand, your logo, and how it’s presented to the world. And if you’re just starting a company, or looking to recreate your company image, it’s something to really think long and hard about before jumping into the deep end of the design exploration pool.

And while you’re thinking about it, keep in mind that although “cool” design elements can be good for creating a “Wow” factor, smart is better — and smart and simple is best.