But – if you deal with small companies who intend to remain small, these rules may not apply completely.

A lot of the above ‘rules’ are only effective for brands with enough means of projecting their brand message on a number of fronts (national ad campaigns, tv commercials, huge billboards, flagship stores).

Small companies just need to be distinctive within their small sphere of influence. Sometimes that means NOT following some of the above rules.

I’d love to see something with regard to logo development that does not use huge corporate brands as examples to illustrate the points however. (They have millions of dollars constantly being pumped into top line advertising, which generates the awareness for them to be able to afford to use minimal executions of their logo e.g. mcd’s m and nike’s tick).

How about some of the readers post some relatively “unknown” or local businesses from their area, who shine in regard to the points Brian raises?

I’ll go first – wedding planner logo.
Note the intertwining of ‘by’ in the word mark to symbolise the relationship of the planner and the bride to be. http://www.inspiredbylove.co.nz/