One golden rule that any designer is guaranteed to come up against time and again is this: don't mess with the logo (opens in new tab).
Somewhere in most style guides (opens in new tab) you'll find a section telling you exactly how to use the logo, and warning you in no uncertain terms not to mess about with the logo design, under any circumstances, ever.
Which is fair enough; branding needs consistency if it's going to do its job, after all. But sometimes you just have to break the rules – something that McDonald's has done twice recently.
First it put up billboards (opens in new tab) in Canada, cropping the iconic Golden Arches logo to give directions to the nearest restaurant. Then for International Women's Day (opens in new tab), it turned the logo upside down, making it into a big W.
Such logo manipulation is a ballsy move, and while it's paid off for McDonald's with a stack of publicity, it's the sort of trick a brand can only really get away with if its logo is instantly recognisable (opens in new tab).
So, how well can you guess the logo if it's been given a serious crop? Test your brand awareness with our extreme close-up logo quiz...
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