Logo Designs You’ll See More of This Year
January 1, 2021
With the change into a new year and a new decade, 2020 is bringing with it plenty of changes for marketers worldwide. There are new brands, brands renewing themselves with updated logos, and brands creating logos for the first time. Staying on top of trends, even in the realm of logos, is critical in a society as visual as ours.
Throughout this blog, we’ll talk about the latest trends in logos for 2020. What you can expect to see more of, what’s on the way out, and how to help your logo make an impression on consumers.
Go Simple or Go Home
In the past, big, intricate logos have won out because of their eye-catching aesthetics. It looks like 2020 is taking us back to a time when less really was more. Simple logos with one or two colors, easy to read fonts, and minimal accessories are showing up more and more, even among big box retailers. Uber and Crocs are two brands who encompass this concept like no other. Uber is a simple black typeface with the brand’s name as the logo. This is marvelously crafty because the logo tells shoppers exactly who they are, it stands out against a white backdrop, and it doesn’t provide any ammunition for negative feedback.
Yahoo is another simplistic logo contender, and one who has been simple for a long time. In fact, the Yahoo brand began simple, and has remained simple and successful. When you see that purple font and exclamation point, you know exactly what brand you’re looking at. There’s a reason for this – it’s so simple, it makes it impossible to forget.
Use Colors on a Gradient
The ombre hair faze might finally be over, but it doesn’t look like gradient colors are going away anytime soon. Like the ombre hair fading from one color to the next, gradient colors in logo font allows you to see multiple colors without complicating the arrangement. This sticks with the first rule of 2020 logos in its simplicity, while still providing the benefit of a unique look to your customers.
Gradient colors don’t require you to use multiple colors in your logo. In fact, many choose to simple fade from one shade to a less extreme shade. An example of this is in the brand logo for Common App. While the words, “common app” appear in black font, the design following them is a blue design in multiple fading and heightened tones of the same color. It creates a modern 3D element to the logo and helps it pop off the screen to become more noticeable.
Tight Lettering and Cluttered Designs
Keeping this simple isn’t the same as keeping things clean, and 2020 is not a year of cleanliness among logos. In fact, the more cluttered the logo, the trendier you are. Tight lettering like that seen in the Zara or New York City Ballet logos is modern, edgy, and a great way to stick out among all the plain Janes out there.
When selecting a cluttered letter design, be sure to adjust font size and color so everything is still perfectly visible. New York City Ballet uses the above-mentioned gradient effect to help each word stand apart from the next while still pushing them together, so they almost overlap.
When in Doubt Choose an Emblem
While many old-school logos are going out the door, there’s one which remains trendy – the emblem. Emblems create that visual aspect consumers seek out in a logo. There was a time when most logos are simply pictures and not much more. Nowadays, while some companies, like Apple, rock the symbol logo, others need to spice things up.
An emblem can include all the font you like while still incorporating a simple yet effective visual aid. Circle emblems like the one seen in Canadian brand, Easy Coast Lifestyle, is especially popular, especially among younger crowds. Marketing to your audience is a crucial part of the success of your logo. Lean on statistics and analytics to determine which modern logo style will benefit your needs before you get started at the drawing board.
Get Geometric with Your Lettering
Including a geometric shape, pattern, or graphic in your lettering is a hugely popular logo effect. More and more companies are choosing to get artistic with their font, increasing the number of shapes and designs seen within them. Apex and Amo use this concept to their advantage, making geometric shapes jump off the page and into the consumers face with their bright and bold logos.
If you’ve ever noticed that first emblazoned letter on the first page of a new chapter in a book, you can understand why this trend is catching on. Geometric shapes provide the aesthetic value of symmetry, something the human eye seeks naturally. We also search for things which stand out among standard font, like the bold face letters starting your chapters. Geometric letters or images at the beginning of your brand name and logo impact consumers much the same way.
Whether you’re trying to create a brand-new logo, or you’re a Startup looking for a logo to call your own, give a few of these 2020 trends a try. Staying on trend as seasons change is highly strategic. It leaves consumers believing you know what’s hot in the new year, and challenges those who cling to traditional lettering and avoid updating market strategies.
For more great ideas on marketing throughout 2020, keep up to date on our social media centric blog posts.