2010 Trends. 2009 Trends. These are austere times, but the logos recently loaded onto LogoLounge.com - nearly 35,000 since 2008 - certainly do not reflect it. And that is how it should continue to be. Wary homage may be paid to marketing in lean times, but not to identity design. This are two wholly different efforts with different goals. It should set a long-term course for clients, not fall into pits carved out by economic phases. The most recent uploads to the site still have a vibrancy of color and energy that bucks what in past years might have been considered proper corporate behavior. This seventh annual trend report, as always, is as much a forecast as it is a study of the past 12 months. In preparation for the fifth LogoLounge book, we studied and organized thousands upon thousands of new designs.
One such direction is that the use of type and text is clearly more critical. The increased use of text in identity design takes several forms. Another clear direction is the increased chroma of color. 1. 1. Trends 2009. If there is one big no-no in graphic design, it is using complex geometrical shapes with a full color spectrum to create a logo. As to whether the capability to fax a logo is good or bad does not matter. This argument could persist through the years but one thing is certain: this complex geometry will be here for awhile. When this 80s trend first came out, it was a way of capturing the consumer's attention. The purpose was to design something completely different, regardless of costs. Designers will not spare any effort; they will use their turbo-charged Macs to prove that in today's over-saturated market, they have carte-blanche to attract the attention of consumers. For years, monster-like geometrical logos have been used by aggressive and self-centered companies to shout, instead of politely introduce, their industry presence.
There's a certain irony about using a full color spectrum for these creations. There's a chance of course that this may not thrive and be adopted widely. 2008 Trends. Trend-watching, until recently, has largely been an exercise in watching connections form between direct associations. Photoshop releases a new filter, and voila - entire raft of logos take on that effect. A particular illustration style is featured in a successful advertising campaign or movie, and in what seems like minutes, the flavor of that art starts to enhance corporate identities. Periodically, something truly surprising and unexpected pops up. Finding those little treasures are one of the great perks of categorizing 27,000 logos, as LogoLounge and a talented panel of judges just did in preparation for our fourth book. But there's always that natural undercurrent of influence that touches this design and that, a drift of scent, a faint change in air temperature.
This year, however, it seems as though there has been a change in the nature of trends themselves. What follows are 15 trends that have indeed popped up all over the world. And now, the trends. Supernova 1. Fine Line 1. Trends 2008. Take a look at the logo designs above. What's your first reaction? They bowl you over and leave you speechless - and somewhat confused don't they? These logos don't have beautiful shapes, shadows, mirrored reflections, warm colors, or icons that signify something; they look like the result of some kid playing around mindlessly. So why would anyone wish to have such a logo? The explanation is simple: this type of logo design is very different and will definitely stand out by sheer reason of being totally different.
But if we look back to the 80's which was a period of strange geometric shapes and neon colors - these types of logos came about and earned the reputation of spearheading the invasion of "cute logos". The emergence of this trend can also be attributed to a mighty comeback of the 80's in fashion ,interior and industrial design. There are numerous articles that picked apart the London 2012 logo. 2007 Trends. At LogoLounge.com we look at A LOT of logos and see plenty of trends: Some are aesthetic, some conceptual, and some cultural.
As the internet's largest database of over 50,000 logos to date, you can't help notice the evolution of design and trends. For instance, we have seen many more 3-D logos that are designed to be in motion, never still or flat. These designs have completely shaken the earthly bonds of CMYK and exist only in ethereal RGB: The old logo design rules just don't apply to them. Another development: Today, for many trends there is now a countertrend and this is not only the case for logo design. The public and its likes and dislikes have become fragmented across the spectrum. It is also becoming disturbingly clear that logo design has become a public sport. The full 2007 trend report follows. Also, you will note some amount of aesthetic crossover between trends. Dos Helix Hollywood has turned DNA into the glow-in-the-dark plot twist of CSI "insert city here". Rubber Bands. 2006 Trends. You simply can't organize 42,000 logos-the approximate number of designs now on the LogoLounge.com web site-and not notice commonalities.
Categories. Directions. Insights. And this year is no exception: There are trends, for better or for worse. We'd prefer for you to be the judge. Through the LogoLounge reports, you can look forward and backward, too. Through the LogoLounge.com web site, you can search an enormous database by keyword, designer's name, client name, industry, client category, type of logo, and dates to find a few trends of your own, as viewed from your own personal perspective. The goal of LogoLounge is not simply to amass the world's biggest pile of logos (although it is likely that already). Blankets The Aquacon logo gives every sense of the water's surface without relying on waves, ripples or other trite visuals. 1.
Blenders Intense with motion and light, these logos give the appearance of a form being swallowed by a black hole. 1. Buttons 1. Dot Fuzz 1. Orbs 1. Dry Brush. 2005 Trends. The word "trend" seems to raise the little hairs on the back of some designers' necks. Everybody wants to be a you-know-what-setter; no one wants to acknowledge the aftermath. But as we march toward LogoLounge.com's fifth anniversary, we've discovered that trends have become something impossible - and maybe unwise - to ignore. With 20,000 logos now on the website, and with the ability to watch the switches and sways of creativity as it reveals itself through a real-time compendium of identities all over the world, we have learned that noting trends is not so much like reporting history as it is considering what might be next. Trends are not an accusation of some widespread lack of original thinking. Instead, they are a sign of design evolution in our ever-shrinking world.
Think of them as confirmation that designers are excellent thermometers/barometers of human thinking the world-round. 1. 2. Consider the following 15 trends. Discover new directions. Folly Stars 1. Amalgams 1. Blow Out 1. 2004 Trends. When you've spent a month studying 17,000 logos from around the world, your mind can't help but notice certain similarities. Just ask Bill Gardner, who at this writing was putting the final touches on the second book to be released by the web site he founded, LogoLounge.com. The new book, LogoLounge Book II, will be released in January 2005 by Rockport Publishers (www.rockpub.com). It is a follow-up to LogoLounge Book I, which went into second and third printings soon after it was released in early 2003. "We are not suggesting that designers follow any of these. Glassine Many designers have discovered Photoshop's tools that produce a glassine appearance.
Like the recently revised UPS logo, many marks have been crystal-capped. These designs do stand out: They have a little extra sparkle or light that was previously seen more in packaging design, either through art effects or foiled papers. 1.Design for Goldfinger C.S. Bubbles This year marks the first sighting for this trend. Dialogue Boxes. 2003 Trends. The word "trend" has taken on a negative cast in recent years, particularly when the letter "y" is appended to it.
"Trend" is actually a pretty innocuous phenomenon, though: Simply speaking, it is defined as a new line of direction. "Trendy," on the other hand, is what happens when everybody else starts stampeding in the same direction. The ability to watch as design trends are taking shape-when the really courageous experimentation is happening and before imitation inevitably begins-is one of the best aspects of LogoLounge.com, says the website's founder, Bill Gardner.
"For the first time, designers have a real-time, front row seat to view what is happening in logo design," says Gardner, himself a talented designer and principal of Wichita-based Gardner Design, whose clients have included Pizza Hut, Cargill, Thermos, Nissan, Coleman, and Cox Communications, among many others. Gardner is watching, too. "This process forced us to find linkage between various logos.
Droplets 1. Refinement 1.