Your logo is a crucial component of your branding. It’s often what first gets noticed and is remembered. It can pull new customers in and help you to keep them. A strong logo makes a great first impression and is easy to recall. Creatively, your logo is one of the most important business decisions you can make, and it’s certainly worth taking your time with.
Think of all of your favorite brands. One of the first things that spring to mind, as well as the name, might be their logo. The most famous brands in the world, are totally recognizable by what is often a straightforward logo, that’s gone through only the most essential updates and modernization over time. Think Nike, Starbucks, Coke, McDonalds and Google. All brands that are instantly recognizable by one simple, yet creative design that transcends language and location and is well-known all over the world.
But, while these logos have undergone relatively small changes over time, logos still have trends, and even the exceptionally famous ones often move in the same direction. If you are thinking about making a logo for your business or updating an existing design in 2020, here are some of the trends that you should be looking at for a modern and effective logo.
Movement and Motion
Moving logo are becoming much more popular. Traditionally, logos are still. They have to be still to be printed on business cards, packaging and other materials, and so it has always been easier to have still logos. But, times are changing, even the photos that we take on our phones move.
Brands are using social media much more, which means that their audiences crave video. Movement gets noticed, stands out and creates engagement. So, expect even brands with a long term still logo, to start using movement online and mainly, on social media.
Mustards the New Gold
Gold has always been a color that screams decadence and luxury. Premium brands have long chosen gold as a color to be included in their branding. Mustard, however, is growing in popularity in its place in creative industries, and this could be a trend that flows into branding.
Mustard is much warmer than gold. It works well with colors like navy, black and grey. It’s more mature than yellow and more sophisticated than gold. But, it’s still eye-catching and memorable. Expect lots of mustard on logos and other branding accents in 2020.
Trendy Symbols and Shapes
The Nike tick is an excellent example of a simple symbol, becoming a well-known logo. A more modern trend, however, is incorporating symbols and shapes into the type, either as, or to complement letters, and not as a separate entity. Symbols can double up as a letter to highlight a brands message or core business.
Lilac and Other Pastels
Lilac, mint and other pastels are already growing in popularity on logos, and it’s a trend that is likely to continue. Pastels are eye-catching and bright. They work well with other pastels, as well as clashing colors and darker tone of the same colors. They are versatile colors that lend themselves particularly to health, fitness and wellbeing brands.
Pastels like mint especially are positive and uplifting. They make people happy and inspire trust and loyalty.
Custom Typography
Custom fonts are a fantastic way to breath new life into a brand name or logo. Letters are an essential part of design, but, many easy to read fonts are remarkably similar. Creating your own font is a great way to have a super simple logo, using your brand name, that is still completely different from anything else out there.
Simplicity
There are many advantages to a simple logo. There are easy to recognize, memorable, and easy to recreate, which can help them to become part of popular culture. Think of all of those favorites again. Most are very simple.
There are downsides, of course. Too many overly simplistic logos and we risk everything becoming the same. So, it’s essential to take your time and to avoid drawing too much inspiration from other brands.
Simplifying Existing Logos
Another trend that’s been around for a long time now is logos that we already know, being simplified. Think of the Starbucks lady. Over the years she’s gone from an intricate image with lots of fine lines, to a simpler graphic. Many of our favorite logos get simpler all of the time. If yours is currently quite complicated, and you are keen to make a change, look at ways to make it less complex.
Logos That Are Responsive Across Screens
Most good websites today are fully responsive. They have mobile sites, instead of trying to show the desktop site on a small screen. Logos are also becoming more responsive. On a large screen, print or TV add, brands like MTV use their full logo with a tagline. On a mobile screen, they use a smaller version, without the tagline. This means faster loading times and less space.
A Strong Message
Many brands are becoming keen to be seen as eco-friendly. They are looking at ways to save power and to make greener choices, and they are even more eager to tell people about it. Many are adding elements to logos, or taglines, to show off their efforts. Make your business greener, and let everyone know about it.
80’s Throwbacks
Throwbacks are always popular, and in branding, as in clothing, previous decades come back to haunt us. 80’s metallic and disco are going to be very cool in 2020.
When it comes to creating a logo, like many other creative processes, the best way to work is often trial and error. Know your brand’s values and core message. Research your target audience and try to find out more about other brands that they like, as well as other elements of popular culture that they engage with. Have some branding ideas in mind, and test things out. Take inspiration from this list, as well as your favorite brands and images, but go your own way and don’t be scared to experiment.
