An article on logo design trends asked, “What will logos look like in the year to come? Design experts share their predictions.”
I don’t know about you, but I get very nervous when I hear about “trends.”
That means:
- Many people are doing
- There’s lots of similar sounding or similar looking stuff in the market
- Distinction and novelty are gone, and you’ve just become “like everyone else.”
Yet, year after year, industry publishers share “trends” we should all follow. Here’s what they ended up coming up with.
OH CRAP: HERE COME THE TRENDS
These 5 big logo design trends per this article are:
- 01. Simple and minimalist
- 02. Authenticity and narrative
- 03. Playful simplicity
- 04. Clean typography in luxury
- 05. Brand mascots
What the heck happened to smart? Insightful? Innovative?
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE REALLY DOING HERE?
The above list is a list of descriptions of design attributes.
Here’s what articles that cover trends miss:
Branding is the art of differentiation. Design supports that. Design and branding don’t exist to simply “copy what’s popular.”
That means some trend that has already become common or “trending” will violate what Phil Knight of Nike said so well, “Our job is to wake up the consumers. If we become predictable, that’s not waking them up.”
THE 2-MINUTE CRASH COURSE IN WHAT BRANDING REALLY IS:
Knowing what branding is, it’s obvious trends are noise.
Trends come into being because they’re “seen by everyone.”
So why would anyone in their right mind want to have a list of design trends (other than to ignore them)?
LOGO DESIGN TRENDS TO IGNORE
A brand uses design to support a concept and strategy — an idea — and isn’t merely some cosmetic exercise which the above article sadly omits.
A cosmetic type of approach is what gives design (and designers) a bad name and punches up a more fundamental misconception of what design is supposed to do:
Design (which only exists to serve branding and the customer’s experience of the brand) is there to differentiate from the existing noise in the market, whether for a product, a service, a company, a person, a cultural event or a movement, not add to that noise.
Want to follow trends? That’s great for fashion. Or shoes. Or food if you want to “fit in a category” that’s hot and rising in popularity.
But that notion applied to design is shortsighted and lacks the long look one must take when developing a brand.
WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO INSTEAD OF TRENDS
Trends, when they reach a certain saturation point, become a brand’s biggest problem: the cliché.
Cliches will kill more businesses faster than a roomful of partisan politicians.
Want to succeed in business? Then turn to design driven by branding — solutions not driven by “what everyone else is doing” which is the short-sighted approach to copying what’s been done.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
For example, here’s a video showing the transformations possible when brands and their logos are driven by strategy and differentiation:
Clients deserve intelligence.
Clients deserve insight.
Clients deserve judgment to know what to do as well as what to ignore.
Clients deserve maturity that knows when to say no and when to break new ground.
If you have a great company, product, service, or innovation that would benefit the world, don’t shortchange it with “design solutions” not backed up by the core principle and reason for branding: differentiation.
Wake your customers up and shine a light in the world. Only in that way will people who need what you have to offer be able to see.
Need help? Let’s talk.
Final word: both shyness and “marketing by telepathy” let everybody down.
—
Guest Author: David Brier
Seeking to build and grow your brand using the force of consumer insight, strategic foresight, creative disruption and technology prowess? Talk to us at +971 50 6254340 or engage@groupisd.com or visit www.groupisd.com/story
