Your brand’s logo is a critical element in your overall branding strategy.
Great logos make us feel good about a brand or product, perhaps because of the expertise and skill that went into designing a particularly good logo, or perhaps because of emotions a logo elicits.
There’s no fixed timetable for when you need to redesign your logo, but some brands consider a new year to be a good time to upgrade their image with an upgraded logo. Additional factors that may affect a decision to upgrade a logo include:
- A logo that looks tired or outdated
- A need to stimulate publicity, perhaps because of a company merger or acquisition
- A desire to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace
- A desire to reflect mission and values more clearly
Whatever your reason for redesigning your brand logo, it’s a good idea to look at trends in logo design. Here are some trends that look strong for 2019.
Clean and Simple: Harder Than it Looks!
Simple, minimalist designs can stand out quietly among bright colors and bold logos. But a truly elegant, minimalist logo is far from simple to achieve. While a gorgeous minimalist logo may literally be composed of straight lines and simple fonts, it’s how those simple, clean elements are put together that makes the difference. A poorly-executed minimalist logo can look like you just couldn’t be bothered to come up with something more exciting, while an outstanding example shows that considerable care and experience went into its creation.
Taking Vintage Concepts and Making Them New
Elements of art deco and mid-century modern styling are making a comeback, not exactly as they were in their time, but in fresh ways that look right today. Art deco elements can be glamorous, yet they’re often composed of fairly simple lines and shapes. They can be a great addition to some logos because they manage to be both decorative and elegant. Mid-century designs, on the other hand, are all about clean lines. Both art deco and mid-century modern elements can work wonderfully with today’s popular color palettes.
Texture and 3D Effects
With foods, texture effects in logos can be effective. A swirl of ice cream rendered to appear three-dimensional makes the product seem more immediate. Texture and 3D effects are big in design right now, and logos with these elements almost feel as if they’re jumping off the shelf at you. Such designs can range from incredibly simple (such as paper cut-out looks) to rich and complex, with components made to look like anything from realistic flowers opening up right on the package to neon signs that you would swear were lit from within.
Logos That Inspire Happiness
While humor may not be appropriate for a logo, happiness almost always is. While logos that overdo it to the point of being saccharine or cloying might annoy people, happy elements can elevate a logo to a higher level of effectiveness. These logos tend to incorporate a lot of curves, because curved designs make the eye “dance” more than do blocky or straight-line shapes. Smiley, happy, or cute logos work best in less-serious industries and in products that directly target children, or that target the young at heart.
Logo design evolves constantly, and that’s important, because it helps people’s favorite brands stand out once again, while drawing their eyes to products and brands they may not have considered before. Learning what logo design elements are trending can help you when it’s time to refresh or redesign your brand’s logo. PKG Brand Design is always on the forefront of new CPG branding and packaging initiatives; please subscribe to our blog for the latest package design industry news!
