(via logolounge)
Logolounge put together a list of logo trends they’re seeing as users have become increasingly more participatory and more and more logos are being designed by artists with less and less formal training. Here’s what they have to say:
It is also becoming disturbingly clear that logo design has become a public sport. As the public controls their own media more and more–Tivo-ing this, blogging that, YouTube-ing and Googling everything else–people are no longer satisfied to simply consume what is placed before them: They have opinions they want to share. So when a large corporation reveals its new identity, there are hundreds of internet sites flinging their opinions back at it. Even when the village board of Remote votes on a new logo for its two police cars, citizens take to the streets waving pitchforks and copies of their own designs. Committeecide seems to be rampant.
Some trends I like and some I could do without. Generally speaking I’m not a dogmatist for the rules of print design – but there are some that just make sense when designing a versatile logo/mark for use in today’s media.
For instance, one of my biggest issues is with logos that simply do not read as one color. I’m not arguing that your logo needs to be printed in the Yellow-Pages nor am I ignoring all of the self-printing services that offer 4 over 4 for dirt-cheap. As a designer, I can say that there is something profoundly beautiful and inherently powerful about a white mark on a black background. There are instances when delivering your design on a small-screen device (think cellphone), or alternately, blowing it out huge (think outdoor), when the simplicity and power of the white mark-on-black-background is the way to go. So many times the white Nike swoosh on a black billboard caught my attention over all of the other visual noise of NYC. I think the following would get lost in this context:
A corollary to the above is it must look great small. Real small. As cellphones/convergence devices tackle more robust and complex functionality, we’re going to see higher and higher resolution screens. The iPhone already has 160dpi (up from the old standard 72dpi for computer/T.V. monitors). This means that things are going to look sharper as they’re displayed smaller – allowing users to function with everything on-screen displayed smaller. Super-complex logos like the ones below simply won’t translate:
It’s not all negative over here at vbrunetti, there are some trends I like. Unfortunately the logolounge article seems to focus on the negative. I’m looking for some of my favs – so I’ll update this soon. For now check out the original article.