Logo Design Rules | Logo Simplification

Logo Design Rules. Logo designs are becoming more and more simplified with each passing year. But why? Also, do you need to make your logo designs simple or minimal, or can you totally ignore this simplification movement that exists within the logo design industry?

You can see the evolution of brand logos and the simplification process. Some of the most obvious examples are with the Starbucks logo, or the Instagram logo/icon. There are several good reasons for logo designs being more simple these days, and we go over all of them in today’s post by designidea4u.

Simplification isn’t just a recent trend in logo design. It’s something we’ve seen in some degree for a number of years and you can actually track that back through brand evolution in logo design. Simplification is one of the strongest movements that we’ve seen at the very top of the industry. But why is that and is it even important to you or me as a logo designer?

Also, where is the logo design industry actually heading anyway? But let’s quickly step back in time for a moment right back to when computers were first being integrated properly into the professional work streams of graphic designers.

Back then designers were starting to get access to gradients drop Shadows quick color fills and all of this with just a click of a button. So obviously people started to experiment with all sorts of effects and it was almost like a way to show off the tech at the time. However sometimes and quite often this would overpower the actual brief or the main intention of a design. It’s very purpose which is to become an easily recognizable hook in the minds of the consumer.

In a fast-paced world where these days we have so many distractions from smartphones to televisions laptops and tablets. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult for a brand to hook itself in the minds of a consumer. And let’s not forget the ever decreasing size of someone’s attention span these days. So if you are still watching today’s post kudos to you. Brands have pivoted and adapted over time to ensure that their brand can be recognized at a simple glance, will in fact stick in the memory of you the consumer. I will in fact stick in the memory of you the consumer.

Of course, a lot of branding is about color and identity away from the logo. The logo is just one Cog in the grinding machine that is a brand. But it’s still a hugely important role in the branding machine as you probably know. There is another reason that some people don’t really recognize why brands are simplifying the logos over time and that is confidence.

The original logo designs of Brands 30/40/50 years ago were often playful cartoonish and dare I say juvenile. As the brands have become more solidified in our minds and have established themselves. They have peeled back the noise and bravely refined the logo to the bare Essentials.

It shows confidence and amplifies the brand to create a distinctive presence. Recently though the playing field has totally changed. Logos were mainly seen on billboards and Cinema screens and then later they were moved on to television screens.

Now in today’s world almost half of a Brand’s interaction with the consumer is actually on the tiny little screens you carry around in your pockets. Recent data shows there are currently over 4 billion internet users worldwide. And a whopping 48.2 percent of those users access the internet on smartphones or on mobile devices.

Now if a company doesn’t take mobile users into account they are then ignoring almost half of their consumer base which is, of course, a very silly thing to do from a business standpoint. What would work best on a phone screen the original Apple logo from the 1970s or the current one we have today?

Yeah of course the answer is pretty obvious as you might be aware of. We also then have to factor in the amount of logo designs that exist out there in the world today. There are literally hundreds of thousands of logo designs out there waiting to be viewed. Are we going to remember all of them or even just 10 of them probably not? Ao to actually just compete brands have elected to go down in more simpler routes. All of these facts and taxes are why logo designs are becoming more simple. It’s not a trend it’s a necessity to just survive as a brand.

Now here’s the juicy part that I know a lot of people some people won’t like and some wouldn’t agree with. But it’s pretty much the cold hard truth. As a logo designer, your job is not to make a pretty design or something that looks cool. you’re meant to design something that will give your clients business more traction more revenue and just more of a presence out there in the world.

I feel like some logo designers out there are at heart illustrators you know digital illustrators and there’s nothing really wrong with that of course. But in the corporate world of brand and logo design you need to be grounded. You need to realize who you’re designing for. What your role is in that kind of operation with that in mind you need to understand the playing field you’re operating in and the target audience of the brand. There will be times when a simple and refined logo doesn’t fit the brief. But often less is more and it is about removing the noise so that the message is clear.

If you found today’s post on the simplification of logo designs enjoyable or useful, let me know in the comments section.