FASHION ICON

Branding - Logo Design Trends for Autumn / Winter 2019

Your logo is the face of your company and therefore to stand out from your competition, you need to be different. Logo design trends tend to follow graphic design trends, so if you are planning a complete new brand identity, or it’s just a tweak to a current mark, understanding trends can help give your chosen logo design a modern touch. As we leave behind summer, what are the logo design trends for Autumn / Winter 2019? Here we take a look at the main trends that look set to continue towards the end of the year and beyond.

1. Bright Colours

Bright colours have been trending with logo design for a few years now. Using the right colour helps a brand communicate more effectively. Designers are using colour in a more purposeful way, understanding the theories behind colour and using this knowledge to help convey meaning within the design. (For more information on what colour means in design click here).

2. Gradients

Initially a trend started by Instagram with a rebrand of their logo in 2016, gradients are now becoming more popular with wider colour palettes being used allowing unique and fresh designs to be produced. The colour palettes used are best taken from a colour wheel, meaning that colour groupings are closer together allowing them to blend seamlessly with each other.

3. Geometrics

Logos are meant to be symbolic and within geometry each shape has a meaning. A circle means unity and completeness, a square is stability, a triangle is past, present and future. Geometric shapes help to simplify a complex figure, which is invaluable when you consider that a logo may appear at both large and small scales and needs to be instantly recognisable and legible in both instances.

4. Minimalism

Minimalism has been around in graphic design for decades, but now it is being combined with a trend to create more abstract concepts to make the logo designs more effective. This simplistic approach is also a trend for rebranding, where original logos are tweaked and cleaned up to give the design a fresh new look.

5. Initials or Minimalist Typography

In today’s ever-increasing world of social media, communicating using acronyms and initials is commonplace, so why not in logo design? Most commonly used as secondary logos, initials will often use a custom typeface to give the logo a personal feel. Another advantage of using initials is the fact that the audience will have a desire to find out what the individual letters mean, and it is this curiosity which will drive customers to your brand.

6. Sustainable Logo Design

This trend is almost an ‘anti-trend’ where the logo is more classic in design to give greater longevity to the branding. The sustainable logo will be simple in appearance, but with a built-in flexibility to allow it to be adapted if required. This type of logo suits brands where advertising is of great importance and a permanent structure to their logo and brand awareness is required.

7. Overlapping Elements

This trend was introduced by PayPal in 2014 with their overlapping ‘P’s” logo and is now being utilised alongside other trends on this list such as geometrics and bright colour. The use of opacity and shape when overlapping individual elements of the logo combines to produce an eye-catching design.

8. Single Colour

This is a classic way of designing a logo, but the trend is now to move away from black or white and use a single colour that has been carefully considered to give maximum impact to the brand.

9. Optical Illusions

This trend is to create a logo that tricks the eye. Utilising perspective or distortion, icons or logos now become three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface.

10. Negative Space

Elevated negative space uses a technique where an icon is integrated into another icon. Therefore, at first glance the viewer sees one shape, but on closer inspection a secondary icon is revealed. A great example of this is the FedEx logo where the shape of an arrow, indicating that they are a delivery service, naturally appears between the right-hand letters ‘E’ and ‘x’

Logo trends are constantly changing, and the above list is just a snapshot of the main trends for Autumn / Winter 2019. Most trends are based on classic graphic design principles, but by pushing these boundaries, a brand can have a logo which makes it unique and helps it stand out from the rest of the competition.

Please note that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to any other group or individual. To ensure you are fully compliant with all current legislation, please take legal/professional advice and do not rely solely on the information provided in these articles.