LOGO DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2012

It’s the new year once again and of course the logo design industry has always something up its sleeve, now let’s take a quick peek at what 2012 has in store for logo  design enthusiasts. With the new year comes a new start. Designers are constantly trying to find the newest design trends which are likely to sweep the world of logos this coming year.

Last year, Logo Lounge released logo design trends for 2011, based on their half yearly performance of the logo design industry. These trendy logos will guide the designers in the right direction explaining the trends being followed and accepted in the branding business.

Some of these are continuations of the sorts of things the designers did last year; others are totally new and could well see their popularity rise.

So, what is the logo trend for this year?

Firstly, lets talk about colors. We have seen a lot of bright colored logos (rainbow colors). Most of them are eye catchers and evoke a good feeling with their clients. On the other side, limiting the color choice is part of the logo design process because some logos have gone too far over the top with the colors used.

The year 2011 gave us more gray and brown logos. These logos are bit more subtle then the harsh black ones and the tone ranges very from sepia to chocolate.


ANIMALS

It seems like in 2011 we unleashed the entire zoo onto the world of logos. There have been so many animals in logos: monkeys, owls, dodos, lions, whales, mooses. The reason: most of the animals listed here have attributes that we would like to associate with a business: aggressive, powerful, dominating, strong, top of their class. It’s a psychological thing.


FRUIT


Nowadays, you will often hear brand names that are inspired by a fruit. Popular examples of famous logos are Apple and Blackberry. These allusions to the fruit depict a sense of freshness and sweetness for the brand identity. The fruit inspired shapes are now being considered as an iconic representative for brands to represent purity and wholesomeness. Bananas, apples, the lot. All these corporate identities are (probably) in some way related to nature or are sustainability oriented.


THE TRIANGLE

Combining many triangles into a larger shape.


UNUSUAL SHAPES

 
Traditionally, logos have been focused around squares and circles, with the occasional triangle thrown in for a bit of visual interest. 2012 is where that changes. Now people will be using much more free form shapes. Brush up on your pentagles, guys.


BUTTONS AND BUBBLES

The prevalence of Facebook’s like button and Digg’s digg button has totally changed the way that most people interact with the internet. It’s also changing the logo design world, with more people deciding to incorporate press buttons and speech bubbles into designs in 2012.


GRAY IS THE NEW BLACK

Those massive strokes people used to use in logos are no more. Now sleek, ink-shy logos are the way forwards, with lighter weighted fonts and grays and browns replacing the harsh blacks. Very few people are moving towards #000000 on their  color wheel.


GOING GREEN

The environment has always been a concern for ethical logo designers. 2011 saw a lot of greens coming into the average designer’s palette, and 2012 will see this trend continue. Expect to see earthly tones to make big companies seem a little more conscientious.

All these trends have affected many logos (for the good and the bad). It also affected the way clients wanted their logos. Personally, we think that too many designers followed these trends and the upcoming years will show that some of these logos will have an outdated look and clients will be looking to update their logo, because customers fail to recognize their logo. So what I hope to see in 2012 is a lot more variation and we hope that designers will be less affected by trends and will develop a tone of their own.

What do you think that 2012 will bring?