Communication in the digital age is more important than ever, millennial living has caused users to experience information saturation and designers must use their skill to cut through the chaos of the modern life. This has led to audiences craving minimal design that they can understand with ease. The key to success is being able to stand out and create a cohesive, digestible message using creative designs. So what minimal trends have taken over 2016 and what makes them work for today’s market?
Flat Attack
Flat design has been around since the early 2000s and takes inspiration from minimal and Swiss Style typography. It has grown in prevalence over the last five years as Apple adopted flat design in their iOS 7 launch. At the time the brand hoped the design would create a clean, simple aesthetic but as always users recoiled in horror, many expressing that they didn’t know “where to tap” anymore.Of course, once one major brand adopts something, soon the rest follow and in 2014 search engine giants Google adopted a flat design too, though if we look back we can see the brand gradually flattening since their launch!
Since they went flat in 2013 the brand has continued to streamline their logo and last September they rebranded once again, this time with multiple screens in mind.
• The Logo - A sans-serif flat design that mimics their playful nature.
• The Google G -A scalable mark that could convey the feeling of the full logotype in constrained spaces.
• Colored Dots – A distilled version of the logo to be used in periods of transition
The logo will be one of any of these three depending on what device the user is accessing the search engine. The logo is explained by the Vice President and User Experience Designer in the launch post as:
"We think we’ve taken the best of Google (simple, uncluttered, colorful, friendly), and recast it not just for the Google of today, but for the Google of the future."
Where Google Goes, Others Follow
Of course, other brands don’t just follow blindly behind Google; flat design is something that works extremely well in the digital age. Today we engage with more screens than ever before and flat logo design allows for fast loading and simple scaling. One such brand who has followed the lead of Google is financial powerhouse MasterCard who launched their new logo design in July.The key to the success of the new logo was holding fast to the brand values so as not to estrange their customers who had banked with them for over 50 years, but modernize enough to assure their millennial customers that they were equipped to deal with modern banking.
• The cluttered “teeth” were removed in place of overlapping circles representing the connectivity of the digital age.
• The shadowed “MasterCard” text is removed from the design, yet 80% of users still recognize the brand.
• The orange central color is to connote the transparency of the brand and their banking solutions.
• The flat design providing great UX for digital customers who use multiple screens to bank.
Tips for Logo Design in the Digital Age
The key to successful design in 2016 is simplicity of the communication of a brand’s message. Minimalism puts an emphasis on carefully curating a design that speaks to users. Simple design is not the lack of imagination; moreover it is the result of extremely considered choices.How to Design a Unique and Unforgettable Logo?
Infographic source: sothink.
If you’re looking to create the perfect logo in 2016 you’re advised to KISS – Keep It Simple Silly! So, what design techniques work for today’s market? Repeat Logo, who design company logos, explain the secret to minimal logo design.
“Try to narrow down your ideas to the main message you are trying to convey and start there. If you try to use too many colors, images, fonts or words you are going to confuse and inevitably lose your audience.”
Successful logos today;
• Transcend different sized screens.
• Act as a metaphor for the brand’s message.
• Be easily understood amidst the scores of branding messages audiences see each day.
Deconstructing Successful Logos
infographic courtesy of: Udemy.
Logos should not only be designed with “KISS” in mind, but be sure to adopt an “ASAP” attitude – As Simple As Possible! Users are looking for a different experience from logos today, and less is definitely more.
