Top 5 Logo Trends for 2018
2018 Logo Trends
Market trends for logos this 2018 reflect what some have defined as “nostalgic.” Logo Lounge, one of the largest logo directories online, reported 2018 logo designers have returned to a more retro, curvy style. Feelings toward san serif fonts have changed, and they are no longer popular among designers because they lack a human touch (Logo Lounge).
Logo designers are favoring more traditional fonts with feet and serifs over bold san serifs. Even Google changed from a san serif font this year to a serif, and Verizon, Calvin Klein, and Century 21 followed this trend (Logo Lounge). As far as color, trends are also leaning toward “greater intensity.” The belief relies on the idea that color also has the ability to tell a story. Gradients, a designer faux pas, have also returned along with heavy strokes (example Townsend Systems logo above). Gradients have never been a personal favorite for most designers because of how they render when printed, but they can be incorporated in a tasteful way as dot patterns/or light color transitions. Gradients also simulate light source on a subject. Softened edges and rounded edges are another trend for 2018. Along that vein, trends for 2018 are forcing designers to create more anthropocentric creative products.
Why Not Grey?
“About 62‐90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone.”
– Abstract to Impact of Color on Marketing.
Psychology sets the standards regardless of the yearly trends, and we don’t want to own the 1960’s yellow sofa just because it was popular one year. This year, however, is all about bold colors, and bold colors increase interactivity. Take a look at your competitors use of color. What are they currently doing? Do a hard search of the top 10 competitors in your industry and put all of their logos into a document. Document their colors, their fonts, widths, and graphics, but most importantly their colors. Questions you can ask yourself as you analyze your competitor's logos:
1. Do your colors fit in with your industry?
2. Do you want them to?
3. Are you more progressive than most of the companies in your industry?
4. Does your logo look like you belong with your industry?
5. How can you modify your branding to both resemble your industry but appear more progressive? Change line weight, round edges, or change your colors.
Although branding draws on psychology, semiotics, and aesthetic studies, most importantly you want to study the current competitor climate to make sure you select colors that position you in industry. You want your logo to be visually stimulating to the view to leave a lasting impression, but also to be cross functional. Colors should also be selected based on growth projection, not where you are today. This could mean selecting colors that are symbolic or progressive.
An article pointed out that “90 percent of impulsive buys can be linked to color alone” (Cummings). This shows that rate of interaction is based off colors selected for that brand. They continue, “the role of color in branding revealed that the relationship between brands and colors hinges on consumer’s perception of which color they believe is appropriate for that particular brand. This means “color fit” is a big piece of what brands use to sell their identity” (Cummings).
Furthermore, “color associated with positive emotions (especially around a product) will ultimately guide customers in decision making” (Cummings). The article used these factors to prove its point about how important color is: “According to Kissmetrics, the following statistics reveal how colors affect purchases:”
· When marketing new products, brand managers should consider the visual appearance and color of their products above other factors because 93 percent of shoppers use it to make their decisions.
· In a recent survey, it was revealed that 85 percent of shoppers place color as the main deciding factor when buying a product.
· Color increases brand recognition by 80 percent, and brand recognition is directly linked to consumer confidence.
· Certain colors attract certain types of shoppers. Red, orange, and black attract impulse shoppers, while teal and navy blue attract budget shoppers. Pink, rose, and sky blue attracts traditional buyers.
· In one study, some 42 percent of online shoppers based their opinion of a website on its design alone, and 52 percent didn’t return because they were unhappy with the overall aesthetics. (Cummings)
Here are a few great examples of logos from 2018 that leave a lasting impression through the use of color and current trends.
It is also important to remember, “By hanging an extra "tag" of data on visual scenes, color helps us to process and store images more efficiently than colorless (black and white) scenes, and as a result to remember them better, too.” (Morton). Not having color is detrimental a brand or even a lack of stimulating color. Check out the research and really analyze your brand this 2018! Hopefully this information can be a resource for you.
In Summary
1. Gradients
2. Bold colors
3. Rounded edges
4. Strokes
5. A human element (gold colors & serif fonts)
About the Research
I have compiled these great resources below for you to check out if you'd like more information. Some of the articles below can only be found on Jstor and are professional marketing articles. I have cited them above, but if you have the opportunity to read them they are very educational.
Works Cited
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/yellow-logos
Logo Lounge. 6 June 2018. https://www.logolounge.com/articles/2018-logo-trends
https://www.logolounge.com/articles/2018-logo-trends
Kissmetrics.https://blog.kissmetrics.com/psychology-of-color-and-conversions/
Workerbee. 99 Designs. 10 June 2018. https://99designs.com/blog/trends/logo-trends-2018/
Color and Design. Marilyn DeLong and Martinson.
Impact of Color on Marketing.
Color Perception: Physiology, Processes and Analysis.
Color Branding & Trademark Rights. Color Matters. 10 June 2018. https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-marketing/color-branding-legal-rights
Cummings, James.Bplans. 10 June 2018. https://articles.bplans.com/how-to-increase-your-roi-with-color-psychology/
Behance.https://www.behance.net/gallery/62548963/Logo-Trends-1
Morton, Jim. https://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters
"Effect Of Colors: Blue Boosts Creativity, While Red Enhances Attention To Detail."Science Daily,
Science Daily. 6 February 2009. U of British Columbia
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090205142143.htm
Srivastava, Rajendra. Thomas, Gregory. The Future of Branding. 2016. Print.
Great Articles
https://www.creativebloq.com/branding/amazing-uses-colour-6133196
https://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/12-colours-and-emotions-they-evoke-61515112/2
Effect of Colors: Blue Boosts Creativity, While Red Enhances Attention to Detail
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090205142143.htm
Color Encyclopedia
https://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters
Marketing Tools
https://blog.hootsuite.com/
https://seths.blog/
Colors of Light
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/47-colours-of-light
* A thank you to pexels.com for the cover photo, and the photographer (rawpexels.com).