TRENDS 2022| Logo design | Simplify. Simplify. Simplify!
“Everything old and retro is new again! People want familiarity and comfort mixed with minimalism — life was overwhelming pre-pandemic. People want to slow down, reflect and have fun” — Joanna Alves, Creative Manager, Product Creation and Experience at Vista
Hi there, writing to you from Darling this week. Darling is a small town in a wheat/wine district of the Western Cape, South Africa. It is also the home of well-known comedian and social commentator Pieter Dirk-Uys, better known as his alter-ego, Evita Bezuidenhout. Hubby and I have come here for a week of quiet, but, as those of you with your own business will know, being away on holiday really just means another view from the laptop whilst working. In this case, with the added benefit of great wine, lovely weather, afternoon swims at the beach in Yzerfontein, and quiet evenings together around a braai. Remote working at its best! :-)
In this article, I am looking back on my recent logo rebrand. Logo rebrand?! What logo rebrand you ask. No, you haven’t missed anything — The big reveal is at the beginning of next month (February) — with a whole new website as well. Eish we’ve been busy behind the scenes!
At the end of last year I decided that, after 12 wonderfully creative years, my JacciR Design logo needed to be revived. My old logo has served me well, but after all this time, and a conscious move on my part to become more international, I realised that my beautiful protea logo wasn’t going to stand up to scrutiny. So, instead of letting it go completely, I’ve given it a sideways promotion to my online shop where I sell all of my cards, calendars and books. Have a look at my online shop here.
To be trend driven or not to be trend driven? That my friends is the question.
We hear a lot about the trend forecast for a particular year and while it is interesting and informative to see what the trend gurus are forecasting; I don’t believe that designing a business brand around a hot trend creates the longevity that one needs. I mean, we all wish to be successful, to have businesses that build year by year into the future so we need our branding to be as useful in 10 years time as it is now. (Remember what I just said about my logo being 12 years old)
There are countless articles about trends for 2022. The following caught my eye and are my pick for 2022, based on my design love: Typography.
SIMPLE SHAPES
Simple shapes are going to be one of the hottest design trends in the coming years because, firstly, there is a movement to simplification afoot. People are looking to simplify their lives and this flows over to their businesses and brand planning. Secondly, a simple bold logo / icon is going to be easy to recognise, easy to remember and that is what business owners want: Easy brand recognition.
MINIMALISM
This one, I think, follows nicely with the trend above. ‘Minimalising’ your brand speaks to getting rid of all the elements that are creating noise around your brand’s impact. The challenge here is to ‘show more by showing less’. One notices this trend already in designs from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. That being said, if you look back at the mid-century Swedish designers — they already understood the impact of minimal design.
TYPOGRAPHY ONLY
Many huge brands have always taken the route of using a simple, basic and elegant typestyle to brand their business. It’s timeless. Think Microsoft and Apple. This year we are also seeing variable fonts within a logo. The letters are interchanged in the various forms of a particular font, different weights and sizes. It remains simple, yet has another level of interest added in the variation.
EXPERIMENTAL TYPESTYLES
This is a fun way to differentiate your logo from the next company. Being experimental will require either a whole typestyle that is yours alone or a least tweaking an existing type so that it becomes unique to you. I’m loving the look back to the retro styles of the 70’s and 80’s.
I have always loved playing with type in the design of logos for my clients, this year I’m challenging myself to Simplify. Simplify. Simplify!
I’m sure by now you can see where I’m going with my logo design?
Be sure to pop in on 02.02.2022 when I re-launch my Jacci R Design Logo and Website
For now you can visit me on www.jaccirdesign.com
