WRITTEN BY Erin Cooney
The Current Landscape.
In recent years we have seen a clear trend of logos becoming ever-simpler and modern minimalism taking over. This is not only the case for new brands entering the market, but also for well-established brands and their iconic brand marks. Companies such as Warner Brothers, Kia, Subway, Peugeot and many more have ‘de-branded’ with simpler, flatter and more minimalistic versions of their renowned logos.
De-Branding.
De-branding refers to reducing a pre-existing logo to its most streamlined and recognisable form. The increase in this practice has been in part driven by our world becoming increasingly mobile centric in the rise of digital marketing and therefore the need for logos to be scalable, as well as trends dictating design and the desire for brands to present in a modern and forward-thinking manner.
Minimalism – The Pros & Cons.
When inspecting the psychology and customer impact surrounding minimalist logos, we can see that there are both proven pros and cons.
In terms of pros, minimalism communicates and inspires a sense of trusts and credibility due to its simplistic and straight-forward nature, which in turn breeds trust. It can also aid in elevating a brand’s status, through clean and carefully considered iconography and typography, resulting in sophisticated and luxury look. Versatility is a key feature in minimalist design, it allows for extremely scalable and adaptable logos that can be used across a wide range of touch points, a vital feature in any logo mark.
The other side of the coin is the negative impacts of increasingly stripped back brand marks. By reducing an entire brand’s personality, mission and offerings to a more simplistic and generic configuration, there can be losses in communicating the unique character and establishing a sense of difference to stand out. In terms of applications, whilst we are moving to a significantly digital landscape, when print advertising comes into play, there are draw-backs to the pared back logos we are seeing more and more of. A lack of detail and interest can result in losing its striking effect in large printed formats when everything surrounding it has more scope for intricacy and interest.
So, Is Less More?
Learning from those who have ventured to de-brand and new-comers joining the minimalist, what is the takeaway? In the context of being a large brand with a loyal and long-standing following, minimalist logos can prove effective in streamlining your identity and connect with customers. In this scenario, the key is to enhance the elements that their distinctiveness is rooted in rather to retain recognisability. As a small brand starting out, its vital to ensure your personality is not lost in minimalism and to avoid excessive use of icons independently. Initially, the focus should be on building a customer base and visual association of your name with your brand mark before transitioning to dropping type elements.