Breaking: Logos Are Becoming Simpler
Hey! Where are the gradients and the drop shadows?
Do you remember a time when Coke had shadows, depth, and all the fancy gradients in its logo? No? Well maybe because old logos were too complex and not that memorable. And now if you close your eyes and read the words Coca-Cola you think of a flat wordmark with no fancy-schmancy effects. Why is that? Well, logos are becoming simpler!
Now you may ask after seeing the image above, “Yes logos are becoming simple but why though?”. Well now before asking that question first let's learn how logos became complex.
Brands back in the groovy 60s and the roaring 80s all had very simple logos just look at Coke’s logo in the year 1985. Old logos were very simple and memorable but over time they became much more complex.
This phenomenon of logos adopting complexities coincides with a technological revolution. 3D graphics, gradients, and drop shadows making static images pop out was hip 20 years ago. Brands back then wanted to show their technological prowess, that they were modern, new, and fresh. At the time this was the standard of modernity or in short, this is what we called cool… I know cringe.
But why is it cringe now? Well to put it simply, what we consider modern has changed.
Firstly, the internet is extremely cluttered and you know what else looks cluttered? Logos from 1993. So to stand out companies are switching to simpler logos. Another reason why companies are ditching their old logos is that our attention span is falling. We consume a deluge of content and we jump from one TikTok to another with a single swipe so to catch our very scarce attention logos are becoming simpler without compromising brand values and messages.
You know the saying “Old is gold”, brands took that into the heart when they were thinking about how they could simplify their logos to be relevant in the current world. Yes, brands like Burger King have ditched their cool hip logos from the late 90s and early 2000s and looked back in time to adopt a simpler logo design albeit with a contemporary twist.
So after learning all that is a complex logo right for your business? Well, all signs point to it being not right for your business. Complex logos don't naturally translate to good design and it's much harsher to look at. Furthermore, the logo sacrifices versatility when it adorns itself in complexities. Meaning a complex logo won't stand out on a T-shirt, bumper sticker, or on a person's screen. In general, it's better to just avoid complex logos because nowadays, Simplicity Sells.
Written by Muqaddim Jawad Noor
Reference
Maybach, V. (2022, March 14). Coca-Cola Logo Design – History, Meaning and Evolution. Design, Branding and Business – the Official Turbologo Blog. https://turbologo.com/articles/coca-cola-logo/
Tsidylo, I. I., Cherniyavskyi, V. G., Barna, N. V., Smyrna, L. V., & Medvedyeva, V. M. (2020). Information Interactive Design as a Discipline in the Professional Training of a Modern Graphic Designer. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(7), 387. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n7p387
