The Top 5 Logo Trends This Year [With Deep Dive Examples]

Yes, it’s already that time again: logo trends 2024 are now in the eyes and minds of graphic designers across the globe, and this year promises to be an eclectic mix of colour, style and design.

Last year saw some powerfully innovative logo design refreshes and rebrands. Most notably, the Facebook Group rebranded to Meta and melted their capital F into a sideways infinity symbol, signifying the constant connection that their three main sub brands - Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook, all offer. Keeping the infinity sign the same colour as their original navy blue has helped to retain audience awareness, and ties everything together nicely (if you'll excuse the pun).

On a much more subtle note, Burger King underwent a rebrand in 2021 and rather than look to the future, it decided to nod to the past. Burger King reintroduced itself with a flatter, minimalistic and nostalgic new logo with a colour scheme that draws on dominating colours and fonts of the seventies - most notably tangerine orange and lime green, all in flowery, peace and love style fonts.

(Source - Burger King)

So, if you’re considering a brand refresh - or even an entire rebrand to kickstart a new year, here are the following logo design trends for 2022 that you’ll need to be aware of.

Quick Read: The Difference Between a Rebrand and a Refresh

Refresher: Why is a logo important?

Your logo is important because it is the face of your company. It's what consumers see when they first encounter your brand, and it's the important component that communicates the brand identity perception in the minds of a consumer.

In fact, some graphic designers argue that a logo design is a brand's most valuable asset because of everything it needs to communicate in one quick glance. It tells your consumers who you are, what you do, and how your business ties into the product or service they're searching for, all while serving as a foundation for the narrative that your brand is built upon.

Every choice you make in branding is determined by the narrative that drives your brand: its origin story, its USP, and why it should be a consumer's first choice. Your logo is the first sentence your entire brand identity speaks on this journey, and those elements will translate from your logo across everything.

From branding materials like letterheads and business cards, to digital assets like landing pages, card designs,social media palettes, even amazing photo books- so that you are left with a concrete, marketable brand.

But creating truly unique logo design ideas and logo concepts is not an easy task.

You may be tempted to create your own logo using a tool like placeit, this is great for those just starting out looking for “just a logo” or you could even use a logo contest to get some viable options, those who enter will likely be in the marketing industry so you could offer a marketing gift as the prize.

It's a similar story if you've ever tried to create a landing page, where you'll probably get the best outcome using landing page design services rather than trying to figure out how to build one yourself using a tool you're not familiar with.

But graphic designers, branding experts and professional logo designers, and all face the same challenges when it comes to designing something communicative, original, and memorable.

We know the struggle. But we also know the secret to success.

Mysterious, right? Find out more.

That’s why trend roundups can help to do two things: Firstly, they can show you what's coming into style so that you can lift ideas and inspiration for your own brand, and secondly, they can show you the types of things to avoid if you're wanting to cause some market disruption.

Think the Rolling Stones logo, which has nothing to do with rolling, stones, or music - but it is entirely memorable, does communicate the brand archetype (rebel) and has taken on an entire marketable brand identity that is independent of the band’s music.

But inspiration can be found in more than one place. If you have an idea of what to include in your logo but you can’t put it on paper, you could utilize art creations by AI. Simply put in keywords that describe the things you want to see in your logo and let the AI go to work.

But, who knows how that will turn out?

So, if you’re ready to bring a touch of your own Mick Jagger to your logo design, here are the key trends looking like they’ll influence logo designs, rebrands and refreshes in 2023.

5 Logo Trends 2024

Minimalism

Yes the interior design trend has also extended itself to the exterior logo design trend. Minimalism has been on the rise for years, reflected in the numerous campaigns for us to rid ourselves of clutter and have very open, very empty, living spaces. Minimalism has grown so much that you’ll even find minimalist interior design quotes and styles.

But minimalism doesn’t just exist in four walls - it exists out of it now, and straight into the minds of consumers.

Minimalism in logo design is fast becoming not just a trend but a recommended principle and best practice to follow. Simplification of logo design has been trending upward for several years, and with the aforementioned simplification of both the Facebook group and Burger King, it's taking on leaps and bounds in 2022, too.

A formula for success which is being emulated when it comes to creating a simple logo design is to follow the three pillars of Practicality, Comfort, and Aesthetics.

Practicality is the most important pillar of the three because it means staying realistic: minimalistic is fine, but unexplainable is not. Whilst you might be able to trim a lot of the unnecessary design from your logo, such as Peugeot did when they opted to drop the 3D chrome lion and instead move to a stencil drawing of a lion’s head, removing too much risks alienating consumer awareness. Just like Weightwatchers. See here for how not to do it.

Comfort and aesthetics go hand in hand: your design needs to be aesthetically pleasing, sleek and unique, but it also needs to feel comfortable too. We've all been there with an outfit that looks great but is impossible to breathe in, and it's the same for your logo. If it's not going to fit your business values, or ethos, or even be adaptable as your business grows, it's soon going to become uncomfortable - no matter how aesthetically appealing it might look.

Some notable minimalist examples to take inspiration from in 2022 include:

JotForm

The online form builder decided to ditch their Clipart pencil imagery and rebrand with a new, minimal yet modern look. The pencil stays, but it’s broken down into simplistic lines which reflect the brand’s prominent colour scheme. It’s practical, comfortable, and it’s easy on the eyes. What’s more, the imagery can be separated away from the full name of the business too, which gives it a flexi-use across multiple channels for the first time.

Udemy

Udemy have always been masters of a minimalistic logo, but their recent 2021 change takes it to a whole new level. The online academy opted to ditch the handwritten U, and instead add a purple arrow. The arrow itself symbolises growth, and reaching the next level (which is what their courses aim to do), but the purple is also a subtle and powerful minimalist choice. In colour semiotics, purple has associations with ambition, power and nobility. Knowledge is power, after all!

Colour what? Read the rainbow here.

Experimental Typography

Typography, and especially experimental typography, is back on the menu in 2022. Though traditional typography has always been a staple of logo design, experimental typography promotes freedom, creativity and expression throughout traditional forms of type.

And after a couple of years of reduced freedom, it’s no wonder that logo design trends: 2022 edition are once again putting the freedom to be at the forefront of their places of expression.

Most commonly seen in wordmark logos, graphic designers and logo designers love to challenge themselves and go against the rules of design with typography, but it is important for brands to maintain a fine balance when experimenting with nontraditional forms of typography.

Venturing too far into creative territory risks undermining the logos purpose, and losing the brand messaging. At their heart, logos should evoke emotional responses from their audiences in the form of connection and identification of the brand as a relevant or intriguing solution to their needs.

Straying too far into an experimental zone may risk losing vital components that nurture those initial lines of connection, and could fail to communicate the brand’s identity, messaging and unique proposition.

Examples to take inspiration from include:

Inter Milan

The Inter Milan FC logo has always been on the border of experimental typography, but we’d argue that this latest 2021 rebrand has pushed them back into the correct balance we spoke about above.

The previous logo lost the lettering of the football club’s name entirely. If you squint very closely you might be able to make out the F and I, but the M and the C are what dominate. And if you’re looking at it very quickly, it’s likely you’d just see FIM. It wasn’t great. But the recent 2022 addition is much clearer.

The F and the C paid the price by being dropped entirely, but the I and the M are now much more identifiable, and the white on blue makes the logo easily identifiable against different backgrounds. This is even more important considering the football club’s mission for 2022 and beyond, which is, well, to be a clothing brand. Inter Milan are looking to bring out their own range of garments, and the subtlety of this design purely using experimental typography looks clean, classy and modern - and can easily be applied to different branded items. A great job all around.

Left: Before Right: After

Tribeca Festival

Remember that feeling of freedom and joy we spoke about? Annual film festival Tribeca Festival decided to truly honour that notion by having their lettering jump up and down. Yes. Really.

Yet strangely enough - it works. The design can be easily incorporated into a variety of different backgrounds, the most notable being against a fire hydrant and a subway station.

The experimental typography here of using different layers to communicate the feeling of joy stays on the right side of the balance because the font itself is clear. Had they opted for a font that was more calligraphy based, or tried to add images in place of where letters should be (think a film reel in the letter a) this would have strayed far too into the experimental side of things. But as it happens, it’s a clever, flexible design that has been praised the world over.

Lengthening the I to represent a break in the logo (whilst also gently veering into tall logos territory) is also a great idea as it enables the festival to communicate its celebration of 20 years of creation - something that would have looked overkill if it tried to tack it on underneath the large jumbled lettering.

Negative White Space

In logo design, any white space within the type and symbol design is known as negative space.

Negative space has always been a powerful logo design component because it can do a multitude of different things. For example, it can create a focal point for your logo to make a logo stand out, and it can balance colour composition to avoid making a logo look cluttered.

In other instances, negative space can even communicate a brand value like openness, or convey messaging using colour semiotics such as purity or empowerment.

In 2022 however, negative white space seems to be on the rise thanks to new, modern and creative ways to feature it amongst logo designs. One of the most popular amongst graphic design trends is to use graphic elements, like images or symbols, to temporarily fill in areas of white space, so that the logo can adapt to different background settings, like seasons, gradients or colour schemes.

Negative space on its own can create a powerful design, but paired with modern graphic design elements, it’s a logo trend that could seriously make waves in 2022.

Great examples of a new type of negative space being used include:

Bany de Bosc Vidra

Bany de Bosc Vidra are a nature collective that indulge in something called “forest bathing”. The idea is to take long walks that focus on breathing in the atmosphere of nature through the senses, which in turn enhances our connection to the outside and boosts mental wellbeing and overall health.

Whilst the German group are a relatively unknown brand, they rose to infamy last year thanks to an explanation of their brand identity design and logo overhaul on creative network, Behance.

Their logo features a whole host of white space that is able to fit - stencil like - against a variety of different backgrounds, each representing a different season. This is a powerful logo for the Bany de Bosc Vidra. Not only does it showcase their commitment to nature and the seasons, it communicates their brand proposition and values perfectly. Plus it’s a unique, and creative way to play around with the idea of white space in a logo - by literally making it a canvas.

Pfizer

On the other hand, it makes sense that one of the most talked about brands in the world would also schedule a brand refresh late into 2021. Thanks to its incredible advances in modern medicine, and its subsequent Coronavirus vaccine which has been administered into arms across the world, Pfizer were due an upgrade to their logo.

This new addition plays on plenty of white space to give the brand a cleaner, modern and more sophisticated look. Their use of negative white space also exemplifies some clever colour semiotics. The white maintains its medicinal, scientific image whilst the dark blue invokes feelings of trust and sincerity. This ties in perfectly with their brand proposition to be a leading, trusted developer in medicines and the fight against disease.

Pfizer rebranded for growth. You can too. Read how.

Lowercase Logos

The vast majority of branding agencies, graphic designers and logo designers know that lowercase lettering promotes friendliness and approachability.

Why? It’s got something to do with the omission of imposing capital letters, which often represent professionalism, and are nowadays mostly reserved for institutions like banks (HSBC, Natwest), or newspapers (The Guardian, BBC News) that rely on capturing an air of authoritativeness and trust.

So it probably comes as no surprise that lowercase lettering is a 2022 logo design that is trending upward.

It’s suspected that this could be to do with the world having felt so disconnected for nearly two years. Brands are now actively trying to promote their friendliness to capture consumers who have become disillusioned with their favourite brands throughout the pandemic, or who are looking to try new things on the other side of a life-changing world event. Plus the world needs all the kindness it can get right about now, so looking laid back and approachable as a brand is not a bad move in 2022.

When it comes to lowercase lettering on a logo, designers need to carefully choose their typeface as just going with any old font won’t work. Maximising design elements will minimise impact, whilst a heavier font could drastically impact on the readability and contrast of the logo.

For a brand to be able to pull off an entirely lowercase logo, the letters will also need to fit together in a form of visual harmony. If a brand name has “tricky letters”, like a capital I for instance, they may risk losing brand authenticity or imagery by having to switch to an “i”.

It all rests on the brand name, and how creative a designer can get with the font without losing the brand’s identity. Good examples to follow include:

Mastercard

Remember how we said above that corporate institutions that need to adopt an air of authority and trustworthiness tend to use capital letters to convey this authoritative stance? Well, Mastercard said cya to that concept.

Way back in 2016 Mastercard foresaw the future: more and more credit card lenders and payment solutions were coming on board in the likes of Paypal, CapitalOne and Stripe. Mastercard decided that with the rise of these competitors, they needed to do something to retain their loyal customers and stand out enough in a crowd to entice new ones.

So they dropped the capital letters and corporate branding and went minimalist. At the time, this drew great attention, but hindsight is everything because in 2022 it’s safe to say that they were ahead of their time. Mastercard’s move to friendliness and approachability helped them entice new customers who wanted a credit card provider that felt less intimidatingly professional and more personable, whilst their minimalist look retained their brand awareness and has stood the test of time to leave competitors scurrying to catch up. Genius.

Discord

Social and video chatting platform Discord was about long before the pandemic hit in 2020, but just like any application with instant messaging and video calling, Discord’s popularity boomed in the midst of global lockdowns.

But whilst Discord was booming, they were also aware of something else: such a rush for video conferencing or group chatting platforms was leading to brand new competitors emerging in the market (most notably, Hopin).

So to offset this, they needed a brand refresh, and fast. Perhaps the most obvious example yet of how letters can change the entire perception of a brand and its logo, Discord rebranded from solid capitals to a bubbly lowercase font that moves it away from information technological and instead looks fun and friendly - capturing its entire brand personality and opening the doors for swathes of potentially new users.

Notice how they were still able to keep the capital D too, but how this isn’t entirely obvious or outstanding at first glance. That’s the power of choosing the correct font, and getting creative with the design whilst not losing brand authenticity.

Gradient Logos

Gradients are on the rise, everywhere. From Web UI designs, to logo designs, to entire rebrand designs with new colour palettes.

And it’s easy to see why: once again it all ties back into giving the world a splash of colour and an uplift after some dark, dismal years. In 2022, gradients allow for a celebration of colour, vividness and life.

Multicolour gradients can greatly enhance logo design. They can add depth, volume and dynamics if done right, but straying too far the other way can lead to colour clashes and potentially detract from the overall cohesiveness of the design.

A good rule of thumb is to test the gradient against different backgrounds, sizes, and placements first. If you’ve got clashing, or you’re struggling to make it work, it’s an indicator that you may need to tone down the colour mix or even switch to something more greyscale.

Examples of brands getting gradients right for 2022 include:

Freeview

Freeview opted to combine a number of trends for their 2022 design, but their addition of a fiery orange gradient as opposed to their solid one colour background was the cherry on top of this design.

The new logo looks cleaner, fresher and more modernised than before. The lowercase element helps to make the Freeview brand look conventional, whilst the multicolour F retains brand awareness with a nod to the future and the flexibility to be used across multiple channels.

Gradients of red, pink and orange also use colour symbolism to showcase fun, creativity and calmness, which is the perfect nod to the varied TV channels they provide.

Payoneer

Cleverly named Payoneer always wanted to be a pioneer of financial services, but their old branding let them down. It looked far too corporate, and was failing to attract the types of clients and customers they needed to let their B2B payment platform truly shine.

Enter, a spot on rebrand. The rainbow gradient works perfectly in their circle as it showcases connectivity the world over - exactly what the firm hopes to achieve with their eCommerce payment solution. Less focus on the name and more focus on the eye catching circle drills home the brand messaging too: connectivity and innovation.

Plus, the rainbow makes it look fresh, fun and welcoming: a huge step away from the burnt orange swipe of before.

To summarise

Top logo design trends can be a great way to keep up to date with what your competitors are doing, or it can be a great opportunity to find ways to innovate your own branding by choosing something completely leftfield. Whilst using a logo generator may be useful and provide you with some ideas, when rebranding it will be best to consult the experts.

Whichever you choose, ensure that your brand logo always remains true to your brand's visual identity and personality, so that you retain necessary brand authenticity and awareness.

At Huddle, we’ve been trusted with brand refreshes and rebrands for years, and we know a thing or two about what makes a logo great, and what doesn’t. To find out more about our experience:

• Visit our work,
• Read more about how we (a creative agency) work,
• Contact us to find out how we can make a rebrand or refresh work for you, or;
• Request your free brand audit to find out what might work for you in 2022

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