A logo is your mark on the world. It literally translates to “reason” in Greek.

Brands spend a lot of time and money on their logo because it defines them as a company. Are you a straight-forward, no fuss company and want people to know? Or are you a creative agency and want your logo to showcase your creative juices?

As design is our proverbial bread and butter, we’d like to think we can stay on the up-and-up with what’s going on in the coming year. The trends have ebbed and flowed every year, from the block-like and computer-influenced logos of the 1980’s to the flat and simplistic logos of today. And shout out to skeuomorphism for being a thing for a while (what up first iPhone app images). Sometimes you need a little facelift for your company, and it you can always start with revamping your logo.

Here are some of our top design trends to watch for in 2018.

1. Simplicity

Logo by Logo Orange

The past few years has really been about bold, attention-grabbing logos with a lot of bells and whistles: different colors, various fonts, strange shapes. This year will be all about paring it down. You’ve heard about slow living and #liveauthentic? Well, start applying that to your logo. That means keeping it to one font, color or a simple shape that is pleasing but also adheres to your companies mission. Styles could include a paired down image or simply just the name.

2. Social Media Optimized

Logo by Free People

Are you thinking what does this even mean? In this day and age, almost every company has to have a social media account to stay relevant. Going forward, a lot of companies who are just starting out or companies who are re-strategizing their social accounts will factor in their logo being optimized to their channels. For example, that Free People logo on the right is great on its own (and utilizes the hand lettering format we’ll discuss!), but it would be hard to fit into, say your Instagram logo without getting cut off. This doesn’t mean you need to come up with a completely new logo; it just means you can use the existing one for inspiration on a more simplistic and smaller logo to accompany your social media platforms that is cohesive with your existing one.

3. Geometric lettering

Logo by Bunch Design

Geometric shapes have infiltrated the logo scene as of late; a lot of start-ups are using graphic shapes to elicit an instant readability of your brand while staying fresh. Our positive response to geometric shapes dates back to Ancient times and all those other historical times that we learned in school and could probably apply to life but we love to say that we didn’t learn anything in high school. Bottom line, these shapes provide an uncomplicated and unifying image of your brand. Expect to see more of these designs applying to a plethora of companies.

4. Hand lettering

Logo by InMist Media

This is geometric lettering’s artsy cousin; the one who started scrapbooking in elementary school before scrapbooking was cool. Hand lettering is an awesome choice for bloggers, restaurants, agencies and basically anything in the creative field. Making the logo seem hand-drawn, which sometimes this style is, it gives your company a down to earth feel. Even though this style has been around for a few years, it will continue to reign in these fields and be explored more, integrating lined graphics, as well.

5. Gradient coloring

Logo by SomeOne

If you are to add a color to your logo and want to stray from being super basic but don’t want to go too far into the logo design deep end, try some gradient colors. Gradients were considered taboo by graphic designers in recent years, but are now being applied in a more unifying and subtle manner. These are great for a variety of companies, especially tech-based ones, because it adds a sense of life and whimsy to the company. It can allow you to incorporate the colors of your company in a new and exciting way.

6. Layering and masking

Logo by Expo Milano

Layered logos are SO 1999. Wait, what?! Yes, they’re making a comeback in a big way. This time, they’re including all of that 2018 trendy goodness: minimalism, clean lines and cohesion. In the case of this logo for the Expo Milano, it was a crowd-sourced effort, and it displays what the expo is all about, which is innovation. The layering allowed more content to be displayed on one line, showing the name of the event and the year together, and while seemingly disjointed, the layers add depth to an otherwise simple logo.

7. Letter breaks

Logo by unknown

These breaks and slices in the letters are mostly for grabbing attention, and they definitely get the job done. The point of this is to keep you visually captivated by filling in the letter spaces in your head. Letter breaks are one of the most creative and thought-provoking strategies because if you erase too much, it’s unreadable, and if you erase too little, it looks a bit awkward and just falls under a Photoshop mishap. The point of this is to make the words eye-catching, yet readable.

In need of a new design? Logo, website, marketing? We do it all! Let us know when you’re ready for a change.