Logos — The Importance of Being Simple

Have you thought of one thing? Logos change.

The development is progressing from all sides when it comes to logos. Brands need to be developed in order to stay relevant. The world is slowly moving towards more sustainable, aesthetic, and digital behavior. Minimalism is beginning to become relevant.

Company logos are obviously important in all industries. Therefore, today we see how many companies choose to follow the trends of creating a minimalist logo.

“Flat design logos” are something that is common in today’s market.

So what exactly is Flat design?

Flat designs are two-dimensional design styles that are perceived to be simpler and cleaner. Big corporate giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google started using it and there are a whole lot of other big companies that have also caught on to the trend.

If you look back in time, companies have probably always had to use a symbol to show who they are. Pictures, symbols, or even signatures. Then it almost looked like coats of arms or emblems. You could imagine it nicely, but expensive in the long run.

There are also other variants that have emerged during the course of development.

Skeuomorphism. An expression that comes from the Greek words “skeuos” which means tool and “morphe” (shape). In product design, there is a technology in UI design where icons, buttons, and objects are part of their reality. For example, a calculator actually means that it is a calculator. Not a hard thing to notice, yet so simple.

It was an important part for the technology giants in the 80s who needed to use skeuomorphism to be able to help their users navigate their systems more easily.

Then it became another important part for the mobile giants when they created smartphones in the ’00s to help users understand how to interact with these new devices. The touch screen was new to everyone, so designers had to create UI elements that would help identify their prior usage. Like what a camera symbol looked like.

Skeuomorphism then disappeared more and more precisely because it was time-consuming, more difficult to scale a design and it was not sustainable to adapt to different screens and resolutions. Today, it lives in more subtle variants than we can see in Apple’s macOS design, Big Sur.

Today we notice what companies are looking for. Minimalism. To use a logo that is recognizable, yet appealing to the eyes of consumers and customers. If a logo is not easy to recognize, it is often passed — and it can easily happen that you end up at the back of the line.

Minimalism evokes the right emotions.

It is cost-effective, is childish, not complex, and is often seen from a positive perspective. However, one should not forget: that the simpler minimalism looks, the more difficult it is to achieve.

It’s interesting how many more people are hooked on the trend compared to all the brands that did it last year. The coming time is really exciting. For both of us — the consumers and the brands.