From businesses, small stores, restaurants, and to the largest of megacorporations, there is a very clear and very apparent problem of homogeneity in how they present themselves, especially their logos. Logos play an especially pivotal role in a company’s perception, as well as the brand values, personality, and overall goals that the business has going forward.
The rise of online businesses has also exacerbated this issue. For a professional logo design online businesses do not have a team of people or even a single person for any of their branding. That in itself is not a bad thing, but it can be in how it is used because whether it is a small business or large corporations, they all have the same strategy for getting their logos: to do what everyone else does.
This business of designs needs a facelift. So, here, we can explore the world of logo designs, from 3D animation logo designs to simple 2D brand images.
Homogenized Logo Designs
The reasons why they do it are understandable. They don’t want to have to inform and educate customers about their business by having a completely different type of logo. If they know that high-end brands have a minimalistic design for their logos, if they see one, customers will assume it is a high-end brand. It helps keep consistency and prevents the business from putting an additional barrier to market recognition and awareness.
However, this is a double-edged sword. The more people and businesses try to do what works, the less risk they take, which is understandable. But they also end up making this area of business stale and not worth putting effort into, although there is a silver lining. The homogeneity means that being different is more likely to succeed simply because it makes it easier to stand out–though it is not that easy.
Logos and how they are designed are largely from a very generic, same-y template, or at least it seems that way. Even the best and most effective logo design companies have to conform to this limitation. Usually, limitations are a good thing in a creative environment because they force the people working on a project to be very creative in a small area rather than spread it out across a larger swath of creative real estate. However, there are also too many limitations sometimes, where people tend to copy the best and most successful businesses without understanding how their logos came about in the first place.
Trends Date Everything
Being current isn’t an inherent issue, but doing everything in a way that keeps you current can be. Take, for example, a film or movie that is very much trendy at the expense of other factors. Or even logos that follow what works right now specifically because it works right now. It dates your logo or film because it might not be trendy three or ten years later. Sure, you don't know if your business will last ten years. Perhaps that film might not be as successful, either, but think about why certain films and certain logos work.
They are timeless because they weren’t meant to be trendy. They were instead meant to bring change, to innovate, to be different, but not for the sake of being different. New ideas aren’t 100% original, either. They take what is best or what works from a number of ideas and add a new layer of originality to it. But if everyone copies everyone for the sake of standing out, it leads to every business looking exactly the same.
Minimalism in Corporations
Minimalism emphasizes simplicity and clean lines, something that has dominated logo design trends in corporations and high-end businesses for years. While minimalism has its place, it often leads to generic, interchangeable designs that lack individuality. That works for some businesses and corporations. An insurance company or one that provides services that are B2B (business to business) only doesn’t need market recognition, and thus doesn’t really need a brand. However, that minimalist and ‘clean’ look can only work for so many and only for so long.
Retro Styles
Another trend that has taken hold is the revival of retro styles, often to create a sense of nostalgia. People will approach a logos design company to design a few retro-style logos that mimic the 70s and 80s neon era simply because they want their business to be reminiscent of that style. While this can work well for some brands, it becomes problematic when it's used excessively, leading to an overuse of similar design elements. Not all businesses have any business putting neon-like designs in their logos.
Mom and Pop & Brick and Mortar Stores
The rise of small, independent businesses and brick-and-mortar stores often falls into the trap of choosing clichéd or uninspired logo designs, perpetuating the homogenized trend. These businesses are already on the death spiral, challenged by the monopolization of larger businesses such as Amazon that can take advantage of the economies of scale. This only means they need even more distinction to be relevant and create compelling brand identities, but they fall into the trap of following the trends, further putting them at a disadvantage.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in the world of logo design, flattery doesn’t make you a successful business. Most people think of these aspects as something to ‘get over with,’ that they get their logos made, and that is done for as long as that business exists, but that isn’t true at all. No business can survive on doing the exact same thing, which might sound like contradictory advice, but it is exactly what makes this conversation difficult.
Change for the sake of change is not a good thing, and neither is resisting change. The point here is that trendy designs die out, but old designs are the kind that were once trendy and stopped being so after a while. It is the timeless designs that work, and these ones are still as exemplary as they always were.
Of course, logos aren’t everything. A few people in our team here still have no idea what Amazon’s logo looks like despite ordering from there ten times every month, but Amazon doesn’t need a logo anymore. Perhaps, what people need to do is understand what Amazon did to grow and learn from it rather than simply imitating what it did. That, in our opinion, would be the sincerest form of flattery because it means you work for your business to succeed just as much as the one you are imitating did.
If It Ain’t Broke…
When a company succeeds with a particular logo design, others are quick to adopt similar styles, fearing change. As exemplified by Amazon, the logo is not often the reason it succeeds, but it can help. Mcdonald's and KFC are some of the most recognizable businesses with the most recognizable logos, but that’s because their logo is so important. You want the Mcdonald's logo to be large, visible, and easy to see for drivers when they are speeding through a highway looking for a restaurant to eat.
It works for McDonald's because it built a franchise on a successful and new business model. It might not work for a restaurant that is in the middle of a street with plenty of highrises and exclusively foot traffic. People walking by slowly and looking at their surroundings might look at your logo differently, too. Online, it is even more different, to the point that the logo itself doesn’t matter as much as how recognizable it looks.
Innovation in Design
To break free from the homogenized logo design trap, the industry needs a strong dose of innovation. Innovative is achievable, though difficult. The first and most important thing is the brand’s story. People love to tell others stories about these things, little pieces of trivia and information that is unnecessary but adds flavor and character to the business. If gives the logo life. It is like merchandising. You buy the Batman figurine because you know the story. It adds value to the prop, even if it is just a prop.
From online to physical logos, different areas demand different types of designs, but that also means there is a wider range of designs to try out. Some businesses focus on this diversity of ideas and what works to create new ideas. Some tend to create things that look impressive on digital platforms, while others go for everything looking its best everywhere.
While some design trends persist for a good reason, logo design should always strive for individuality and innovation. Even if it works now, it might not tomorrow. You cannot create a timeless logo, because it is not an inherent value. It could be that you create a timeless-looking logo that gets copied so much that it eventually makes it one of the most dated in the world. It is a constantly changing, ongoing battle to design a logo that stands the test of time and to make them so unique that copying them becomes inherently difficult.
