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These are austere times, but the logos recently loaded onto LogoLounge.com
— nearly 35,000 since 2008 — certainly do not reflect it. And that
is how it should continue to be. Wary homage may be paid to marketing in lean
times, but not to identity design. These are two wholly different efforts with
different goals. It should set a long-term course for clients, not fall into pits
carved out by economic phases.
The most recent uploads to the site still have a vibrancy of color and energy
that bucks what in past years might have been considered proper corporate
behavior. They set a very optimistic course.
This seventh annual trend report, as always, is as much a forecast as it is
a study of the past 12 months. The past informs the future, and the recent past
has such momentum that designers would be well-advised to stay this course,
even when clients are only maintaining the brands they have, not creating new
ones. Business may be slow, but it does not have to be dull.
In preparation for the fifth LogoLounge book, we studied
and organized thousands upon thousands of new designs. As always, it’s exciting
to see new directions emerging. These lead to even newer meanders and connections.
One such direction is that the use of type and text is clearly more critical. Words carry a
more concise message. They convey specific rather than generic information.
