As I wrote in 9 Logo Design Trends To Keep An Eye On In 2017, the animated logos are one of the hottest trends this year. I promised then to come back with more details related to this, and now it’s the time. Not just because they’re cool, but also because I consider the animated logos are one of the marketing and design trends that you should actually consider.
Animated logos are no longer reserved just for the end frames of videos, presentations, banner ads, and archaic flash animations. In fact, even if they have been around for 25 years, the tendency of using them has become stronger since 2015 and in 2017 it’s one of the most popular trends in graphic design.
Why? There could be many reasons, but the most important are:
- an animated logo is a tremendous visual focal point for any website that will elevate your brand – check the Fubiz website, for example
- it crafts a focused brand story
- it’s extremely memorable.
So, why are they such a big deal now? Well…. As SVG and CSS have reached their maturity lately in terms of animation, more and more developers and designers tend to replace the static logos with the animated ones.
There are many reasons for which you could consider moving your company’s brand from static to animated, but the simplest and the most effective are:
- Animated logos retain viewer’s attention
As people are consuming more and more online content, their tendency for going forward to instant gratification is becoming a habit. Therefore, getting and holding the attention of the target audience seems to be a real struggle for companies and other different organizations. Using an animated logo helps you to enhance your brand presentation and grab the user attention from the first moment.
- Animated logos increase brand awareness
Regardless of your company’s products or services, or the size of your business, increasing the brand awareness should be an important part of your marketing and communication strategy. Investing in an animated logo will help you accomplish this goal. It is much more memorable and recognizable to customers and prospects than a static one and can often stick in their mind if not immediately, then very quickly.
- Animated logos make a better storytelling
Business storytelling is not about producing an animated fiction movie about your products, services or company. The main idea is to connect with your target audience by telling your brand’s story. An animated logo will always contribute to your brand’s overall narrative, becoming at the same time a fluid part of the storytelling process. So, get on board, develop your brand and create a real emotional connection with your customers and prospects.
- Animated logos help to improve your website SEO
As web pages featuring videos (or any kind of motion graphic) are more likely to attract viewers’ attention like the static ones, animated logos also help to improve your site’s SEO via shares, backlinking or image tagging. Google loves dynamic content living on websites, so you should consider different ways to create and publish animated content that connects to your consumers.
- Mobile use
Lately, mobile has surpassed the desktop in terms of the primary way to access the internet. However, due to the so much smaller display sizes of the mobile devices, it’s much more efficient to implement catchy animation rather than use just plain text or images to get your audience’s attention.
That said, let’s see how animated logos are used in the real world. In this article, I featured 25 examples of animated logos that I hope to inspire you to take the next step and improve your brand awareness:
Terri Timely
On the other hand, Terri Timely uses animated rotation to add character and personality to its logo design. All the clock elements spin in a silly and rapid manner, turning a quite modest logo into something fun and playful.
Concreate Studio
Concreate Studio approaches the situation in a different and more creative way, employing the animated logo as an internal document for showing their clients why they choose that design. Seeing how the elements of the design fit together, the client can build his brand around the logo.
500px
Designed by William Kesling, this clean, simple and articulate logotype clearly communicates the 500px name. The mark is bold, demonstrative and playful, with a pattern that evokes a fingerprint and an animation that echoes the turn of a camera lens.
OpenView
In their logo for OpenView, Pentagram did a great job by using a revealing technique to show the concept of “opening”. The logo begins with the “O” and “V” characters, then spread them apart, unveiling the full logo name. By using this technique, the logo runs smoothly between its full form and its shorthand version.
David Rowland
The concept behind this logo speaks about photography and about the ability to manipulate subjects with light. The logo begins with “D” character from the beginning and the end of the design, portraying the short version of the logo in negative space. They spread them apart revealing the full brand name, while the logo animates bringing even further attention to the negative space used here.
Delfina Foundation
The non-profit artists’ residence Delfina Foundation tells its story using a modern and bold monogram. The logo reduces to an underline, then to nothing, and finally completes its cycle by revealing the “D” and “F” again. This straight-forward functionality conveys the idea that Delfina Foundation brings functionality to artists.
Tangles
Hand-drawn logos have been around forever. But using animation, Henrique Barone brings Tangles logo to another level. The animation used to visually articulate the process of “drawing” the logo is on the same line with the overall design of their website, helping the brand storytelling.
Feral Sphere
By approaching the animation as a method for iteration, Mind Design brings the Feral Sphere logo to a different level. Each frame of the animation portrays a new version of an organic, living logo, helping the company to convey the message of sustainable commitment to the audience.
Ideo Architekci
The idea behind Ideo Architekci’s logo is “maximum of flexibility”. It becomes a living form and fills out the space adjusting its size both vertically and horizontally. It’s a great solution, especially given that architecture often works with similar grid systems and floor plans.
Eat
By using expansion for Eat logo, Fable shows how it can fit any size. As the typographic characters literally eat, it is getting bigger and bigger with every “bite”. The transition from Light to Regular, to Semibold, to Bold, and finally to Black font encapsulates the process of gaining weight.
Simon Pengelly
The logo for furniture designer Simon Pengelly expands by adding lines of different sizes to represent the layering of plywood. Not only this does speak to the material in his products, but it also helps the logo fit into different spaces for the company’s branding.
Modhouse
Modhouse, a sustainable modular home company, represents their product with simplicity and clarity. Each design component is elemental in the construction of their brand identity. Using a playful Tetris like sensibility, their animated logo offers a creative system, open to various iterations and dynamism.
Brikk
The designer Gun Karlsson uses animation to change the word “Brikk” into a neon glowing brick. The combination of those elements that represent the same business adds a visual impact to the brand.
Bang
The Bang’s identity conveys energy and vitality. It is flexible, bold and optimistic and the animated logo is the visual demonstration of the explosive potential and the impact they have on their clients’ businesses.
Sello
By using interchanging animation, Sello replaces the letter “o” from their name with a set of circular objects that people sell on the platform. It’s another way of conveying the brand identity to the audience.
Historiska
By using animation, the serif font form Historika’s logo can be replaced with historical artifacts, offering the museum the opportunity to be playful in its visual expressions and displays the museum’s breadth of exhibitions.
Creagent
Creagent is a small Nordic design broker that connects business needs and design talent. Bond designed Creagent’s identity around a set of pictographs and slogans that communicate the value of design while the animated logo conveys their message.
Riksteatret
The logo for Rikstreatret, a touring theater company, features a black border or “stage” that stretches and warps. In this way, they express the idea of performing in many different spaces of different shapes and proportions.
Lighthouse no.6
The designer Brien Hopkins gives the shining beam of a lighthouse by allowing it to flash across the logo from left to right and to complete the number “6” with its creation of negative space.
Kevin Yang
Animating his own mark, Kevin Yang brings a narrative storytelling to his brand. The fingerprint adds the design a real personal touch.
Talawa
Talawa is an all black theater company that looked to address the lack of opportunities for minorities. Their animated logo captures the energy and rhythm of performance and also emphasizes the phonetics of the Patois name.
Squarespace 6
Created by Andrew Willis, this animated logo is simple and clean, in keeping with the Squarespace look and feel.
The University of the Arts Helsinki
The University of the Arts Helsinki animated logo looks like a bouncing building full of creative artists who are about to bust the walls down. Designed by Bond, the visual identity is centered around the simple and bold anchor symbol “X” that has plenty of meanings, just like art does.
Common Lot
The restaurant Common Lot uses movement to give each “O” a life of its own. The restaurant’s identity is inspired by common wayward, grazing sheep and shared plates, while the moving “O”’s can be perceived as grazing animals or traveling people coming together at a dining table.
Lux Capital
For the investment company, Lux Capital one thing is clear: make money. The concept of the logo plays with the idea of addition, multiplication, and profit by rotating the letter “X”. Additionally, after the “X” rotates, the name Lux rises upwards and to the right, another nod to the idea of profit.
Nice. How were they made?