Logo trends have been ever-advancing with the changing web. As digital artists are becoming more creative and mainstream we can see the crescendo of new ideas. Logos are some of the most important graphical pieces in any website, as they display your company and purpose to each visitor.
As designers are able to collaborate with quicker ideas it’s not uncommon to see the rehashing of old ideas in new logos. This process gives web designers a nostalgic perspective with their artwork. Below I’ve gone into a few great examples for amazing logo designs in 2011. We have seen some great releases and updates over the past few months which are sure to inspire any digital artist.
Vector Arts & Animals
Animals and creatures are some of the most common additions into newer logos. This trend isn’t exactly new and has been in use for decades. Animals allow for your customers to recognize and co-relate the two images and your business together. The Trix Rabbit and Cocoa Puffs bird are two prime examples.
However, what we’re seeing with newer logos is a sense of vector illustrations coupled with brilliant imagery. From robots to chirping Twitter birds and even Chimps dressed as mailmen, we can see how popular the trend has become.
For example, the Dodo below is the perfect alignment for a retro-style feeling. The logo could fit well into any heading and supplies a very strong branding along with the extinct dodo. Fancy lettering below applies a vintage feel to the overall design which a Dodo does compliment quite nicely.
As an added benefit, many of these artists create such animals in Adobe Illustrator. When saving artwork as .ai files it’s much easier to manipulate and scale your figures as trends change. This gives your branding freedom to move from posters, billboards, newsletters, e-mail messages, and any other form of media without pixelation.
Fancy Lettering
Typography is possibly some of the most important aspects to any of your logo designs. Visitors will be glancing towards the top of your page for any sign of bold, stand-out lettering. Having your logo type jump off the page gives your visitors a simple way to recognize the current website.
Every typeface has a feeling attached to it and changes from digital to print work. As in the example below we can see the letters reflect a juicy fluidity. This could relate to food or beverages, similarly a design company such as printing business cards.
There are much fancier styles of writing for professional corporations. As in the next example we can see a small letter icon outlined in dark greys. The logo type is set along the same horizontal axis and follows a path brilliantly. Notice how each letter is also lowercase, generally indicating a modern form of professionalism.
You can use these effects in any logo which would stand firm in a similar niche. With so many different types of businesses it’s difficult to choose just a single noteworthy font family. In our set of serif fonts you can find tons of freebies which could match up well with your logo designs. Similarly we’ve got tons of other free fonts for clean website designs.
Lost in Abstraction
The abstract arts have taken a very strong hold on web designers. Modern layouts include some of the strangest effects we’ve ever seen in the history of webpages. Rounded corners and simplistic user profiles offer some of the best user experiences from a digital platform.
The logo above demonstrates a very powerful abstract concept. The fake name of the company CinEmpire could be understood as a move streaming company or video rental. We see an empire or city depicted behind a roll of film. The details are uncanny and fit a strong resemblance to vintage style movie theaters.
This isn’t to mention how the logo itself is displayed on a plaque. The formatting shows authority and is used to impose a sense of power and immortality. By using only tan and grey the color palette is shortened to that of a 1920s era cartoon.
As a contrast example the logo above uses similar iconic imagery. The film rolls here are colored quite beautifully and stand out as the logos focal point. The typography beneath is colored with two distinct shades of black and blue. The contrast helps break apart the logo where visitors may wish to understand what the company does. This effect can be seen in other brilliant typography-focused logos stemming back just one year ago.
Increased Novelty
Using other logos as a means for creativity is a fantastic boost to the imagination. Many designers such as Walt Disney played off fairy tales and historical mythology. Now in 2011 we can see the novelty effect has increased one-hundred fold.
The charming example above plays on the infamous iTunes designs. Apple has changed their logo over the course of many releases, but a musical note tends to stand out among the rest. On the logos’ type we can see all lowercase letters to symbolize modern-era technology. This labtunes could be a new music sharing or social networking website.
On another level the example below demonstrates a playful pun with words and imagery. Creating a thread thimble icon under retro-style art effects plays well into the role. This logo type would stand out in the top corner of your web page as the descriptor towards your brand.
A banner of text is wrapped around the threading to represent royalty and proper introduction. Lettering is brilliant white contrasting on a deep blue. Proper shadows and outlines have also been applied to keep the text standing out from all the background noise. However when viewed from afar the logo seems to come together in one fell swoop – only a handful of great logos can pull this off.
Conclusion
Hopefully this article has demonstrated some fantastic examples of new logo trends. We’re only into May and so far 2011 has shown us some brilliant artistic works. Web designers are growing in numbers and thus we’re seeing incredibly talented high school and college students like never before.
If you’d like more inspiration I recommend our set of minimalist logos for the wandering creative. These impose a sense of white space and apply amazing trends in logo creation. Similarly if you know of other greats trends and designs share your responses in the comments field below.