The Challenge of Change in Logos and Digital Businesses
The digital landscape is saturated with branding and visual identities meant to be easy to notice and remember. Most brands present their logos and visual identity as simple and easily digestible, but you can only do so much with shapes and colors.
Making and keeping logos looking different and distinctive with each new business has become a significant challenge for businesses and designers alike. Visual artists, from a 3D logo designer to one who makes simple logos, will be familiar with this fact, and the necessity of logos for businesses means that this problem is only bound to worsen unless it is rectified. So, let us take a look at the challenges involved in doing so.
Bringing Something New
Logos are the visual face of a brand, the first thing of a brand any customer should be interacting with, and a way to communicate what that business is about. They play a crucial role in making a company memorable and recognizable, which can alter a business’s success in its industry sector based on how relevant, recognizable, and popular it can be through its logo.
If a business succeeds, especially because of its logo, it can lead new and existing businesses to copy and imitate that design rather than try something new themselves. The argument to justify that is on the basis of risk. Most companies and businesses take on considerable risk just to exist and compete, and trying something new with the logo adds a layer of risk that can often not be worth the potential success.
Following Trends in Logos
One of the primary challenges in logo design and removing its homogeneity is the temptation to follow trends. As mentioned, businesses look to minimize risk, and a trend that works is a way to do that, but only in the short term. Trends come and go, and while they may be visually appealing at the moment, they can quickly become outdated.
The pressure to conform to what's currently popular can hinder a logo's ability to stand the test of time. After all, a logo should represent a brand for years to come, and constantly rebranding is not a sustainable approach. It leads to a brand having to start over with every redesign, even if the redesign isn’t exactly too different (examples being most modern tech companies, such as Google and Firefox logos).
The Challenge of Breaking the Norm
Breaking away from trends and creating something truly unique is not easy. It requires a deep understanding of the brand's identity, its values, and its target audience. Most businesses aren’t willing to spend the time and money on professionals to do this for them, let alone hire someone full-time. Even the most affordable web design company won’t be as viable simply because businesses don’t consider this aspect to be something to focus on. Most want to get their logo done and that’s that.
It’s not just designers who must be willing to take risks and think outside the box, but also business owners and companies as well. That risk can certainly be intimidating when the safety of conformity is readily available, and the potential for it not working out is always a consideration. However, the most iconic logos in history often dared to be different.
How Social Media and Digital Mediums Have Changed Logo Design
The advent of social media and the dominance of digital mediums have revolutionized logo design. Logos are no longer confined to a single canvas; they must now adapt to various platforms and screen sizes. This evolution has both facilitated and complicated the idea of differentiation in logos.
There are two considerations to take here: one, that the logo will be displayed in different sizes across different devices and mediums, and that the logo will most likely be scrolled away in milliseconds by users.
The first point is all about keeping things simple, almost to a fault. The more complicated a logo gets, the harder it is to display effectively across other platforms and to make it look just as good. That’s why most companies that operate both on and offline tend to make their logos as simple as possible because that helps resize a logo in different scales and make it just as effective in that scale.
But when it comes to logos being scrolled away on social media platforms, that is where brands bring the most in their homogeneity. Of course, a complex logo (or even a simple one), can easily go unnoticed by users scrolling through TikTok, watching videos on YouTube, or even if they are served an ad directly for a product. Brands have to associate themselves with certain feelings, emotions, and colors, or integrate with other products.
They tend to make their logo as eye-catching as possible so that when you’re browsing the internet, you notice it. It can be used effectively, or at times, at the expense of the logo and its relevancy with the business.
Standing Out with Something New
Social media platforms offer a global stage for brands to display their logos. A business operating in a small town could have a following–or even conduct business–with people across the world. Of course, online businesses remove borders entirely, operating only with the limitations of the laws and regulations placed on them by the authorities of the countries where they operate.
However, this also means increased competition for attention. To stand out, logos must be eye-catching and easily recognizable, even in a cluttered digital environment. This can be good in some ways and lead to more competition in design, but it can also lead to everyone following a few concepts that work and not changing enough to be too different.
Designers must consider how logos will appear on small smartphone screens, social media profile pictures, and website headers. At times, it also means considering physical logos, such as on billboards, sheets of paper, products, and more. The challenge is to create a logo that maintains its integrity and meaning across all these platforms while still being unique and memorable, something that requires time and effort, a rare commodity these days.
Trying to Be Different
Of course, these challenges will always exist until something is done about these things, but how can one do something? Is there a solution?
Well, nobody can provide a surefire solution but only empower you to figure out that solution yourself. Nobody can say that any one particular strategy or design will work or will flop. Markets change, individual businesses can fare very differently, and sometimes luck is just very actively involved–good or bad, doesn’t matter.
So, here are a few ways it can be done.
- Embrace Minimalism: Clean, simple, and minimalist designs tend to be more memorable but are often used by high-end businesses and corporations. Perhaps you, too, can avoid clutter and focus on conveying the brand's essence, though it doesn’t need to be in a corporation. Perhaps it opens up new avenues of design because it removes the uniqueness from yours.
- Unique Imagery: Incorporate distinctive imagery or symbols that are not common in your industry. This can help your logo stand out. Don’t be afraid to be unique, but do so without sacrificing other aspects. Make sure your uniqueness makes other areas of your logo better rather than take away from them.
- Color Palette: Play with color schemes that are not typically associated with your industry. At times, it’s better to have more colors where only flat ones are used rather than the other way around. This can help your logo break the norm and be more memorable, though that will require a different marketing strategy because your customers need to associate your logo and its elements with the product or service you provide.
- Typography: Customize your font or lettering style to make it unique to your brand. Typography can be a powerful tool for differentiation, even if it is just letters. Proper typography can be a great tool for conveying your brand’s essence with nothing but letters.
- Tell a Story: Create a logo with a story. This can engage the audience and make your logo more memorable. That doesn’t mean the logo itself should tell a story, but that it should add to it. Having a great story about how you came up with the logo can be a great way to market it.
All in all, it is doubtlessly a challenge to make logos as a whole, let alone keep adding new ideas and bringing new ways to tell the same story. It is, however, a challenge very much worth embracing. A unique and distinctive logo is an investment in a brand's long-term success.
Businesses and designers can create logos that truly stand out in a crowded marketplace by breaking away from trends, adapting to the digital landscape, and embracing creativity. In fact, everyone doing the same thing makes it even more likely that being different can be enough, though there is obviously more needed than just that.
