Your Website Showcasing Your Supercool Office Space is a Cliché.
This is a plea for an end to hip websites featuring photo shoots of cool “creative spaces” and not much else.
You know what I’m talking about: Parallax websites papered with empty reception desks with brand signage; macro shots of artisanal light fixtures; den-like flex spaces with artfully cast-off iPads and headphones; and perspective shots of touchdown workstations with knife-edge aligned Apple displays and funky task chairs.
Your homepage is now a cliché.
How Apple’s Rollout of iOS 7 Verifies Our Predictions for Design and Branding
Apple’s redesign of their operating system was the farthest thing from my mind two months ago when I began penning a series on current design trends. In fact, I’d been so focused on my own business that I hadn’t even heard any scuttlebutt that a new mobile OS was likely at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this month.
So it came as a total surprise when the drastic, Jonathon Ive-led overhaul of the iOS—the biggest single change since the iPhone’s introduction—completely underscored our recent predictions; the seven significant design trajectories I identified that were likely to continue to influence branding and logo design in the near future.
Current Trends in Logo Design, Part 3 (7 Significant Trajectories)
The first two posts in this series identified what constitutes a significant trend (vs. a fad); how you go about exploring them; and how to make best use of them. In this final post of the series, I’m sharing what I see as the most significant longer-term trajectories or arcs in the trends that have shaped, and continue to shape, today’s logo designs; what they mean; where they’ve come from; and how they’ve evolved. Read More
Current Trends in Logo Design, Part 2 (Trends vs. Fads)
So, you want to make the most of trends in logo design?
First off, I think it’s important to establish what we’re talking about and what language we’re using. When we talk about trends in logo design, are we talking about a true trend or a fad?
Trends vs. Fads
According to Wikipedia: “Though the term trend may be used interchangeably with fad, a fad is generally considered a fleeting behavior whereas a trend is considered to be a behavior that evolves into a relatively permanent change.”
Our design vernacular is always changing and being informed by new information and experiences. What people are usually asking when they want to know about trends though is the latest fad that people are chasing because of its novelty and currency, as opposed to how our visual language is evolving over time, which is much more important, and potentially more powerful and useful. Read More
Current Trends in Logo Design, Part 1 (And How to Use Them)
Recently, I’ve had people ask me to write about current trends in logo design. In addition to creating logos and brand identities as a part of my branding process, it’s hard-wired in me to monitor what’s around me, and to give my impressions about the success of big name national rebrands or local small biz launches.
“Wow, that’s insightful,” they say, “Write about that!” Read More