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A wrap-up of 2009 Logo Design Trends – Should we follow them?

Categories: Logo Design Inspiration, Logo Design Tips, Logo Design Trends
Written By: Nora Reed

With the arrival of every new year, trends are released for every field and logo design is no exceptional. Being a part of logo designing industry, involuntarily we become addicted to the design trends and eagerly await the long lists of design predictions for the upcoming year. Although I do not believe much in following specific rules and regulations for logo designing but I would confess that these trends can get you excellent inspiration sparks.

Logo designing is a crucial part of design industry as it is responsible for making or breaking the corporate identity of a brand. Therefore, it is important that we stay updated about the happenings and trends of the industry but I wouldn’t suggest confining your creativity skills to a list of trends.

However, with this ending year, I bring you a wrap-up of logo design trends frequently adapted in 2009 but I would like you to answer couple of these questions:

 
  • Do you think logo designers should strictly follow logo trends to come up with creative and modern logo concepts?
  • Which trends are more likely to overtake the logo design industry in 2010?
 

Not to forget….I have picked up the logos from logopond, faveup, logolounge, creattica

 
 

Dots and Stripes:

 

Circular: 

 

Origami

 

Encrusted

 

Typographic

 

Geometrical

 

Sequential

 

Pixels

 

Gossamer

 
 

39 Responses to “A wrap-up of 2009 Logo Design Trends – Should we follow them?”

  1. Blinkn Says:

    Certain trends like Typographic, Geometric and even pixel seem timeless (pixel only as far as computers have evolved).
    I think that the trends that do not lend themselves to basic one color printing are inefficient and transient. While full-color logos can be very beautiful, I feel that they rely too much on the full color aspect to be effective.

  2. STRAIGHTALK Says:

    Man this Blinkn said it all rught thier with one freaking paragraph yeah!

    anyways for my tiny 2 cents.

    All I can say on this one one is that the choices I saw were all good, actually GREAT..

    way better than what I have… I think though a logo is very crucial especially for HUGE firms or Big events!

    But yeah homeboy or girl; really answerewd it all for Us in such few words..

    I need him writing for me! hahaha :,)

    Thank for the friend ship let really network and share this year my friend.

    Thank You

    happy new years 2010

  3. Beertycoon Says:

    I hope the dots and stripes trend will stop soon…

  4. Twitted by baytandtakl Says:

    [...] This post was Twitted by baytandtakl [...]

  5. matthi Says:

    Some of these so called logos in my old fashioned educated opinion not even qualify to be called a logo, based in the fact a logo has to require minimum technical aspects to be considered as such. Some of them are at its best (doubtfully) illustrations.

    As since ever and for ever : a good logo is characterized (among other) that it works in all sizes, in and ON all media, inverted and even mirrored..to be considered perfect.

    Some of the above do not meet any of these criteria….so to make a long story short:

    there are some basic professional rules out there that over-life every trend, or whatever the trend is, at long as it meets the basic professional rules, the logo has a chance for a long life…the rest for me is pure ********* and will ne exchanged as soon as a new “trend” raises

    And I deeply disagree that one has to be “up to date” with his logo as nothing is worthier if I can tell u one day when your logo was done followed by the not better scenario of ever changing logo following some trend.

    The real art is to create something timeless, yet recognizable, unique, meeting the above criteria etc and not to put so much stuff into (forms, gradients, colors etc) that is results in something somewhat unique…

    As its best is just to get some creative input and to learn from the good and bad…

    Just my 2 cents and happy 2010

  6. Loop Says:

    I like the Logo: EXiT
    It is real nice!

  7. ujo Says:

    Circular images are Classic to some extent and are here to stay. The problem with adding too much trend to new logo design is that the logos may never stand the test of time if the trends change and that a particular style considered to be old and out of fashion with time.

    With that said, I think the More Intriguing, Involving, 3D, realistic or very creatively captivating designs are the way to go as far as logos are evolving. I like the Typographic Right/ Wrong logo, very creative :) )

  8. pixelgangsta Says:

    * Do you think logo designers should strictly follow logo trends to come up with creative and modern logo concepts?

    Logo designs should never depend on trend. Logos are meant to be classic, stable, dependable. A great logo is recognizable and stands out, is strong and mighty now as well as 15 years from now. When I leave this page, I won’t likely remember and be able to identify the brand with any of the above logos. Too much of the same, too trendy.

    And, might I add, trendy looks cheap.

    From Paul Rand:
    “The effectiveness of a good logo depends on:
    a. distinctiveness
    b. visibility
    c. useability
    d. memorability
    e. universality
    f. durability
    g. timelessness

    A well design logo, in the end, is a reflection of the business it symbolizes. It connotes a thoughtful and purposeful enterprise, and mirrors the quality of its products and services. It is good public relations-a harbinger of good will.
    It says “We care.””

  9. 2009 Logo Design Trends | Chicago web design Says:

    [...] via 2009 Logo Design Trends | Logo Design Blog. [...]

  10. links for 2010-01-04 | Digital Rehab Says:

    [...] 2009 Logo Design Trends | Logo Design Blog (tags: design logo logos trends vector) [...]

  11. Laurent Jouvin Says:

    The limitations we used to have when designing a logo are becoming obsolete. A lot of new styles were developed during the past decade, and this is only the beginning. With new design trends, we simply have to be careful of overuse. Let’s try our best to remain original.
    Great post!

  12. Tenno Says:

    Isn’t that Mansion logo the same symbol the ninjas use in GI Joe?

    Yup. It is.

  13. Shamima Sultana Says:

    Great article…thanks for sharing

  14. Medisoft Says:

    I’ve been using Drupal about a year or so now, it’s nice but I don’t know enough about it to make my site look any better yet… I gotta get it fixed!

  15. Susan Mark Says:

    very true , i totally agree with pixelgangsta here.

  16. Grant Peterson Says:

    They’re all busy with the exception of the Exit logo. It is the simplest and most sophisticated.

    These appear to be more about a graphic designer showboating their talent than about creating a memorable brand image. Are we entering a period of Rococo logo styling? Remedial logo study would be useful.
    The examples here are pretty to look at but pretty forgettable, too.

    Studying the works of Paul Rand, Massimo Vignalli, Ralph Eckerstrom (Container Corp. of America) might be useful.

  17. PEDRO GOICO. New Media Developer´s Blog. » Blog Archive » DESIGN TRENDS. Says:

    [...] 2009  logo design trends. « MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY. [...]

  18. Beebrains Says:

    While a lot of these are very aesthetically pleasing, it’s sad that almost, save for a few are acceptable for one color or even two color printing. It’s all flash, and no staying power. You can gloss, blur, and add all the photoshop filters you want, but your result is nothing but mere ephemera. But I suppose that is the whole point of “trendiness”. Taking a note from Grant Peterson read this article by Paul Rand:

    http://www.paul-rand.com/thoughts_confusionChaos.shtml

  19. The Zaq Stavano Blog » Blog Archive » links for 2010-01-06 Says:

    [...] 2009 Logo Design Trends | Logo Design Blog (tags: logo design resource interesting) [...]

  20. Luke Southwell Says:

    Well the logos really look nice. I can see the effort of the designer to create the logos. But for the logos to come out effective is up to the customers.

  21. Tim Fink Says:

    Nowadays, there are only a very few cases where a logo would have to be reproduced in black and white (local newspaper, phone book ad, stationery if the company owner is too cheap to have color letterhead), as most media is easily moving to color.
    With that said, it is a good thing to have a strategy that sacrifices visual pop for a clear black and white version, knowing that is will be used infrequently.

  22. Cheaplogodesign Says:

    I think We should follow the 2009 trend but we have to b more creative to make this much modern :)

    well the logos really look nice !

  23. professional logo designers Says:

    Logos represent the brands/Companies so their design should be beyond the Current Fashion.

  24. Nick Says:

    I think it’s good to look at trends in logo design. But more importantly, work on creating a logo, depending on the client’s objectives or brand.

  25. Attitude Design | Graphic Design Portfolio Says:

    There are some great designs shown here. However I think you need to be careful when adopting current trends – they can look dated quite quickly.

  26. vanimator123 Says:

    Great share, i too hope that all the trends followed in 2009 should be re-sculptured and should make way for a very different trend or implementation.
    Thanks,
    Vanimator

  27. interiordesignclassonline.com Says:

    I actually like a lot of these trends. Most trends never die 100 percent they either evolve or continue to be used like they always have. Some of tese logo trends I think are rather timeless.

  28. Jenohs Says:

    Great post,but I find these trends to be more from the past five years instead of just 2009. It’s a great source of inspiration but nothing terribly new. It will be interesting to see if we can push ourselves further as an industry in the next year.

  29. Houston Antique Says:

    Interesting concepts mentioned here. We used many of them when we designed our current store logo, and are thinking of changing it soon… so it helped to read this.

  30. vzw Says:

    The idea of being timeless is lost on many of those.

  31. Jake Says:

    Most of these logos seem, at best, pretty illustrations and type treatments.

    I have to echo what a few folks have already said. Timelessness is entirely ignored in the logos presented here. A timeless logo can also imply the staying power of a company, indicating that these companies are much like their logos, doomed to be obsolete in a months or a few years.

    Some of the logos presented here are downright confusing at best. Is there any point to the third “circular” logo and the third “gossamer” logo other than a splash of pretty colors?

    Bottom line is that I would like to have some of these illustration on the back of a t-shirt, not a business card.

  32. Mr Frames Says:

    One exclamation point is good, two must be doubly so?

  33. 12 frequent logo design mistakes – AVOID!!! | Design You Trust Says:

    [...] Don’t stick to logo design trends ….create something [...]

  34. Jason Says:

    I thought sitepoint.com used to have a logo creation and buying section on their site, but I can’t find it now. The premise of the site was that individuals could ask for examples of their logos and developers would give samples and the owner would pick the best. However, I am not able to find it again. Was it a different site I was thinking of?

    Thank You

    Jason
    EquityGroups

  35. Mint Factory Says:

    Excellent resource for idea mining. Thanks.

    Tom
    Mint Factory

  36. Erin Says:

    Dots and Stripes and Encrusted logos are very cool; Great effort by designers.

  37. Andrew Anderson Says:

    Wow, if that is the best, then the companies that have good logos are not in any danger of losing market share. As some of the previous comments have said, most of these do not meet even the basic criteria for a good logo.
    These are my criteria for logos.

    1. Should look good in black and white.
    2. Should good on a golf ball
    3. Should be immediately recognizable
    4. When possible, should include some version of a meme
    5. People should know what business they are in or have an idea of what they do or at least bring up an idea of what the companies product or service is about

    Got to love when companies like these blow money on logos that accomplish none of the above like well, those logos above. :)

    It sure makes my job easier when taking away market share from those companies that go for artistic appeal instead of increased profits. Give me ugly and profitable any day of the week.

    Cheers,
    Andrew Anderson
    21to21.com

  38. Matt Hernandez Says:

    I have to agree with some of the previous posts…. While a lot of these logos are well designed and very colorful, I don’t believe gradients are the best way to go when creating a logo. The object should be to create something that will leave a distinct impression and be very original, but also be clean and be compatible with all mediums. Many of these logos would be great for web, but would cause problems in some areas of prin.

    Matt Hernandez
    @matthernandez

  39. Logo Design Says:

    Thanks for sharing such a great stuff, i was just passing by to this post. This blog is really great, i love it.

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