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Multiple blogs publish logos trends (1, 2, 3...) on a yearly basis, highlighting the various styles that have left their trace in logos branded this year.

Considering that logos usually aim at being intemporal, or at least, are required to stand for multiple years to effectively build loyalty and avoid costly transitions. Considering that logos should be designed with a target audience in mind, one that may or may not be influenced by these trends.

What role do these trends play, or should play, into the process of creating a logo?

2 Answers 2

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None, beyond possible sources of inspiration or "what to avoid" lists.

All those "trend" articles are written by one person expressing their opinion. (Different person for each article). They are no more valid that any article written by anyone stating what trends will be. There's no science behind the "trend" proclamations, merely observations by one person who can often cherry-pick examples to support their claims. Face it.. visit ANY of the "design contest" sites and look for similar ideas.. BAM there's your trend. You will note that the article aren't generally written by designers but by marketers, or content managers - i.e. click-bait... content fillers.

Overall, they are click-bait for someone struggling to design a logo, nothing more.

If they offer any valuable content it is to see what may be over used according to the article and the ability to have a "thing to avoid" list.

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I've been approached a number of times by clients who've trawled through such lists for their initial ideas, and although it can cause some interesting frustrations in expectations and communication if not properly managed, I've evolved my view on these in that it no longer bothers me, and in fact I now welcome it.

I encourage them to show me what they like, and to explain the feelings that these prototypes evoke, and then spend time with my client determining what they need and want to communicate with their corporate ID. I do the whole process (questionnaires, brand discovery, mission & vision statements, moodboards etc) for folks who are first-time-out-of-the-gate, an abbreviated version for folks who've done corp ID development before and indicate that preference, and in some cases go straight to brass tacks for the chronically fast-paced.

For designers themselves? I agree with Scott - click-bait and aggregated content.

That said... after years working in the architectural field, I do seek my own precedent images for complex projects, and aggregate them for myself - but they typically have a set of project-specific parameters and are not based on "currency", "trend", or "zeitgeist" at all; some of these may (or may not) make it into a moodboard that's client-facing.

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