Top 5 Logo Design Trends to Know

People are incredibly visual, and your Logo is the visual representation of your brand. Most customers will be able to recognise your business through it, making your logo an essential aspect of your brand and its identity. 

Furthermore, a logo acts as a way to connect with your audience and express your values and mission. These factors contribute to powerful branding, improving your sales, developing rapport and loyalty with consumers, and increasing brand recognition. 

Updating your logo can refresh your identity, bring attention to your brand, and realign your vision of your business with your consumers. Of course, creating a logo or making changes that customers can recognise and enjoy is paramount. 

New brands are popping up and need to create attractive logos. There are also known companies that are looking to rebrand. Both provide a space for emerging trends and learning about them can help you brainstorm ideas for your business or organisation.

Whether you are looking to refresh your brand or are part of a new business, this article will help you understand the top five logo design trends for 2023 and provide you with tips for success.

As mentioned above, a logo is the visual representation of your brand. For clarity, this is typically an image composed of symbols and text, which helps consumers understand the business and its operations. In other words, it is an image that tells a business story.

Top 5 Logo Design Trends and Examples

This section will dive into 2023's logo design trends and some examples. 

Trend 1 – Motion 

Initially, businesses had to rely on a still image to grab users' attention, but the digital landscape has allowed for more eye-catching logo designs via motion. The movement within these images will enable brands to tell more of their story than they could with a still image. 

Although this innovation is limited to digital spaces, brands must be careful when designing their logo to ensure it is recognisable both on and off-screen. 

Examples

There are several brands, especially those that are well-known in the tech industry, that use motion to capture the essence of their business:

• Netflix – Netflix has had a signature red colour as part of its brand since the early 2000s, and the red “N” became even more iconic in 2019 when the company released its animated logo that became visible when users opened the streaming app. The animation is easy to follow, recognisable, and short, all factors that supported its successful launch.
• Spotify – Spotify's logo quickly fills in its icon in an eye-catching manner before revealing its name. Its black and green colour scheme is consistent in its animated and still logo.  
• Discord – Discord has a short animation. The logo appears, then moves to the left to reveal the brand's name. It is also well branded using the company's signature purple colour for its background.
• Google – Google creates a story with its animated logo. The design starts with Google and transitions through various symbols for its features. Throughout the animation, all the characters remain within Google's red, yellow, blue, and green colour scheme. The logo is easy to recognise and fun to watch, and it acts as a bridge to Google's many applications. 

Tip for Use

Animated logos are best used for digital brands since motion can only be used on screens. Regardless, there will be instances where a still image is needed. These instances include the app icon, downloadable and printable documents, or images for email marketing campaigns. Therefore, your design should have a still picture that can be used when motion is unavailable.

Trend 2 – Simplicity 

Sometimes, it is better to keep things simple; many brands use this strategy to update their logos. 

Mobile shopping and browsing have been on the rise for several years, and mobile devices often have much smaller screens than tablets, computers, and TVs. At this small scale, intricate details can become lost and muddy, so it would make sense to refine and simplify a logo to make it more readable across all platforms. 

Examples

• Pringles – In 2021, Pringles simplified its logo by removing many of its character's fine lines and reducing its colour palette to black and white with a red bowtie. 
• McDonald's – This fast food chain has been around for decades and has had a simple logo for most of its time. Its most recent change includes a yellow M with a red background.
• Apple – Like McDonald's, Apple's simple logo has stood the test of time and continues to bring brand success through familiarity. The apple-shaped icon has been around for the brand since 1977, but it has changed to a simple grey rather than a colourful rainbow. 
• Burger King – Did you know there was a time when Burger King included a character within its logo? This logo debuted in 1957 and ended in 1969. Although there have been some changes throughout its history, the fast food brand has kept to a simple logo for most of its time in business.

Tip for Use

Some of the above brands have had controversies surrounding their redesigns. For instance, the 2021 redesign of the Pringles logo left many disappointed in the change and feeling that the simplified character design lost the personality it once had. 

Before you update or change your logo, it is vital to anticipate how the change will be received. For example, Pringles lost its life in its character, making its products less desirable. On the other hand, Burger King's logo has had several iterations and a character-free icon for most of its life, so it is easier to simplify without sacrificing character details and familiarity.

Trend 3 – Retro, Vintage, or Antique Inspired

Design trends are cyclical and are often seen in the fashion industry, yet clothing is not the only place people see the return of past popular styles. It can also be seen in branding; now retro-inspired logos are returning. These design patterns may invoke a sense of nostalgia for some consumers and give a unique look that stands out from other brands. 

Examples

• Burberry – Burberry is a British luxury clothing company established in 1901. The brand launched with a detailed knight in its logo, but that look was simplified over time. The classic knight made a comeback in 2023, which sets the brand apart from its competitors' minimalist designs.
• Twinings – Twinings is a tea company that has been around for over three-hundred years, and its logo has remained the same since its inception. Sometimes an antique look is timeless and does not need to be changed.
• Burger King – The company's simple redesign returned to the previous two logo designs the business used in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Moreover, there was little social uproar when the brand returned to its past.
• Artemis – Artemis is an up-and-coming cosmetic brand for dogs that focuses on dog wash. Their logo encapsulates a paw print with a Victorian flair. 

Tip for Use

Several factors go into creating a logo design inspired by the past. One of the most important things to consider is the period you try to emulate. You can combine past fonts, colours, and detail styles to create a fresh look, but you must ensure they do not clash. For example, a fifties font mixed with a nineties colour palette may not create a cohesive story. It may need to be clarified for consumers as to what look the brand is going for and, worse, muddle your brand's identity.

Trend 4 – Hand Drawn Elements

Like retro logos, hand-drawn elements can provide a unique look into a brand's personality. 

Examples

• Yuzuco – This juice company focuses solely on the citrus fruit yuzu. Their logo perfectly encapsulates this with a simple hand-drawn yuzu. For some products, the logo is black and white, while others have one that is coloured.
• Particular – This brand has yet to launch its product line; however, it has already showcased its unique look with sketches of different felines. The business hopes to provide cat owners with special furniture for their pets.
• BARE Soaps – The soap brand, BARE, uses hand-drawn elements to create a teardrop shape out of hand-drawn water and a leaf. It shows consumers their mission to make sustainable and clean products.
• Boiler Brewing Company – Boiler Brewing Company is another brand that uses a hand-drawn element. Its logo features a burnt orange interpretation of a boiler. Consumers will know the brand by this sketch and distinct colour.

Tip for Use

All logos tell consumers a story about the brand they represent, and hand-drawn elements can make a business feel more approachable and relatable. To use this element, find a balance between detailed and straightforward but ensure your logo is recognisable and readable. 

For instance, Particular's logo is mostly an outline, yet a cat shape is quickly identified. On the other hand, the logo of BARE Soaps contains more detail without being overcrowded or confusing with too many elements. 

Trend 5 – Funky Fonts

Hand-drawn logos are not the only way a brand can showcase its personality – unusual fonts allow businesses to highlight their brand identity. Moreover, some eccentric fonts are enough for companies to forgo an icon. 

Examples

• Flings – Another brand that is preparing for launch is Flings. They plan to offer tasty and upgraded toaster pastries compared to what is currently available. The wiggly font represents the gooey goodness that awaits their future products.
• Good Weird – Good Weird is a beauty product business focusing on beauty for all genders. Their font choice adds a twist by connecting some letters from the top word to the bottom and having a few letters slightly higher than the others. 
• Rotten – This sour candy brand oozes its personality with drips that line each letter. They dive further into this look through a cool-toned colour scheme and bugs and bones that adorn each letter.
• Disney – Disney has had some changes to their font over the years, but it has remained stylised since its inception. There are instances where their brand name is joined with their castle icon; however, the font is easily recognisable even without it. 

Tip for Use

Funky fonts are fun and represent the brand's style. You must select or create a font that represents your vision to use this design. At the same time, it needs to remain legible. An unreadable font means users cannot find your business based on your logo alone, and it becomes more difficult to distinguish the letters when the symbol is scaled down in size. Also, choose a character or two from your brand name for mobile or small icons. 

Tips for Success

Below are a few tips to help you integrate these trends into your brand.

Set Your Budget

Marketing and its material can be costly, but they can increase sales and pay for themselves correctly. Redesigns and rebranding can be equally, if not more, expensive than usual marketing materials, and there is the possibility of losing sales and the money used to create the new logo. 

There have been several successful rebrands and equally as many failures, and it can be beneficial to learn from them before you make changes to your look.

Test Your Redesign

Your customers are the lifeblood of your operations, and a significant misstep can leave them confused and feeling betrayed, leading to decreased sales and the need to address these concerns. Thankfully, there are a few ways to test your redesigns and receive feedback on the best changes. 

• A/B Testing – A/B testing is a method used to test audience responses between designs. Viewers are split into different groups, and each group sees another format. Afterwards, testers can assess the answers to each design, and designers can make alterations and use the best plan for the logo. 
• Surveys – Surveys can be used to receive direct feedback from consumers. This method has pros and cons since you can define precisely what you want participants to judge based on your questions. Unfortunately, this also has drawbacks since users may interpret your question differently than intended. 
• Limited Run – If you have a new or seasonal product, you could use a logo redesign to test audience perceptions. With this method, your results may be skewed because of an item's novelty or limited availability. 

Define Your Brand Identity

As mentioned throughout this article, your logo is critical to your brand identity. It tells a story about your business and gives consumers an idea of what they might expect. For example, BARE Soaps' logo is very clean and highlights its mission to provide clean and sustainable products. If the brand supplied gasoline products instead, consumers would be confused since the look and the products do not match. 

This is why it is crucial to define your brand identity before you create or change your logo. Think about what products and services you want and at what quality. Next, think about your brand's vision, purpose, and mission. What is it that you want to accomplish with your business or organisation? Afterwards, consider what symbols or font styles represent these ideas.

If you already have a design in mind, it is time to compare the logo to your brand values, product, and mission. From there, you can make adjustments to ensure all the components are cohesive and aligned. 

Consult the Experts or Do It Yourself

There are a few different ways to approach the logo design process. The first is to hire a graphic designer, and there are several things to consider if you choose this route. These include the designer's service cost, past work and experience, current workload, and the rapport you can build with them. 

Throughout the collaboration process, you should communicate your vision clearly and not be afraid to express the changes you think would better suit your brand. You do not have to use the logo you are given if you are unhappy with it. Similarly, you could go with a company like Inkbot Design rather than an individual. 

On the other hand, you could go in the do-it-yourself, or DIY, direction. Different software is now available for graphic design, making it much easier for DIYers to create icons. Furthermore, some have free options, making this choice much more affordable. 

The choice between these options is up to you and your situation, so it is essential to consider the pros and cons of the two.

Keep It Dynamic

In other words, your logo should fit all of your needs. Simple logos are easily scalable and fit on websites, apps, business cards, and email campaigns. 

However, some logos are too complex for this. For instance, Flings chose a text-only style, and their font has waves, which may make it illegible once it is shrunk. They avoided this by using the letter “F” in their stylised font as their social media icon. 

A Quick Checklist for a Great Logo

• Your logo tells your brand's story and identity
• It is easily recognisable and legible based on the image, wording, and colour scheme
• All iterations of your logo match
• Your logo suits all of your needs

A Few Things To Avoid

It is normal to make mistakes, and they can be a great learning experience; nevertheless, they can also be costly and frustrating. The following are a few mistakes to steer clear of:

• Failing to research the effect various logo aspects have on consumers. Fonts and colours can affect how people perceive your business or organisation. 
• Jumping on every trend that arises. Although this article highlights the top logo design trends of 2023, you must not just follow trends for fun. It can lead to backlash and a reduction in sales.
• Creating overly complex designs. It will make your logo hard to recognise and reduce its overall useability.

The Bottom Line

There are several logo design trends for 2023. Animation has been a way for brands to show more of their personality and highlight features of their business, yet other logos have found the same success through hand-drawn designs or quirky fonts. The trend of simplicity takes things in the opposite direction by scaling back the elements of an icon. Lastly, nostalgia has been a big contender for brands as retro designs pop-up while others return to a past look.

If you want to recreate any of these trends or take inspiration from them, InkbotDesign.com can provide you with the services, tools, and resources you need for success and support. 

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