Are Logos Getting Simpler? Exploring the Rebrand to Minimalism
When you think of a big brand, such as McDonalds, what do you picture first? If you think of their logo, then you’ve been impacted by a marketing strategy. ‘The Golden Arches’ are so heavily associated with McDonalds, that even just the letter ‘M’ probably makes you think about the fast food giants. Logos make huge impressions on consumers, and a poorly designed logo can actually be the make or break for a brand. Like fashion trends, logo design choices come and go. In recent years, many big name brands have been undergoing a refresh to a more minimalistic look.
If you compare a few companies newer logos to their 90s or early 2000s counterparts, they look drastically different. Flashing back to the logo designs of the 1990s, they featured a lot of patterns, colours, and textures. They were noisy, loud, vivid, and boasted a multitude of geometric shapes. The trend seem to feature more colourful, bright and 3D logos.
With so many companies embracing this new minimal aesthetic and ditching the loud and bright models of the past, it makes you wonder, why are logos getting simpler? Think of it as a digital facelift, to appear fresh and modern. Simple isn’t a bad thing, simplicity makes a logo design easily recognisable, versatile and memorable. It’s not only just your logo for your shopfront, it’ll also be showcased on social media.
Some examples of big Aussie brands that have undergone the rebrand to minimalism include mobile giants Telstra. Since the 1980s, Telstra has redesigned their logo seven times, and currently have a very simple design of purely just a blue capital ‘T’. Red Rooster has ditched their old design featuring a chicken, to a more minimal and artistic approach. With two Rs facing each other to form a image that looks like a chicken.
A rebrand to a more modern look isn’t always a recipe for success, take Australian Made for example. In 2020, they decided to ditch their classic green and yellow Kangaroo logo for a golden logo that was suppose to represent Australia’s national flower; the golden wattle. However, the feedback from the public suggested that it looked like a virus, and due to the year it was announced, Covid 19. Ultimately, the idea was dropped and they decided to keep their old design.
The current logo (left) vs. the proposed new design (right) (Image credit: Australian Made/Future Owns)
Who knows where future trends and design will lead us? Maybe we’ll bring some retro fusion into the modernistic logos. But keeping with trends and rebranding your company can ultimately be the key to successfully being a recognisable logo.
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