Fresh-retro logo for a trap-lover music video – Info Graphic Design

Any time we look at trends, we tend to see a pendulum swinging. For instance, it’s not uncommon to see an evolution from a flat logo to something dimensional or vice versa. But over the last three years in particular, from a typography standpoint, we’ve seen a transition toward very austere sans serif logos. Google flipped from a serif font to a sans serif, and other major brands like Verizon, Calvin Klein, and Century 21 did the same. Part of what’s going on here is the idea of clarifying the message and conveying transparency. Unfortunately, when it becomes too sterile, it also strips these brands of their personalities.

However, this year, the pendulum is starting to swing in the other direction. When design moves towards this level of simplicity, designers counter it. Very expressive logos are making a comeback, which is a direct result of nostalgia–and pop culture reboots. We’ve seen it played out on the big screen in Ready Player One and on the small screen in Stranger Things. There’s a thirst for nostalgia and a hearkening to past decades. Designers are dusting off their old font folders and going back to designs that were popular in the 1970s, ’80s, and early ’90s. Letters with big, expressive serifs are an added embellishment that changes the viewer’s perspective, perhaps recalling a different time period, but done in a uniquely new way with modern influences. Millennials are most responsible for bringing these trends back into play, and now you can see the influence everywhere, from the resurgence of tiki bars and speakeasies to retro products like shaving kits for men. By going backwards, you can pick and choose what you want to bring forward, and blend it with contemporary aesthetics. I’ve seen a lot of brands doing this successfully, and I think it’s just the beginning.

Color has also changed dramatically; there’s a greater range of colors and intensities because they’re being projected from a screen. Colors are merging and blending, and gradients are now part of our color dialogue. A lot of this has to do with apps like Instagram—which, in fact, has a gradation as part of its logo. That’s an extreme example because it runs the gamut from yellow to pink to purple; most new gradients are very subtle, like red shifting toward red-orange, in essence creating a new color. People now recognize gradients as colors. This is a trend that will continue to shift and grow. All three of these movements work together as nostalgia swings the pendulum through different decades. You’ll see a vast array of these examples throughout this report.

It’s important to note that trend is not a bad word, and it doesn’t equate to trendy as in here today, gone tomorrow. The logos featured here are on the outer-edge, influencing the state of design to come. Much of this work is experimental, which ultimately pushes design to evolve. We all live by trends—whether in fashion, food, or design. We like them and we adopt them because they make life more diverse and fun, even as they evolve and change. The key takeaway from this is not to imitate, but to find a way to push these ideas forward and make them your own.

Source : Reddit