How abstract and complicated does the design world seem to you?
How unique or special branding should be?
– Those are two of the questions designers ask themselves each day while working on various projects. Approaching to the end of the second decade of the 21th century, one must ask himself: “Why and how, things look today the way they do?”.
Today’s style is pretty predicted and overflown. Here, let me throw this bombastic combination of words at you: “Global-Post-Modern-High-Tech-Corporations”.
There is a reason why current and up to date branding world looks always familiar. And the reason is such: We have figured it out.
With every new process we go through, we learn new things; when the processes and projects start to become similar, it appears that a formula is forming.
And this is the place where experience and good work ethics come very handy. An overloaded high-tech world has swept us all. It’s our duty as visual graphic designers to resolve that, to provide presentation and brand everything with the right values, emotions and good looks. This is why a lot of the logos we see today kinda looks almost the same.
This pattern, of trendiness and “correct” styling is like an addiction. We don’t want to sell out, yet we need to provide the right design; Because Design is finding the right answers for the right questions – and it must work, otherwise it’s useless.
6 years ago, in 2011 Microsoft bought Skype. Back then, Skype was pretty innovative and obviously frequently used program – I’d even say: unique. I remember the first time I saw Skype’s logo. It looked bubbly, cloudy happy and friendly – yet, technological and advanced enough to capture many millions of users. When I recently had seen the Microsoft rebranding*, it made me sad and slightly angry. Why the big corporation absorbs smaller corporation and just “kill” its distinguished style?
I get it – it is the “Era of Globalization” – when the bigger fish consumes the smaller ones. But it’s just not fair considering all that is lost in the progress. I’ll let you be the judge of whether it’s a good or a bad trend. I must admit though: “It works!”. What I think is, that there are more company values that are lost than preserved in the process. And in the above example, I would argue that Microsoft should tightened this growing gap.
* Clarification: One of the main reasons for the redesign, is the alignment Microsoft does with its brands to look as part of one big family. You will still see the traditional logo, but slowly it will fade away towards an icon and the logotype.
Next: Minimalism and clean design – on the service of our times.