Minimalism is a major trend in logo design nowadays with most brands stripping their logos down to a simple wordmark in a sans-serif typeface. These minimal, type-only logos look clean and are legible across all devices and screens, from mobile phones to smart watches.
But have we reached a point where the personalities and characteristics of one logo are indistinguishable from another?
New York-based writer, teacher, and podcaster David Perell has come up with a series of tweets that explain why most brand logos look alike nowadays. He reveals the psychology behind the homogenization trend, not just in logo design, but in writing and architecture as well. The post has since then gone viral with over 245,000 likes and 40,000 retweets. Check out the thread below.
1.
What’s causing all these logos to look the same? pic.twitter.com/DgnNfOV20v
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
2.
My best guess comes down to two factors: software and the Internet.
1) Software: Designers are using the same tools, which exert the same unconscious forces on their creative process.
2) The Internet: Aesthetic diversity is bound to fall in such a hyper-connected world.
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
3.
Something to factor into your answer: The homogenization doesn’t end with logos. It’s happening to phone booths, doorbells, street poles, and bookshelves too.
(h/t @culturaltutor) pic.twitter.com/5cqBiA2GEb
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
4.
Two interesting responses:
• “This is what happens when the creative dept is overrun by the marketing dept. Being data driven is the death of art.” — @cfcreative_
• “All businesses are online now and sans serif is among the easiest font set to read online.” — @CartuneNetwerk
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
5.
Though we’ve never had so many options, we all trust the same curators to make buying decisions for us. Sometimes, it’s Wirecutter. Sometimes, it’s the mass-scale department stores that homogenize the world while advertising the illusion of choice.@SimonSarris explains it well. pic.twitter.com/bUp2RiM9PS
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
6.
The homogenization of tech logos. pic.twitter.com/LWIzIVwUDG
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
7.
How much of these homogenization trends come from trying to quantify beauty?
Robert Pirsig argued that quality can’t be defined because it transcends language when he wrote: “When analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process.”
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
8.
As a society, it’s as if we’ve read too many blog posts about the 80/20 rule. When you strip away too much of the non-essential, you lose the kind of craftsmanship that endows an object with soul and makes life feel meaningful.
Here’s my essay on this.https://t.co/m2QoixgL3P
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
9.
Look at how Pepsi’s logo has evolved. The brand identity has become flat, bland, sterile, timid and unimaginative.
Maybe globalization is to blame. The more you scale, the more you need to appeal to different kinds of people, which sucks the personality out of what you’re doing. pic.twitter.com/GYU47VxhuR
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
10.
Writers aren’t immune to these trends. It seems like every non-fiction book follows the same blueprint of simple words, short sentences, and research papers to justify every obvious intuition.
And yeah, it’s efficient, but where are the unhinged Hunter S. Thompsons of the world?
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
11.
MFA programs might be homogenizing novels. @ErikpHoel has written: “Workshop-trained writers are often, not always, but often, intrinsically defensive. This single fact explains almost all defining features of contemporary literature.” https://t.co/OO58Z3o0PX pic.twitter.com/wU6SpjpHFN
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
12.
Have you seen these drawings?
The style is called “Corporate Memphis” and it’s everywhere now. It was originally designed for Facebook. The figures are flat, minimal, abstract, and geometric because they’re non-representational, which makes them feel universal. pic.twitter.com/n0CuDPwfns
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
13.
Architecture follows a similar pattern.
I keep seeing the same kinds of modern houses that look like they’ve been copied & pasted by a slapdash architect. Professional architects might call these homes “minimalist,” but I think they’re just soulless copycats of each other. pic.twitter.com/BOJh4AVjz8
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
14.
Counterpoint: Many of the places we think are most beautiful are incredibly homogenous. Think of Paris and it’s pretty Haussmann style apartment buildings that cover the entire city, simply because Napoleon III said so.
The difference is how global these design trends are now. pic.twitter.com/k9SzZOi4Qu
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Responses:
1.
I hate it. Death of aesthetics and homogenisation, neutralisation, and uglyfication of everything interesting and beautiful.
See it in art, music, and architecture too.
— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) July 9, 2022
2.
For optimal legibility at small size because of screens. There’s been a deluge of sans serifs which leads to homogeneity.
Brands like @oatly and others have gone the other direction which will benefit them long term. pic.twitter.com/heavvkGTMf
— Charlie Quirk (@CharlieQuirk) July 9, 2022
3.
Hi! Web Developer here. As it was pointed before, accessibility has also become an important aspect of development… And it should be. Art/creativity is less important than functionality, a website is not an art gallery: it’s a tool for user to discover/buy/manage.
— Mélanie Gravel (@MelanieGravel) July 10, 2022
4.
Same thing with Super Bowl Patches. The NFL used to create a new patch every year then starting in 2011 (SB45) the NFL decided to reuse the same patch every year and have only changed the patch twice in 11 years. It shows that creativity and originality is dying. pic.twitter.com/AigNYpFyPD
— VlTO (@VlTO__) July 10, 2022
5.
Have you considered they copy an iconic brand which never changed its logo and has been a marker of luxury over time pic.twitter.com/dZcaoUIJDa
— Vivien C (@vcoparis) July 9, 2022
6.
I actually did a font preference survey for logos a couple years ago with anonymous people. Gen X slightly preferred the more stylistic fonts I tested. Gen Y and Gen Z more strongly preferred the cleaner fonts.
— Robin (@robinzharley) July 10, 2022
7.
They are way easier to read now.
— RJ Palmer (@arvalis) July 10, 2022
8.
True but I think sometimes the font lends itself to the identity of the company…And it’s lost here.
But then I prefer visually interesting fonts. It has character.
— 𝕬𝖇𝖟-𝕵-𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖌 🦑 (@AbzJHarding) July 10, 2022
9.
My thoughts: 1/accessibility, making your brand’s logo readable for everyone.
Not everyone has perfect eyes like us, not everyone using latin alphabets.
Chinese, korean, arabs, they will have difficulty reading those non-standard fonts, just like us if they write some caligraphy.— Yudhistira E (@Yezz007) July 10, 2022
10.
I hate the homogenisation of design. It’s flat, lacks soul.
Leo Da Vinci once said,if artists follow or take inspiration from the “masters” (gurus),there will be a DECLINE in art.
But if one is inspired by the abundance of nature,a new art form is born. I see it now in NFT art
— BiteMini (@bitemini) July 9, 2022
11.
Readability. I should be able to see the logo and know what brand it is instantly. Not matter the font, people still read text the same way. So why make it harder for new potential customers to confuse your name or be unable to read your name.
— Willie Warren (@Alstro56) July 10, 2022
12.
Here’s a theory that will probably be unpopular: the systematic dumbification of the masses. Radically reduced attention capacity means stripping down everything (from song length & complexity to brand logos) to make it “consumable” in minimal time, with minimal effort.
— Pez Banana (@PezBananaNFT) July 10, 2022
What do you think about this debate? Share this post with a designer friend and voice your views in the comments below.