Cubist

It should be no surprise that designers have again gone to the well of fine arts to draw upon technique for inspiration. As Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque discovered as the founders of the Cubism movement, there is a certain visual pleasure in the reduction of images down to their essence. In logo design, this same tenet applies, and a good marriage of concept and style emerge. Illustrating an image in a simple series of facets is really a glorified and more aesthetically pleasing version of an image reduced to a handful of pixels.

Illustration software which uses the Delaunay Raster process automatically creates spatial and color averaging that makes this technique broadly accessible. Illustrator Jonathan Puckey uses this process with stunning results on photographic images, and a similar animation style has become a signature look for a number of companies in their commercials. In identity design, hand rendering of these facets is pure cubist eye candy.

1. Iconologic, US Virgin Islands 2. Z&G, Brandogolik 3. Gardner Design, Graphic Impressions 4. Andrei Bilan, Kubis

Spores

Microbial hitchhikers with all the tact of a sticker or cockle burr, these logos are a scaled-back version of a radiant star, and they typically start to take on three-dimensional qualities. They tend to be suspended in space or give the appearance of an underwater mine placidly floating in wait. (In fact, any of these logos could be a perfect candidate for animation.) Despite such dire comparisons, these logos still maintain an attractive, mathematical and mysterious quality that allows them to work well.

In some, the points emanating from the central object seem to have a tentacle-like quality, reaching out to convey a sense of connectivity and of serving multitudes. This same group of logos tends to exemplify how order can be applied to complexity. They show an ability to verge on the edge of chaos but still be held together with the perfection of nature. The aggressive surface of this style certainly requires a client that is able to be faithful to the complex nature of the forms.

1. MYDE, Smart Communication Technologies 2. KITA International | Visual Playground, KITA 3. Seamless Creative, 1025 Photography 4. BrandBerry, Anvexa

Ghosts

Attracting attention in a visual world is a designer’s most challenging task. Encouraging someone to really look is hard; forcing them to engage is harder to the nth degree. These Gaussian-like logos compel the viewer to take the second look if for no other reason than to confirm what they are seeing. The effect of the soft-edged translucent nature of these marks could well be considered a subtle act of confrontation.

That an image is appropriate to the objective is imperative, so this is not permission to just make any logo fuzzy. Remember, however, that there is mystery in leaving something to the imagination. The slow reveal or partial reveal can be much more engaging than the literal, all-out full reveal. The technique seems to have its greatest success if the image in question is obvious enough through silhouette that the viewer is not left confounded. Color is also a critical clue as we tend to identify objects by color before shape.

1. Julian Peck, Futbol California 2. Iconologic, America’s Natural Gas Alliance 3. Supersoon Good Design, Swiss Heat Transfer Technology 4. Strange Ideas, Shadow Farm

Tendrils

There is just the right amount of whimsy and human intervention in the draftsmanship of these logos to make them a pleasure to absorb. In past years, the LogoLounge trend reports have discussed logos with floral flourishes, dingbats and typographic elements bringing life to and skirting the edges of the mark. This group, however, helps place the Si Scott-inspired wisps of fancy into context. Far from being drafted with geometric perfection, these tendrils have a natural gnarl to their wandering, like a real vine.

Humans have been involved here, and that is the message. As beautiful as these logos are, they were not created by a soulless machine. They were created to glorify the brusque reality of imperfection. These marks are important because they show the importance of embellishment that customers associate as an above-and-beyond concept. At the same time, the hand-hewn message reinforces that this is an authentic offer, as different as a handwritten note is from spam.

1. Derrick Mitchell Design, LLC, Easthaven Baptist Church 2. RawType, Jacob’s Well 3. Sabingrafik, Inc., Rosenblum Cellars 4. Dale Harris, Blank Expression

Shift

Perfection is highly overrated even when imperfections are crafted perfectly. Transparent overlays of color often resembling a misregistered CMYK or RGB letterforms are the hallmarks of this trend, although significantly overlapping kerning and turning on the transparent mode qualifies marks for this category as well. Colors are usually clear and clean to allow the murky overlaps to be even more evident. The purposeful layering gives a nod to connectivity between different entities as they come together for a common good.

This trend is a bit of the celebration of diversity that shows a merging for common good. From another perspective, it could be a single entity splitting out into multiples. Because these are brighter, with elements of pure chroma colors, they tend to occur often in the entertainment or literature corridors. Though the images are static, the shifting elements give a sense of motion to the viewer. This instability draws the eye and can create the impression that these marks represent a work in progress.

1. Asta form, Sheriff Studio 2. Go Welsh, Penn State Architecture 3. Effusion Creative Solutions, musicplace.com 4. Liska + Associates Communication Design, Becker and Becker

Parts

This trend give insight into the comment "one of something ugly is ugly, but many of something ugly is beautiful." Take any one of these ugly things—or, in this case, the iconic representation of your parts—and assemble these into an ideal construction. It’s an element in which many parts come together to create a common goal. From a distance, the image is the larger whole. But on closer inspection the image is revealed to be an amalgam of molecular images.

A diverse group of logos here show some very different takes in achieving similar objectives. "We the people form this nation" and create a map of the United States. A hundred or so divers come together to create a school of fish forming the outline of a shark, and yes, it is for a diving school. In each case, a nice visual balance was found to help the reader make the jump from the whole to the parts that came together to compose the result.

1. Kuznetsov Evgeniy, Russian Team 2. Ten:pm Media, Advanced Armament Corp. 3. Chris Rooney Illustration/Design, Ramsell 4. Hand dizajn studio, Diving Club Big White

Pixel

For your amusement, take a screen capture of the portrait favicon at the beginning of the address for www.marthastewart.com. Then park the minute picture of Martha in Photoshop and enlarge to fill your screen. This view of a 16 x 16 square of pixels as if through a microscope can be revealing. Nothing is as it seems once you knock it down to its atomic core. In the world of RGB, on-screen images, the pixel is the lowest common denominator. So these are logos that speak to their digital pedigree, but which are willing to say, "This is our very essence."

Pixels seem to be a natural building block when dealing with digital products. They convey naturally the concept of many elements coming together to create a larger result. Because of the medium, the colors are often high in chroma and representative of diversity, but even in the HD City logo, you can see the effective use of the subtle range of tints even within a single color. There is no mistaking the association, but the challenge is to avoid being trite and discovering a new way to present a solution crafted using these tiny tools.

1. Eight a.m. Brand Design , C2 MEDICAL SPA 2. Eightday Studio, Antioch Community Church Norman Corp. 3. Gyula Nemeth, HD City 4. Andrei D. Popa, City Tower

Hexahedron

Stephen Doyle created such an intelligent design with his new identity for The Cooper Union, and the attending animation of the elements tumbling together helps further sell the concept. It’s just two cubes with three transparent, colored faces, representing the letters C and U. But a great sense of space is alluded to, which leaves the viewer with a sense you could navigate the space and imagine what this mark would look like from various angles. In short, it invites you to participate and become comfortable with it.

Other identities based on transparent cubes in various arrangements all have an implied sense of space and almost challenge us to interact with the marks. This may rise from the optical illusion aspect: The greater the participation level the design creates for the consumer, the more chances they have to buy into the ownership of the logo. The greater their level of ownership, the better the level of loyalty.

1. Doyle Partners, The Cooper Union 2. Kristin Spix Design, Phelps Stokes. 3. Tom Hughes Design, Zink, Inc. 4. Adstract Art, Civiquip Industries

Dust

When you speak loudly and fail to modulate your tone, your voice becomes a monotonous drone. When you lower your tone and speak in a hushed whisper, every head in proximity will turn an ear to pick up the conversation. This group of marks understands the importance of subtlety. The whisper is created by a stippled effect that, depending on its density, creates different levels of tone within the logo. Yet because each speck is a hard-edged vector image, any appearance of color gradation is only an illusion.

Again the eye is drawn to these not just for the design but because they are confronting the viewer with something they have not seen before. The soft feathering of edges lends a different tactile nature to these marks that makes them unique. There is something a bit magical conveyed with this technique. The Galaxy Garden logo gives the feeling of some special charm being cast amongst the stars of the heavens, and the Atmosphere logo seems to isolate every particle we inhale.

1. RedBrand, Atmosphere Design House 2. Strange Ideas, Galaxy Garden 3. Tannehill Design, GSL Fine Lithographers 4. Identra, Cognida

Peepshow

It’s the image inside the image that makes the sale. A pedestrian solution suddenly becomes a thing of beauty or interest if there is a great and compelling story showing through from behind the scenes. These logos tend to use vector-edged colored fields in their solutions that are lively and engaging. The contrast levels are kept minimal to avoid making the fill area visually jumpy. This adds a new field in which to play out concept or set the visual tone for a client, and it also establishes pattern as part of the visual vocabulary of the visual brand.

Iconologic successfully developed a series of Coca-Cola icons for use at the Vancouver Olympic Games. The iconic Coke bottle silhouette was fractured into fields that reflect the stacked stone logo of the games. These broken elements could have been rendered with simple color or gradation, but instead these areas use the blues and greens of the patterns developed for use at Olympic venues. It’s a nice sense of connectivity and a smart use of color.

1. Iconologic, The Coca-Cola Company 2. Dalius Stuoka, Trava 3. Wizemark, MonkVibe 4. X3 Studios, Media IQ

Festoon

Anyone whose childhood included a springtime visit to a hardware store remembers the electric fans and window air-conditioners replete with tassels blowing horizontal at attention, thus assuring us that our own homes, too, could become a summertime den of arctic chill. These logos maybe are a bit less about the chill and a bit more about the blowing. Wind tunnels of streamers often in motion and flapping at gale force describe an invisible image underneath, or they may just be in full motion to define a pleasant breeze.

The key to most of these solutions is the tapering of the graphic element to a diminishing point and also the overlapping of the streamers. Generally, these are transparent so there is a color change where they overlap. There is a bit of free spirit and lack of control that comes in as part of the equation. Looking like untamed horizontal licks of flame, these designs convey a sense of joy or festivity that serve well in a lighthearted, feel-good application.

1. BrandBerry, TravelWorld.su 2. Burocratik - Design, Leite & Leite 3. Factor Tres, Gaby Luna 4. Rpd Design, Osorio City Hall

Stains

Imagine hand-drafting the great logos of our age on blotter paper with a juicy brush, and you start to get a feel for the logos in this genre. All are beautifully drafted and probably more than ever require great sensitivity to allow the blur of the technique to not detract too much from the essence of the image. Designers have been using stains on napkins from a coffee cup or a glass of burgundy for years, but this group moves beyond the simple spillage and plays out the art of the stain to new heights.

Paradox Box Design created a series of beautiful animal stains for the Begucci Cafe in Russia. Kangaroos, snails, cheetahs, walrus and more were each crafted in a caffeinated dark roast. The snowboarders shown here were also created as a series by Burton Snowboard. There is motion when a blurred edge comes into play; the grainy immediacy of these marks creates an impression of authenticity. It’s another example of breaking with traditional design technique and gaining that second and third look from the consumer.

1. Paradox Box, Rinat Tuhvatullin 2. Suprematika, Rucksack, the backpack online shop 3. Demographic Inc., Blood Brothers 4. Burton (Snowboards) Corp., Burton Snowboards

Burst

Fireworks no doubt win hands-down in a look-at-me contest. The accompanying audible boom is certainly a factor in drawing your attention to the flash, but the burst and emanating jets of light are visual adrenaline. What better centerpiece could you choose for an identity geared toward excitement, activity, or pleasure? All of these marks, and there were a number of them this year, deal with the imagery in their own unique way. But all of these still capture the fleeting image at its full glory.

Color and lots of it in every bright hue and full tilt spectrums were evident everywhere this year. These marks describe a penultimate moment and define it with motion, distribution and brilliant flashes. Trying to describe this effect in the fewest strokes is challenging, but the LaQuinta logo by LatinBrands and the Logistigo logo by Porkka Kuutsa are both great solutions with simplicity kept intact.

1. Sakideamsheni, Expo Georgia 2. Latinbrand, La Quinta 3. BrandBerry, 1945-2010 4. Porkka & Kuutsa Oy, Logistigo Oy

Wallpaper

After watching monochromatic vines, flora, swirls, and flourishes incase anything and everything for the last several years, a truce to the over-embellishment seems to be closer than ever. But the decoration and fascination with print pattern has found a new incarnation and in full blazing color as well. Silhouettes and shapes are coming to life with substantial gusto, and they are relishing the attention. There is no apologizing for the color being used in this category.

A profile of a woman’s head is no more than that until you imagine what is inside the head. Blend the demure with the flamboyant, and her thoughts leap off of the page. A personality has been defined. These silhouettes don’t typically require much more than solid draftsmanship as the real story is being told with the panoply inside the shape. Obviously, any identity that relies this heavily on diverse color is going to find a challenge when reproduced in one color, but who lives in a one-color environment anymore?

1. Nectar Graphics, Mes Amies, Ladies Fineries 2. Koodoz Design, Tullamore Estate 3. Dirty Design, Nectar Homes 4. Kreativer Kopf, Schoen und Wider Druck

Box-Up

The use of text as part of a visual brand identity has become more critical than ever. Not just the name of the company must be spelled out, but there are other key points of importance as well—what the client makes, the motto, the location, the founding date, the point of differentiation. Even when this additional text is not included, the wordmark and the symbol at the very least require a lock-up to define a visual relationship between the two. A lock-up is always a balancing act that respects the needs of both elements. Enlarging the pair in an effort to make the wordmark larger can make the symbol too large. Reducing the symbol to a more modest size will make the wordmark illegible.

More designers than ever have taken a cue to capture the two elements together in a literal box. Take everything you need to communicate and pour it into an ice tray. No possibility of confusion for those that can’t respect an identity lock-up. It’s all there together in one package, no directions required.

1. Schwartzrock Graphic Arts, Pugleasa 2. Sudduth Design Co., Wilmington-Gordon 3. Fargo Design Co., Inc., Jackson Trading Co. 4. Sigg Design, Swiss International Hotels

Other Noteworthy Trends

	Extrusions: Flat outline forms, whether transparent or solid, that have been extruded mechanically to give dimension. Plastic A/Deksia Designs, Grand View University
	Quilts: Imagine the surface of a logo covered with geometric transparent facets, layered together like the panels of a quilt. Niedermeier Design, Clear Bags
	Melting: Points on a logo are allowed to drip and stretch away from the primary shape, as if gravity was temporarily turned off. Milou, rain bows
	Contort: Graphics or halftone imagery is warped as if looking at a reflection in a fun-house mirror. Sometimes the original image is almost lost when contortion is compounded. Sparc, Inc., LaunchAgents
	Rainbowed: Any use of the full-color spectrum rotation on a logo. Often this occurs when the mark creates a wreath-like effect and the color is able to circle back into itself. Rise Design Branding Inc., Star Creative
	Spirogram: A mark crafted of many repetitive very thin lines, but not necessarily like the rosettes created by a Spirograph. The volume of lines helps create the mass of the logo. Interrobang Design Collaborative, Inc., Zero2sixty Creative

Bill Gardner is principal of Gardner Design and creator of LogoLounge.com, a unique web site where, in real-time, members can post their logo design work; study the work of others; search the database by designer’s name, client type, and other attributes; learn from articles and news written expressly for logo designers; and much more. Bill can be contacted at bill@logolounge.com.

2010 Logolounge Inc.

This logo design process for Keyboard Kahuna has been fun to put together, lots of images showing the explorations needed to end up with our final result. Although from the start, Thomas and I both agreed on the basic route, the project still took ages and many rounds of tweaking before we were both incredibly happy with the result.

Often hard to imagine so such much work going into a logo design project, more so when the final logo design is so clean and ’simple’. This is often the way, a logo design process post helps put the whole project into context, to see the amount of work required behind the scenes.

The first image and one below show the final result in black and white, the single line horizontal version being the main version.

About Keyboard Kahuna

Keyboard Kahuna is stuff for geeks and macheads.

Thomas Borowski is the chap responsible for this idea, a shop for products based on keyboard shortcut reference charts.

These products will have keyboard shortcuts for various Mac software printed on them. Products will include laminated charts, reference cards, foldouts, posters, and possibly mouse pads and t-shirts.

Follow Thomas on Twitter : http://twitter.com/thomasborowski

Keyboard Kahuna Website : http://keyboardkahuna.com

The Brief

As Thomas pointed out in the brief “The name Keyboard Kahuna should imply a person proficient in using the computer keyboard compared to someone who prefers to use the mouse. A “Kahuna” is the Hawaiian word for “priest, magician, expert” etc. but also refers to the “best surfer on the beach” (see Wikipedia). So the implication of the name and the logo should be that using the products will make you an expert at using keyboard shortcuts, hence a “keyboard kahuna”.

“All this is meant to be just a bit tongue in cheek, not too serious or boring. I don’t want the products to come across as a boring computer training product, the brand should imply fun and maybe even inspire people to collect the products simply because they are cool and unique.”

The finished logo needed to be clean, simple, bold yet pretty cool.Truly flexible for printed on various materials and at different sizes. Nothing complex, too detailed or intricate.

Thomas approached me around late January, he had filled in my online quote form in detail. When I first read the details I felt a sense of excitement, I love the idea but also a sense of dread.

Research

From the outset my immediate fear was the work ‘kahuna’, having seen various incarnations of ‘kahuna’ in other logos, signs and arcade games, it was essential to avoid the ‘usual’ bright and mad style, but still retain a sense of Hawaiian flavour. It’s one thing to be aware of avoiding cliche’s, but can be quite another making it happen.

A Google search for Kahuna logo resulted in some expected imagery, you can see the general style below. I also researched kahuna masks, as this was suggested by Thomas as a basis for the general feel of the logo, so getting feel for how these masks proved to be helpful. You can see some examples of the masks below.

From the results of various Google searches and other logo design inspiration sites, Thomas and I figured on one safe route to take, which would ultimately minimise the common design style given to anything Kahuna.

From the beginning, we pretty much knew that the logomark would be formed from the initials. Fortunate here with the letters, the ‘K’ is a perfect base to transform into a ‘person’. One ‘k’ is helpful, having two meant the logomark was built entirely from the initials.

Flipping the left ‘K’ means you get the perfect shape, for legs and arms. The trick was to shape this in such a way that it had a Hawaiian flavour and still resembled the letter ‘K’.

Preliminary sketching

A few sketches was all that was needed for this project. I did explore some more diverse shapes, but the focus was on creating a logomark that would hold detail at the Favicon size of 16px. This was very important, the design needed to be kept clean and simple, yet not boring or dull.

Only so much I could do at this point on paper, so took the project back to Illustrator. With a clear idea of the direction, tweaking the shape to optimise legibility at small sizes, keep the Hawaiian kahuna feel whilst avoiding any cliche meanings proved to be the time consuming challenge.

Thomas is a great guy, very down to earth and it was a pleasure to have him as a client. With no real time pressures, we both went with the flow, under no real pressure means you can afford to sit back from time to time. This is important to allow certain ideas to sink in.

The development of the icon took some time. A few times we thought we had cracked it, then after a day or so, we would both realise it wasn’t quite there. We certainly seemed to be on the same wavelength.

An example of thinking we had cracked it is demonstrated in the example below. Looks similar to the final logo design, but look closely at the ‘head’ in the logomark. Thomas showed this to a friend, and his comment was that the head looked like a bin-bag, with the draw-cords as the hair. After I heard that comment I saw it immediately.

So changing the hair to vertical strips instead of angled removed the bin-bag association.

Typography

The other challenge was the relation of the logomark to the wording. I looked at a number of fonts styles, the trick was to find a font had a certain flair to it, that would fit with the saying of ‘kahuna’. Typically more condensed or squared seemed to be the most promising route.

Some fonts had quite stylised K’s, so close to a  body, arms and legs. The first example here shows what I mean. Flip this font and you get a solid reference to body, arms and legs.

The font decision also proved to be quite time consuming. Usually this is a part I like to focus on from the beginning, I tend to know in my head what will work best from the outset of the brief. Although we had a good idea with the basic font style, the details proved to be the sticking point. The font we liked, didn’t fully work when the ‘k’ was literally translated to a logomark.

The results changed significantly if you used a medium or bold weight as well, throwing previous decisions out of the window. It’s hard to explain fully the backwards and forward dance we did at this stage.

The first font below was out initial favourite. As the stylised ‘K’ worked the best when made into the logomark. But the problem was that the medium weight was too spindly to form a kahuna character, where as the bold weight was perfect. Which ideally meant having to chose medium or bold as the basis for the logomark.

In the end we realised that the first example would work best for the logomark, but didn’t look right for the wording. So our intended idea to have the ‘K’ being a common image had to be cast aside. Instead opting to mix and match.

We ultimately used the second font below for the main wording, and the letter ‘K’ from the top example. But this decision was the hardest and we just kept going back and forth with it.

The final font choice was MorganBig from the huge Morgan type family, from the Feliciano Type Foundry. Using two weights, MorganBig Extra bold for ‘Keyboard’ and MorganBig Medium for ‘Kahuna’.

Logomark

Optimising the icon to work at various sizes meant we had to keep adjusting the negative space between legs, arms and head and shoulders so it didn’t fill in at small sizes, specifically 16px.

You can see how even a relatively simple image struggles to hold the sense of space and detail.

We also looked closely at the hair style, trying to find a thickness of hair that worked adequately at much smaller sizes. We even considered using a logomark without hair at 16px, but this didn’t work. The final version uses the first column, with squared hair. Also looked at detail in the face, but I felt just a solid face at this point proved to be the cleanest option. If it didn’t have to be reduced to 16px, then we could have played with incorporating more detail.

Although we looked at various colour options, Thomas decided early on to keep it mono, or at least shades of grey. Being a fan of mono, I was more than happy with this decision, but the option to add colour is there and easy to implement further on down the line.

The detail is the ‘Key’

The reason for the rounder corner square container was reasonably easy to justify. It’s not just to keep the logomark contained, it’s a visual reference to key’s on a keyboard. So this was a easy visual association to incorporate. The head is just a reduced version.

Client Testimonial

Choosing a logo designer can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never done it before. I scoured numerous online portfolio sites trying to find logos that appealed to me to narrow down the list of designers I would contact for a proposal. When I stumbled upon Graham’s portfolio I immediately knew that I’d found my guy. The logos in his portfolio all have a very distinctive look and feel to them without being uniform in any way. His work has exactly the style I was looking for for my logo.

The design process from my end was actually very laid back. After I had sent my brief to Graham and we had discussed the details via Skype, all I had to do was crack my whip and Graham would jump through the hoops as told. Seriously though, he didn’t really need all that much guidance from me. I think he knew pretty much right from the start what I was looking for. His first couple of design drafts already pointed in the general direction we later took. And the final result is a perfect match for what I had in mind.

Overall, working with Graham was fun and inspiring and I whole-heartedly recommend him to anyone looking for a truly unique and professional identity design.

Thomas Borowski – Keyboard Kahuna

Trend-watching, until recently, has largely been an exercise in watching connections form between direct associations. Photoshop releases a new filter, and voila - entire raft of logos take on that effect. A particular illustration style is featured in a successful advertising campaign or movie, and in what seems like minutes, the flavor of that art starts to enhance corporate identities.

Periodically, something truly surprising and unexpected pops up. Finding those little treasures are one of the great perks of categorizing 27,000 logos, as LogoLounge and a talented panel of judges just did in preparation for our fourth book. But there's always that natural undercurrent of influence that touches this design and that, a drift of scent, a faint change in air temperature. It's there, but almost not.

This year, however, it seems as though there has been a change in the nature of trends themselves. Instead of a hub-to-spoke relationship in which trends fan out from a central source, prevailing tendencies in logo design now seem to send out long underground runners that poke through the dirt in unrelated, unexpected places, anywhere in the world. It's harder and harder to trace the rhizomatous spread of ideas anymore - which truly is a good thing.

What follows are 15 trends that have indeed popped up all over the world. Overcasting them all are prevailing winds that are worth noting first:

• We saw less emphasis on sustainability or general "greenness" in logo design. There's plenty of natural imagery, but being "green" doesn't seem all that unique anymore.
  
• Colors are becoming more vivid. Desaturation has drained away, and the chroma factor pumped up.
  
• There's an overall move toward cleanliness - in type, in line, in color - as if ideas are getting more and more succinct. It may be an indication of the degree of seriousness with which branding is now regarded.
  
• Less is more common: less calligraphy, less Photoshop tricks, less artificial highlights.
  
• Found pattern and illustration hang on and on and on. With a bottomless treasure chest of visual history constantly at the ready through retail collections and over the internet, it's a direction that's not likely to run its course soon, if ever.

And now, the trends. Please remember that they are gathered here to chart long-term movement or change, not to offer design suggestions. It's a living history. The key is to study the trends, then evolve forward - as far forward as you can leap - from them.

Supernova

Imagine what astrophysicists would label a supernova or the eruption and attendant explosion of a star. In a light show reminiscent of the jump to hyperdrive in the original Star Wars, these logos attack the challenge of motion head on. For years we've seen marks that have created the impression of motion from a profile perspective using streaks or blurs to signify speed.

These examples drive a field of elements toward or away from the viewer using a variety of methods. The LodgeNet logo (by Jerry Kuyper) advertises the company's in-room movie service by flying a picture at you with a smart explosive technique. This blast is simple in construction and void of halftone - particularly interesting considering the product is an online commodity that could easily have justified overboard solutions replete with RGB trickery.

1. Jerry Kuyper for LodgeNet 2. Gabi Toth for Halo Consulting 3. Crave Inc. for IQ Beverage Group 4. Mirko Ilic Corp. for Dr. Zoran Djindjic Fund

Fine Line

Consistency of line weight is one of the tenets of good logo design. It builds rhythm and ensures legibility at first glance. Forget this rule for this category. Turn your line weight down to hairline and start drawing. Most of these logos live on two levels: first glance, and then second glance, with reader glasses. Typically, a heavier image with message one serves as a background field. The more profound message two is generally encrypted over the top of or knocked out of the heavier image.

Fine strokes weights may read as no more than pattern initially, but they can also carry the dichotomy of a counter message. A variation on this is the use of linear art en masse to create enough weight to define a message as in the PULSE logo. This yin yang process tends to captivate the viewer and lends a sense of intelligence to a mark that doesn't require a hammer to impart a subtle message.

1. Louis Fili for The Mermaid Inn 2. Hula + Hula for Cartoon Network Lainamerica 3. Unit for Artists for Peace 4. Point Blank Collection for Pulse

FoldOver

Imagine being asked to design a logo with a long strip of paper as your only tool. These quasi origami style solutions craft out a sense of dimensionality despite staying relatively flat. The material from which these are created range from (but are not limited to) transparent film, metal, and paper. There seems to be a message of cleverness and economy of stroke in many of these.

Sometimes the simplicity of the folds takes on additional meaning when the substrates demonstrate unique properties. Note how the opposite side of the material changes to a different color at every fold in the TURN logo. Or see how transparency enforces the visual overlap of material. In some ways, this technique creates a bit of a puzzle effect. It engages the viewer as it tempts them into tracing out the path of the mark or trying to determine if the folds could really occur as offered.

1. PMKFA for Yes King 2. Gardner Design for Liberty Capital 3. A3 Design for Urban Architectural Group 4. Addis Creson for Turn

Global Expansion

What a refreshing outlook this trend presents. Time was that any company involved in international commerce gave some passing consideration to a globe as their logo. It's a solution that has become terribly challenging to address with an original perspective. These logos at least have the honesty to step back and say, "Hey, we may not be fully global yet, but give us time." All of these marks rely on a centric pattern that diminishes at the edge and then warps out to wrap the sphere in symbolic expansion.

Cato Purnell Partner's diverse group of solutions for Dubai Airport succinctly communicates a key message. Commerce, travel, and tourism have made Dubai a true crossroad for international travelers, and this world-class logo has found a unique way to express the point. Using the Islamic sacred symbol of an octagram, or eight-pointed star, the logo starts to envelope the global sphere with its spreading tile mosaic. The dissemination of a culture is no accidental message in this mark.

1. Lippincott for XOHM 2. Cato Purnell Partners for Dubai International 3. Futurebrand BC&H for Transpiratininga 4. FIRON for Novatel

Loops

Continuous bands, yes, but not all of these marks have that certain mojo of the Mobius strip. Moving away from the universal sign of infinity, this group of logos seems to celebrate the flow of a closed cycle. No doubt more than a few rubber bands were called into action for their modeling services, but a ribbon-like figure was not mandatory.

There is something personal about the lack of perfect symmetry displayed here. The flexible nature of these logos signifies the ability to transform to meet the needs of the moment. Some appear to be snapshots of motion captured in a millisecond, of an object tense with energy.

The Peugeot 307 loop reflects the profile of that specific car but also seems to hover weightlessly above the ground. The chromed appearance of the mark takes on a surrealistic quality while conveying a certain technical prowess as well.

1. Lippincott for IBM & Freescale 2. Angelini Design for Peugeot International 3. Miriello Grafico, Inc. for Qualcomm 4. Double Brand for Long term car rent

Jawbreakers

Anyone who's ever torn up his or her mouth grazing on a jawbreaker or Gobstopper can attest to the concentric rainbow displayed on a perfect cross-section of the confection. There is a certain childhood joy associated with the perfect cleaving of these orbs that is akin to discovering hidden treasure. The 70's op-art quality of these marks is accomplished with little regard for a reserved palette. Generally, brilliant color is a must and often cross-sections are as unique as Technicolor snowflakes.

There is a youthfulness to these logos that addresses a certain vitality in the market. You can't help but smile at the visual joy they seem to capture. Influences could include Target's inventive use of its own logo in marketing efforts, although the red and white of their mark seems sedate in comparison to examples shown here.

1. Form for Dazed & Confused/Topshop 2. MacLaren McCann Calgary for Telphonic 3. Volatile for Antidote 4. Volatile for Pod

Strobe

Animation in the static environment of print is challenging at best, but with some sequential stop-motion images, a solution is at hand. Remember those flip-books that with a riffle played out a short animation? Now, take the images, place them on a single surface, and this is the result. These marks have a slinky-like, fluid nature that lends a graceful aesthetic to their associated companies.

The Nikon logo crafted by Interbrand some years ago may have signaled the introduction of this process with a major brand. Sprint's adoption of Lippincott's logo, a representation of the stop-motion animation of pin dropping, opened the gates for deeper exploration and solutions in a similar vein. Nokia Siemens' new animated logo, created by Moving Brands, successfully plays out the strobe concept when adapted to print.

1. Interbrand for Nikon 2. Moving Brands for Nokia Siemens Networks 3. Lippincott for UMW 4. Lippincott for Sprint

Nimbus

Shield your eyes and pull out the 30 spf sunblock. It's not a sunburn you'll fear, but you may need to protect yourself from overly bright ideas. There is a certain glorification associated with all of these marks. The central core of the image is usually a bright tunnel out of which great light emanates. If this sounds a bit like the parting of clouds and the appearance of deities, you may not be far off.

Dissemination of light or energy by the use of rays is far more than an astral aura. This indicates a central subject or capability and the prospect that it holds the key or the solution to whatever the question is. Light also connotes knowledge and guidance. Even distribution of these spokes ensures a fairness of distribution and equality of access. As a moth will attest, there is an attracting radiance to these logos, regardless of color.

1. Gardner Design for Catalyst 2. Glitschka Studios for Proctor & Gamble 3. Circulodiseno, SC fr New Venturees 4. Chris Herron Design for Marimon Inc. & Kelly Swofford Roy

Stitch

Over the last several years, designers have taken refuge with a variety of appropriated patterns. Design backgrounds have become shrines for wallpaper swatches, Victorian patterns, organic flora, faux wood grains and any other rococo-retro surface that is not nailed down or otherwise copyrighted.

Houndstooth and herringbone aside, designers on more boutique projects are dipping into their grandmothers' baskets of sundries and notions. This is often not as much about textile patterns as it is about the elements that hold a garment together. Zig zag, whip, and cross-stitch are a few of the strokes in the sewing arsenal. Bric-a-brac, fishnet, fringe, and tassels are also working their way into these solutions. This common language of mundane elements takes on a refreshing, often feminine beauty when layered together with great taste. Just remember that the difference between a tablecloth and a haute couture gown is not the material, but knowing what to do with it.

1. The Woodbine Agency for Lamp 2. tenn_do_ten for chico 3. The Pink Pear Design Company for Rummage 4. Hammerpress for Natasha's Mulberry & Mott

Colorblind

Sometimes clusters of a logo technique surface with little if any rationale. For this bracket, it's as if National Geographic just reported the recent unearthing of a series of Ishihara color plates for color blind testing. The influence is obvious but the timing is unexplained. You have to admire the chutzpah of a client willing to adopt a logo that 7% of the male population and 0.4% of women won't be able to understand.

Maybe this is exactly the point. These marks represent a quirkiness associated with entities that only a certain percent of the population will be able to really appreciate. Even for individuals without color blindness, these visuals can be a bit challenging to decipher. But that adds to their mystique and helps to build affinity for the logos when the viewer realizes he has passed the test. Either way, there is a joyful, reminiscent charm at work here - either that or this report is entirely wrong and these companies all sell Dippin' Dots ice cream.

1. Colorblind Chameleon - Self Promotion 2. Range for Dennis Murphy 3. Pearpod for Razoo 4. Cricket Design Works for Creme Cafe

Amoeba

These are soft, inflated blobs without any sharp corners to fall and hurt yourself on. Their friendly shapes are generally unstructured and much like an amoeba under the lens of an electron microscope, fluid and in motion. Amoeba comes from the Greek word amoibe, meaning to change, and this trend is about flux. The elements that compose these logos are anything but static. You can imagine a relationship between the parts of a logo as if they have just divided from one another.

This process of morphing and motion give us a clue about the structure and processes of the businesses represented here. Flexibility and an agile nature allow businesses to adapt in mercurial industries. These are entities that embrace the value of evolution. If you're evolving, chances are you're a living organism, and there aren't too many of those with corners.

1. Tactix Creative for DJ Eddie Amador 2. Double Brand for Poza Showroom 3. Mola for EDP 4. Yaroslav Zheleznyakov for Promotion

Facets

Ali Baba and the 40 thieves knew what mattered in a cavern laden with jewel-encrusted treasure. In these precious gems, there is an intrinsic value of which legends are crafted. Whose eyes are not stopped by the alluring refractions of a precious bobble? What a perfect substance from which to carve an identity.

To create the greatest value in a material as base as a stone, one has to first recognize potential worth. With exacting efforts, a trained eye can cut away the precise amount that will best maximize value. All of this is done with the looming specter of complete failure if the action is not correct. With great risk comes great reward.

These logos can also address the multifaceted nature of a business. By arranging these facets in their optimal positions you create the greatest clarity and light. Or maybe it's not that deep and we just like bright and shiny things.

1. Kitsh for Clay Saphire 2. Thomas Manss & Company for VCC Perfect Pictures 3. Gardner Design for Lavish 4. BFive for Solo Company

Doodles

There is a base honesty to an image that has never been shoved in one side of a computer and back out the other. There is still some soul attached to the mark and even a little sweat and blood from the originator. No attempt is being made to deceive the consumer and certainly there was no upper level management committee to quash the innocence of the humbly crafted logo.

Immediacy is an important justifier for these marks as well. The Rebuild logo, developed after Hurricane Katrina sends the message, these people need your help now. There is no time to finesse a corporate solution to the problem here: We need the help and response of everyone, and we need it now.

Personal messages and a sense of humanity are associated with these marks. It is the assurance the middleman has been cut out, and that this message is between me and you and no one else.

1. Steve's Portfolio for www.thehurricaneposterproject.com 2. Stubborn Sideburns for Hipposchemes 3. Fifth Letter for Shawn Lynch 4. Studio Oscar for Levi Strauss

Flourish

Take a piece of relatively unassuming typography, water and fertilize with insane pixie dust, and let it grow. These logos could be relatives of the Flora and Embellish trend identified over the last two years, but they are definitely about type on steroids. Imagine type with hair that has been coiffed for fashion week in a Fellini movie.

Credit the stunning work of Si Scott and the unbridled design of Marian Bantjes as primary influences on this work. Scott specifically has developed a signature look that is being emulated a bit too close for comfort, in some instances.

Decorative flourishes gone wild identify these entities: They give more than you anticipate and are conscious of the frills and excesses necessary to carry you to satisfaction. These designs are exoticand unexpected but with enough whimsy to avoid being overtly feminine.

1. Lucero Design for Project 240 Apparel 2. United* for Bar Carrera NY 3. Team Manila Graphic Design Studio for Neu Media 4. Distrubancy Graphic Treatment for Eclipse Streetwear

Fibrous

Twisting threads travel in tandem or are spun together to form a twine with even greater strength. Or you see the tendrils of a vine traveling outward from a single source. Maybe it's the ebb and flow of a rhythmic group of fine fibers acting in concert to create the illusion of a solid mass. These are just of few of the descriptions that help define this category.

A collective acting in unison to maximize action and create strength in numbers is at the heart of these logos. These are not lines in perfect step with one and other. Unlike the grooves of a record, these elements show a degree of independence and celebrate the diversity of the components as they unite.

Uniting elements for a common good has become a prevalent theme of late. This trend transcends the corporate world and is seen in social efforts as well. Respect of individuality and honor of uniqueness are admirable pursuits.

1. Guillermo Brea & Associates for Argentina 2. Najlon for Town RIJEKA 3. Mattson Creative for The Collective 4. AtomicasStudio for 2 excite

Minor Trends

Some categories emerged this year that did not qualify for their own lanes, but which are still worthy of mention.

	Animotion: What makes these designs unique is that they are designed to be in motion. They are not static designs that were juiced up later. To view some excellent examples in action - CLICK HERE Moving Brands for Swisscom
	Braille Words: Imagine words, numbers, or letters formed out of Braille-like dots. Pearpod for Plus 3
	Stacks: These logos are like transparent sandwiches that have shape stacked upon shape upon shape. Bukka Design for Neven Vision
	Contact Drop: If a contact lens dropped on top of a logo, you'd have the same effect that these logos have. They are generally lens- or circular in shape with a hard outer edge and a soft inner edge. Think of the Barrack Obama logo. FutureBrand for MasterCard Worldwide
	Psyche Type: If you want to know what is going to happen in any kind of design, look back to what was happening 30 years ago. It's a never-ending merry-go-round of style. Witness the groovin' psychedelic type treatments that are so popular today. It's Haight-Ashbury all over again. Yaroslav Zheleznyakov for Lemonades from Arbuzov
	Pathways: There are also plenty of motion lines to be seen, going up and down, back and forth, or around and around. These are like tracers — sometimes transparent like light, bouncing around or bending in space. The Tennis Australia logo is an excellent example. Where the ball goes, the logo goes. FutureBrand (UK) for Lakshmi N. Mittal
	Warped: If you take a gridded piece of paper and start to fold or twist it, the printed grid will begin to conform to whatever motion you're applying. But in this category of logos, the substrate is more pliable, more flexible than paper. There's more give and stretch, so that lines on the x and y axis become contorted. thackway+mccord for FINRA

Finally, it's worth noting that there's a reasonably reliable place to look every day for the very latest in logo design (in addition, to LogoLounge.com, that is): television promo graphics for any of the major "style" channels — Food Network, Discovery, HGTV, the Travel Channel, and more. Because they have the money and the ability to get work out there quickly, the channels tend to be progressive forecasters and trendsetters. And designers, just like the rest of the unwashed masses, are home on the couch, watching.

Bill Gardner is principal of Gardner Design and creator of LogoLounge.com, a unique web site where, in real-time, members can post their logo design work; study the work of others; search the database by designer's name, client type, and other attributes; learn from articles and news written expressly for logo designers; and much more. Bill can be contacted at bill@logolounge.com.

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