Interesting Approaches to Logo Design
Designers are taking logos to the next level by incorporating dynamism and putting creative spins on how the identity can be applied. Here is a little review of some interesting concepts.
1. The Responsive Logo
Whitney Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum of Modern Art’s identity redesign, by Experimental Jetset, was made to be “responsive.” Unlike your typical static logo, the lines in “W” in the logo flex and adjust so that the logo can fit into different spaces. As a result, the logo can work in a multitude of sizes, shapes, and proportions. The logo’s flexibility is representative of the museum—open and ever-changing.
Fatties
This is another brand identity that make use of flexibility in the logo. As a play on the name, “Fatties,” one letter of the name is stretched wide, which contrasts with the rest of letters which are tall and condensed. The logo has several variations, stretching other letters to create new combinations. See the Fatties project on Identity Designed.
image from Identity Designed
2. The Logo as the Canvas
USA Today
The circle shape in the USA Today logo is changed up from day to day to depict a graphic for a featured topic. It is like a blank canvas ready for never-ending possibilities. Sometimes it is used as a background or frame for an image, and other times it is incorporated as part of the graphic. (The possibilities are endless if your logo is a circle). The circle also gets a different color for other logo variations, i.e. green for USA Today Money, and red for USA Today Sports. In a press release, it said “USA TODAY’s logo was redesigned to be as dynamic as the news itself. The logo will be a live infographic that can change with the news. It is simple and straight to the point, providing the opportunity for the newsroom to highlight the stories that matter to the nation.”
3. Expandable Logo
Opera Australia O|A
Interbrand Sydney designed the logo such that it could expand and contract like a flexible container. Interbrand said, “We devised a logo system that could open up opera. From OA, to OPERA, to OPERA AUSTRALIA, the identity expands to contain the rich and diverse range of activities the organisation represents.” To me the “O|” and “|A” are like the curtains of a stage, opening up to reveal the actors. Some might also think of them as lips — in the logo animation the O|A expand in sync with the sound of opera singing. In other applications of the branding, the O| and |A are placed at the far left and right, framing the graphic for a featured opera show. View O|A on Brand New.
4. Considering the third dimension
Edgeboard
The logo for this cutting board relies on dimension to render the logo the way it is meant to be seen. While the mark essentially looks like a very wide “B” on a flat surface, when folded over an edge it turns into an “E B” (for “Edgeboard”). This logo is clever in that it emphasizes the special feature of the cutting board, which has an edge on one side for sliding off cut food. See more about Edgeboard on LogoDesignLove.
5. Generated
Nordkyn
Nordkyn is a peninsula in Norway known for the great outdoors. Nordkyn’s logo, done by Neue, is a dynamically generated logo — its shape adjusts depending on wind direction, and its color changes based on temperature. See the logo on the Nordkyn site as well as the logo’s variations on Pinterest.
In Conclusion
Thinking beyond a single application or dimension serves a great way to spark a multitude of new possibilities for a brand identity concept. In each of the above examples, a certain idea about the brand became inspiration for a creative take on the logo design and its usage. To me it’s not about bringing in flexibility or dimension for the sake of doing it. These logos are successful because their creative spins are directly tied to the brand’s qualities.
