In today’s world – A logo has to work harder than ever before. In 2018, the number of internet users grew to 4 billion. Of that number, 49.4% of all the people interacting online are using their mobile phones, instead of the good old days of computers. This means that businesses that don’t take mobile users into account when designing their online brands are losing almost half of their user base.
When you think of a brand such as Adidas, you probably picture its logo. But are you thinking of its entire logo, the famous three stripes with the word adidas in Avant Garde Gothic underneath? Just the stripes? Perhaps just the name? Or is it the original trefoil logo?
The truth is that you could flash any of them to any brand-aware person and they’d instantly recognise it as belonging to Adidas. And you could say the same about most logos.
With shrinking screen sizes and new channels for advertising, something about branding is becoming increasingly apparent to business owners: logos are no longer “one size fits all.”
So along came responsive logos. What’s that, you may ask?
Altering logos to dapt to the user’s device is called “responsive logo design”. By applying responsive design principles to individual elements of a logo, and stripping out detail in relation to screen size, a more legible and appropriate logo can be displayed. – TheFutur
How are responsive logos created?
Joe Harrison’s work basically uses more or fewer elements as the screen space gets larger or smaller. And it works quite well. But of course, we could go a little further than that.
Perhaps when designing logos for the responsive age we should try and bear the following in mind:
- A logo is not a brand
- A brand is not a logo
- A logo is the same as other elements of the identity system, such as colour, slogans, and emblems.
- Logos should be simple and clear memory hooks. Nothing more, nothing less.
Once we accept this the logo can start to respond responsively.
Let’s take a look at how Evan Brown designs scalable logos without losing the very personality of the brand:
Design for Simplicity
The biggest dilemma of non-responsive logos is that they are overcomplicated; downright ridden with detail and intricate subtleties.
Design for Versatility
All astute logo designers know the prudence of creating versatile designs that stand the test of time.
Declutter, Minimize, Reduce Detail
Despite what people believe, brand identity and recognition are not affected when minor or small adjustments are made to a logo due to physical constraints. Here are a few ideas to scale logos effectively:
Incremental Reduction
Ditch The Wordmark
Simplify The Logo
Abstract On Point
Vertical Stacking
Evan is an author and an expert in digital marketing. He works with DesignMantic, a DIY logomaker tool. He is a staunch believer in the fact that a great logo builds a business up from scratch and it can be a game-changer for brands seeking recognition online.
Is that all?
A truly responsive logo is supposed to adapt to the media. And it doesn’t mean only in size and/or number of elements. Being displayed on a screen rather than paper unlocks various opportunities: so why not use them?
Sure, having only a single logo is easier and more convenient, but the more marketing channels that open up, the less effective that one logo will be. Responsive logos are about having the perfect tool available, no matter what the job is. A wrench works best for unscrewing bolts; just because you can technically smack it loose with a hammer, doesn’t mean you should.
