Has flat design finally gone too far?
Minimal logos are drawing ire on Twitter.
Chances are, you're familiar with flat design. And even if you haven't heard of it, you've almost certainly seen it. Logos left, right and centre have adopted a minimalist approach in recent years, with many brands opting to flatten their existing designs. But if a recent viral Twitter thread is anything to go by, the trend has begun to fall flat.
Citing the recent Warner Bros. rebrand as an example, one Twitter user has called for a "complete shutdown" of graphic design in response to the trend for minimal rebrands. And judging by the response, it seems many agree that flat design is beginning to outstay its welcome.
we need a complete shutdown of graphic design until we can figure out what the hell is going on pic.twitter.com/yvx7asRB2MJanuary 18, 2021
If the tweet sounds a little dramatic, that'll be because it's an amusing rework of a certain ex-president (and ex-Twitter user)'s more inflammatory tweets. But as the replies show, the shift to simplified logos is becoming a source of serious contention for some people, with many sharing examples (below) of their least favourite minimalist rebrands.
ill never forgive them for this disrespect pic.twitter.com/Xc2VATz4hJJanuary 18, 2021
I think Gmail deserves to be here. pic.twitter.com/M5EWFo19NBJanuary 18, 2021
!!! pic.twitter.com/wGV2YtmRsoJanuary 18, 2021
This stuff has started to get on my nerves tooI've been a long-time Citroen fan, and I loved their 80s-onward logo - sharp, clean, and on their cars as an attractive double silver arrowThen it was curved and horrible, and now they've even taken the colour and texture out too pic.twitter.com/EzUaH2mpaqJanuary 19, 2021
This stuff has started to get on my nerves tooI've been a long-time Citroen fan, and I loved their 80s-onward logo - sharp, clean, and on their cars as an attractive double silver arrowThen it was curved and horrible, and now they've even taken the colour and texture out too pic.twitter.com/EzUaH2mpaqJanuary 19, 2021
If God let designers rebrand Earth pic.twitter.com/Vd6SYJViLPDecember 11, 2020
Of course, there are valid reasons for the flat design movement. Uncomplicated designs are easily scaled for various digital formats, not to mention cheaper to print. And simple designs are often the most striking – many of our best logos of all time are minimal masterpieces.
But the design world often works in cycles, and flat design emerged as response to the abundance of skeuomorphism, a cocktail of faux-realistic textures, drop-shadows and real object characteristics. And the return of skeuomorphism may already be on the cards – from MacOS Big Sur's sort-of-3D icons to Warner Bros's decision to add some shine to its flat logo, it seems designers are picking up on flat design's fall from favour.
Still, flat design is by no means dead. As Burger King's sizzling new rebrand recently proved, there's still nothing quite like a strikingly simple design language. If you're embarking on a logo redesign of your own, you could do a lot worse than checking out our logo design guide for inspiration.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.