Dynamic vs. Static Logo Designs

While ever-evolving dynamic logos are in-style, are they worth the costly investment? In comparison, a static logo is arguably more effective at establishing brand recognition. Read on to determine which one is right for your business.
Recently, many logo design companies have claimed that static logos, the consistent, unchanging shapes we associate with brands, are dead. Instead, they’ve shifted to creating ever-changing dynamic logos that grab their audience’s attention. But are they the best option for your business? They can be pricey to develop, require ongoing brand maintenance, and aren’t always effective at conveying your brand message. Read more to learn about the difference between static and dynamic logos, what their strengths are, and which one is right for your brand.
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Static Logo

Static logos have fixed elements, shapes, and colors, and there is very little variation. The purpose of a logo is to create brand recognition and expand brand awareness. However, that’s extremely tricky if your audience doesn’t recognize one of your most important brand elements. Unlike a dynamic logo, static logos consistently follow a brand style guide and convey brand values. Because they don’t change, they’re more recognizable and can help you build your image. Static logos are more effective for establishing your brand because consistency helps your audience associate it with your brand. Compared to dynamic logos, static logos are more traditional and can create an everlasting look. Nike, for example, hasn’t changed their logo since 1995 when they dropped their name, opting simply for the swoosh instead. Nike Swoosh Source: Nike While they change the color of their logos occasionally, usually to match the style of some of their products, the logo generally stays the same. As a result, it’s one of the most iconic brand marks around the world.

Dynamic Logo

Whereas static logos are unchanging, dynamic logos are adaptable and change based on the context they’re in. Dynamic logos are very effective once you’ve already established your brand, but aren’t great when audience members aren’t familiar with your brand identity. Often, a potential customer doesn’t recognize a brand until they’ve seen the logo several times. However, dynamic logos can convey a sense of creativity and signify versatility because they’re constantly evolving. Your logo can be transformed to represent multiple brand values or target different audiences. By creating a brand logo system, you can modify your logo to target different audiences, adapt for different events, or optimize for different platforms. Google is constantly adapting their logo. Their primary logo is simply their name, written in a sans-serif font, with blue, red, yellow, and green lettering. Google Typography Logo Source: Google However, Google often changes it up to celebrate holidays, historical events, and more. For example, when users visited Google’s first page on Christmas day in 2017, this is what they saw: Google Christmas Logo Source: Search Engine Roundtable They altered the “l” to look like the North Pole, added snowflakes, and incorporated animated elves filling Santa’s sleigh. Recently, they’ve also started playing with their brand colors in ads to emphasize their ever-changing logo. They have four pulsating dots, each a different color, and after a few beats, they shift to shape various icons from Google Suite. After a few iterations, they shift to form just a “G” logo. Google "G" Logo Source: HubSpot Google’s dynamic logo is particularly effective for several reasons. First, Google is a well-known company and people immediately recognize them. Second, they’re a tech company that has innovation as a core component of their brand. As they roll out new products and services, having a logo that can adapt to their changing needs is a must. Here are a few ways your company can create a dynamic version of your logo:

  • Add animation
  • Change shapes
  • Modify your color palette
  • Simplify your logo design

Add animation

The human eye is designed to recognize motion, so animation is very effective at grabbing your audience’s attention and holding it. By capturing their attention, you can enhance your presentation and increase brand awareness. While this doesn’t translate well to print ads, consider creating an animated logo for web campaigns or TV ads.

Change shapes

Shapes in graphic design have all sorts of different meanings. For example, circles represent wholeness and continuity, while triangles showcase either strength or movement. As you consider redesigning your logo to suit a variety of needs, think about what you’re trying to convey and what shapes you can include to present it more effectively. As you launch new products or package design, new shapes may help your new brand stand out. For example, you could recreate your logo but in the shape of a circle or shield to create an emblem.

Modify your color palette

Colors are an important part of your brand, but you can change up your color palette to showcase company values, celebrate events, and more. For example, many businesses launched rainbow-colored versions of their logos to celebrate Pride Month. Pride Logo Examples Source: UHCL The Signal In doing so, they show that they support LGBTQ+ rights and showcase their company values, which can attract customers.

Improve responsiveness with simplicity

Sometimes it makes sense to have multiple versions of your logo for different contexts. For example, typographic logos are great because they showcase the company name, but they can be big and take up a lot of space. This can be a problem when creating mobile-friendly interfaces, utilizing space for packaging, and more. Therefore, it can be helpful to have simplified versions of your logo. For example, check out how Guinness and Kodak decreased their font size and created a simpler version of their logos: Simplified Logo Examples Source: designshack By dropping their brand names, extra lines, and focusing on a single image, they were able to expand how they can use their logo. This ensures that all of their content is properly branded in the long run.

Static Logos vs. Dynamic Logos

While dynamic logos demonstrate creativity and versatility, they’re not as effective at developing brand recognition as static logos. Instead, creating a recognizable brand mark that catches your audience’s attention should be your number one priority, especially for new or growing companies. Once you’ve built a well-established brand, investing in dynamic logos can help you grow your business even more. If you have the resources to invest in creating new logo designs, consider adding animation and new colors to effectively demonstrate your brand values. You can also create several versions of your logo by altering the shape of simplifying the design to expand options on how to use them.

Need help selecting a company?

Based on your budget, timeline, and specifications we can help you build a shortlist of companies that perfectly matches your project needs. Get started by submitting your project details.

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