The World is Flat… Again

Back in the mid-1980s (yes, that long ago), when I started working as a graphic designer, almost all design was “flat.” Drop shadows, gradations, and other dimensional effects were not easy to achieve. Creating those looks involved a lot of time and planning and money. Layouts had to be precisely thought out and a retoucher (or airbrush artist) had to be hired to create a custom piece of physical artwork. Since any change in the layout would make that precious piece of art useless, this could only be done at the very end of the production process. No wonder good airbrushers were in very high demand.

Then came computer design. Dimensional effects were still not easy to produce in those early days, but they were doable. And still highly prized. As it was easier and easier to produce, dimension was soon all over graphic design. It seemed like every element had a gradation with a drop shadow, or a really cool neon glow. Today, I can produce complex lighting effects on demand that will resize as I adjust my layout.

And like most things, once there is too much of something, it gets old and boring. So, starting about 10 years ago, design went flat again. Large blocks of color and elements without depth or detail were the new “in” thing. It was retro and modern all at the same time.

Except for logos. Since they don’t change very often, they tend to lag behind the latest design trends. Way back when, logo sheets with logos of varying sizes (although, it seemed, never the exact size that was needed) were printed in just black and white with no shades of gray for easy reproduction. Provided to design studios and ad agencies with instructions on specific color call outs, they were the standard for years. One of my first big computer projects was digitizing (basically redrawing in Illustrator) a file cabinet full of logo sheets so that we could import them directly into our page layout program.

Soon not only were logo files commonly available in digital formats, they were also being created (or redesigned) on computers. Complex color combinations and dimensional effects that would have been impossible a few years earlier became common place. Logos glowed, had depth, shimmered, and sparkled.

But now logos are also going flat again. And what is driving logo redesign (beside artists who are suddenly bored with glowing gradations)? Turns out complicated logos look like crap on when used very small digital formats (like on a phone) as this Bloomberg Quicktake “Why Companies Are ‘Debranding’ explains. Logos are becoming simpler, more streamlined, less complicated.

And, once more, the world (of graphic design) is flat.