491 VisualLanguageTrendReport

2009/2010 TREND
REPORT:
THE VISUAL
LANGUAGE *
OF BRAND.
DAVID ANSETT + TRULY DEEPLY
*BRAND IDENTITY, PACKAGING, ADVERTISING,
RETAIL SPACE, WEB, LIVERY, SIGNAGE
Truly Deeply 1
2009/2010 Trend Report; Dedicated to all businesses who © 2010 Truly Deeply.
The Visual Language of Brand. actively leverage their brands and This work is licensed under a
their brand visual language. Creative Commons License. We’re
delighted for you to share, blog or
publish extracts of our articles, on
the condition that Truly Deeply is
properly credited (and linked to) as
the source, and that you include our
URL: trulydeeply.com.au
2009/2010 Trend Report: The Visual language of Brand
A REPORT IN
MAJOR VISUA
LANGUAGE
TRENDS IN
BRAND IDENT
Trends in the visual language of brand identity are
driven by many factors from the ‘me-too-ism’ of
designers and their clients mimicking the visual
language of market leaders, to new and emerging
trends such as ‘sustainability’ that draw a similar
and en-mass visual response from designers all
over the world
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TO
AL
TITY.
HOWEVER THE When it comes to brands, the thing

about visual language is that it not only
When the design of visual language
appears consistently and repeatedly
BIG QUESTION communicates the essence of a brand
and its (hopefully) unique proposition
across a number of brands we identify
that as a trend. When a trend is
ON TRENDS IN to market, but also provides its audience leveraged positively it offers brands
with cues relative to the other brands the opportunity to communicate an
BRAND VISUAL in the marketplace. The more a brand existing set of cues or meanings within
LANGUAGE IS is a leader in its market, the greater
meaning it’s visual language has and
a market to their advantage - whether
that be a local business wishing to
‘WHAT EXACTLY the more influence it commands. look global, or a global business
The brand visual language of the wishing to look local. Yet, when
DO WE DO WITH Tiffany’s blue - especially when misunderstood or misused, trends
combined with their iconic ribbon can create inappropriate or confusing
THEM?’ and box - is a powerful identifier. It visual messaging to the detriment of
clearly communicates a series of the brand.
well understood cues such as quality, When the most popular trends become
elegance, sophistication, femininity, widely misused the original brand cues
design and premium to a broad cross become meaningless. The last decade
section of its markets in every country saw the popularity of the ‘all lowercase
they do business. logotype’. Using all lowercase letters
was seen as a way for brands to show
their ‘friendly’, ‘down to earth’ and
‘approachable’ side. As this aspect of
brand personality became increasingly
popular, more and more brands adopted
the trend for their
visual language,
culminating in the
re-branding of the
National Australia
Bank to ‘nab’.
In terms of trend
relevance, when a
big bank - any big
bank - adopts the
visual language of ‘friendly’, ‘down to
earth’ and ‘approachable’ the cues of
the trend have become compromised.
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OVER THE PAST The brand expressions we tracked

included existing, new and refined
What is the value of a Trend Report into
the code of brand visual language?
12 MONTHS brand identities, product packaging,
newspaper, magazine and billboard
All brands project an image through
their visual language. It is up to each
WE HAVE ads. The scale and breadth of these brand to make conscious and informed
brand expressions allowed us to decisions about exactly what they wish
COLLECTED identify the major brand visual their visual language to communicate
MORE THAN language trends of a broad range of
market leaders for the last year.
relative to the competition and
to their market’s perceptions. An
FIVE THOUSAND Whilst the majority of the examples understanding and mastery of the
presented in this report are recent, trends in brand visual language will
DIFFERENT many trends are not in themselves allow business to ‘tune’ their brand’s
new. It is our interpretation of the image to ensure they’re consistently
BRAND groundswell of take-up of a trend communicating the right messages to
EXPRESSIONS and the influence exerted within their
market by the brands involved, that
the right people.
For every organisation seeking to best
SPANNING leads us to define the most compelling manage their brand identity, these
and influential trends. trends must be part of the consideration
ALMOST EVERY process. For each brand there will
be advantages and disadvantages
MAJOR INDUSTRY to leveraging the cues and meaning
AND CATEGORY inherent in these trends. The big
question you should be considering
OF THE WESTERN is this; ‘does the trend provide an
opportunity to leverage a set of visual
WORLD. cues to communicate the perfect brand
messages to your market, or has the
trend become so widely adopted as
to compromise the uniqueness of the
brands who follow it?’
MAJOR TREND:
GLOBAL
BLANDING
Global ‘Blanding’ is the single greatest trend we’ve
seen in brand identity over the past two years, and
in the last 12 months we’ve seen nothing to suggest
the trend is losing steam.
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Global ‘Blanding’ is the homogeniz- Global ‘Blanding’ describes the

ation of brand visual language that we trading-in of unique and usually
GLOBAL
have seen occurring in brand identity
design. Like many trends, it was
meaningful symbolism for a shared
and meaningless visual language
BLANDING
started by re-branding of some of the of spheres, colour blends and DESCRIBES
largest global brands including; Xerox, transparencies, and three dimensional
British Telecom, Barack Obama’s shapes. Whilst the visual style THE TRADING-
Presidential Campaign, AT&T, Apple,
Barclaycard, HP & Mastercard,
achieved by combining these elements
provides a sense of ‘international
IN OF UNIQUE
before being picked-up by the second or globalization’ often combined AND USUALLY
and third tiers of medium and small with a suggestion of ‘cutting-edge
enterprises. This visual language trend technology’, this is typically achieved MEANINGFUL
cuts across almost every conceivable at the expense of individuality, brand
category from telecommunications differentiation and brand messaging. SYMBOLISM FOR
to airlines to petroleum, to sporting
teams and fast food.
There are so many examples of brand
marks that fit this category, we can show
A SHARED AND
you only a small selection. This is not MEANINGLESS
only the strongest trend identified, but
also the one we believe to contain the VISUAL
greatest risk of compromise to brand
differentiation and uniqueness. Due to LANGUAGE
over-use and mass misuse this trend
has the potential for inappropriate or
confusing visual messaging.
THE AUTO BADGE The last few years has seen almost
every auto manufacturer refine their
As we’ve observed the trend of three-
dimensionality sweep across the
HERITAGE brand mark to make it a shiny, three-
dimensional representation of their
brand identity in so-many categories
we wonder whether these auto brands
badge. This trend has been enabled can be held responsible for starting
by the evolution of graphic rendering the trend, or at least giving it the
software and print technology momentum of credibility.
which now allows complex brand
mark rendering such as these to be
reproduced faithfully.
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THE SPHERE OF The strongest of the global ‘blanding’

sub-trends is the Sphere of Influence.
this trend to communicate a global
positioning - which for many brands
INFLUENCE With clear global symbolism, many
brands with international reach or
is a legitimate play. Some brands
however seem to have ‘gone along
aspirations have been attracted to a for the ride’ and through lack of
sphere-based brand mark. relevance, or poor execution don’t
This category includes the many fit in with the big boys. Brands
brands from a wide range of categories attracted to the gravitational pull of
and geographical markets who have the Sphere of Influence span property,
evolved, refined or re-designed their telecommunications, travel, finance,
brand identity to include a sphere hardware, retail, software. petroleum,
element. Most brands have adopted gaming, politics and fast food.
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EVERY MAN Whilst consciously or inadvertently

following a trend in brand visual
marks look similar to each other.
Some brand that follow this trend
AND HIS DOG’S language does not on its own
diminish the effectiveness or value
do so whilst maintaining relevance
and a uniqueness in their visual
BREAKFAST of an organisation’s brand identity, a language relative to their market. The
trend that groups together a mass of Woolworths brand identity below
unrelated businesses and markets, is a good example. However, other
painting them with the same brush brands such as UPS, Packard Bell,
should be carefully considered before Microsoft’s Silverlight, Kraft Foods,
being adopted. A key requirement and the Corowa RSL Club seem intent
of an effective brand identity is to on following the leader rather than
provide the business with unique striking-out in their own unique and
and own-able visual properties. relevant direction.
The Global Blanding trend applies
a templated approach of three
dimensional shape and graduating
colour to every imaginable brand
and market. Whilst providing
brand with a sense of currency,
there can be no doubt this approach
increases the extent to which brand
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SHARING SHARDS Another sub-trend gaining popularity

is the translucent shard. First spotted
in the IT space, this style of visual
language has moved across the finance
industry and business consulting
to place branding for the City of
Melbourne in Australia.
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THE NEW FACE As sporting clubs around the world

clamor for the latest update to their
aren’t immune from the trend either.
Here are three competitive sporting
OF WHICH brand’s visual language, many are
turning to three dimensional versions
organisations from Australia who’s
brand identities follow this trend.
SPORT? of their existing symbols and mascots.
New sporting clubs and organisations
THE FLYING GRID Key-lines have been used to create

a three dimensional form in brand
effect. These examples span brand
identities from markets including
marks for decades. Recent times insurance, travel, telecommunications
has seen this form of rendering gain and a place brand for a city in Victoria,
new momentum with the addition Australia.
of blended colour to accentuate the
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SAME-SAME BUT Was it Einstein who said “There is

nothing that is a more certain sign
representing businesses in the medical
equipment, electromechanical and
DIFFERENT of insanity than to do the same thing
over and over and expect the result to
new media markets.
be different.” It turns out Einstein’s

theory of relativity seems also to
hold for these three brand marks
THE RIBBON Ribbons have long been a symbol of

life and celebration. The current trend
elegant flight of British Airways),
and sometimes with little apparent
OF LIFE of Global Blanding has seen the use of
the ribbon element on brand identity
relevance (the stiff ribbon ‘V’ of Vic
Roads).
increase noticeably - sometimes
to good effect (the celebration of
fresh food for Woolworths and the
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MAJOR TREND:
AUTH-
ENTICITY
With markets flooded by abundant choice
of similar products, and with a GFC induced
return to more traditional values, consumers are
being drawn towards brands they believe to be
trustworthy and dependable.
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A key driver of brand equity has Over the past year we have seen
always been authenticity. The word a prevalence of authentic cues in
“AUTHENTICITY
“Authentic” derives from the Greek
authentikós, which means “original.”
advertising, packaging and brand
identity of many brands. These
IS THE
As consumers in most of the western authentic cues have come in the form BENCHMARK
world renew their affection for brands of story-telling, product development
that provide a sense of safety and and of course, visual language. AGAINST WHICH
reliability, authenticity has become the
new brand value of choice. Attributes
ALL BRANDS ARE
such as genuine and true are the proof NOW JUDGED,”
points for these brands. Authenticity is
all about practising what you preach; NOTES JOHN
being totally clear about who you are,
what you stand for and how you must GRANT IN THE
behave to demonstrate that.
NEW MARKETING
Brands such as Levis and Harley MANIFESTO.
Davidson have long been regarded
as brands steeped in authenticity. The
visual language of their brand images
are rich with cues of their heritage.
Many brands are seeking to re-tell
their stories, digging back into their
past to unearth their own authentic
visual language.
THE VISUAL Brands with tradition and craft at their

heart have long communicated to the
Application of this visual language has
been applied liberally to packaging,
LANGUAGE OF market with visual language rich in
authentic and traditional cues. The last
retail, advertising and on-line for
brands in a range of markets including
AUTHENTICITY twelve months have seen all manner travel, food, beverage, health, and
of brands rediscover an authentic fashion.
brand story and seek the relevant
visual language to communicate their
old/new proposition.
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THE SIGNATURE A sub-set of the wider trend of

authenticity the trend towards the use
This visual language trend is well
suited to brands with claim to an artisan
of a signature in brand visual language or craftsman proposition, brands
has regained popularity. Growing wishing to take a boutique positioning
from a base of established signature relative to their competition, or brands
brand marks, over the past twelve wishing to link their current values to
months we’ve seen an acceleration in a historical or founding figurehead.
this trend, possibly as a response to
the GFC, which has seen consumers
turn back to brands with trustworthy
and traditional values.
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BACK TO THE One of the traits we often see in

authentic brands is a link to the past.
We’ve spotted a trend that embraces
the style, aesthetic and many of the
FUTURE The thing about the past is we often
associate it with a sense of trust, we
visual cues of the past. From NBA
team the 76ers, who recently ‘updated’
feel safe choosing the fabric softener their brand mark to look exactly like
our grandma and our mother used on their old one, through to ice cream
our woolly jumpers when we were brand Good Humour who have
growing-up. cashed-in their heart symbol for an
old ice cream truck, the examples are
too numerous to count. We’re seeing
this trend across markets including
retail, travel, fashion, consumer
electronics, and motor cycles, but
with a particularly strong presence in
food and beverage.
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GREENWASHING ‘Greenwashing’ and ‘Farmwashing’

are two new terms coined to describe
The Greenwashing trend is part of a
larger trend which has seen brands
the recent trend of brands creating a overtly leveraging their pure, green,
sense of environmental or farm-fresh farm, fresh, and fair-trade credentials
credibility to products with no rightful - rightfully or otherwise.
claim to those credentials.
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MADE WITH LOVE Another variation on the ‘authentic’

brand theme is one we’ve called;
The ‘Made with Love’ trend has been
adopted by brands wishing to associate
‘Made with Love.’ These are brands themselves with qualities of care and
who have consciously adopted the trust, community spirit, authentic
visual language of hand-made, from artisan, and hand-made goodness
the heart messaging. through the use of hand made or hand
drawn elements, often combined with
photography or other visual cues of
human comfort.
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FAKING IT When it comes to authenticity,

brands who are faking it stand a
generated hand writing. The thing
about real hand writing is it’s written
good chance of creating negative by hand, and no matter how clever
brand associations. In an attempt to your typeface, there’s absolutely no
look friendly, human and accessible, substitute for the real McCoy.
many brands have jumped onto the This trend has spread like a visual
trend of faking it with hand-written cancer of lazy brand language across
fonts. These are computer generated many markets.
typefaces intended to look like human
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OTHER TRENDS:
AFFORDABLE
LUXURY, CULT
PERSONALITY
URBAN ATTIT
Beyond the major trends covered in the first two
sections of the report there are many other smaller
trends that remain equally as significant to the
markets where they play out.
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T OF
Y&
TUDE
AFFORDABLE The broader trend we are seeing of

consumers toning-down their major
Fewer people are going out and buying
a $3000 Plasma, preferring to invest
LUXURY purchases due to the weakening
economy while staying at-home to
in a tub of gourmet ice cream, a nice
bottle of wine and a Saturday night
re-connect and enjoy the finer things with the ‘missus’ in a five-star hotel.
in life is fueling the popularity of As a result, many brands, especially
affordable luxury items. These in retail, FMCG and hospitality, are
luxuries are often a seen as a pamper, seeking to repackage themselves as
or reward that wont break the bank. affordable luxuries.
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CULT OF As businesses evolve the way they take

their brand to market, increasingly
Often when we think of brands
with a distinctive personality we
PERSONALITY we are seeing clearly defined brand
personalities being leveraged as
picture larger brands like Apple or
Coke. But businesses of all sizes
a powerful dimension to creating and in all markets can leverage the
distinctive brand experiences. differentiating advantages and create
Brand personality is usually associated brand charisma with a strategically
with brands projecting a happy or considered brand personality.
zany persona, but within any market, As well as the right visual language,
relative to competitive brands, your brand voice - the words the brand
persona can be anything - stylish chooses when it speaks - is a strong
elegant, technically nerdy, quirky driver of brand personality.
and artistic, or obsessively driven - as
long as it has relevance, appeal and
authenticity to your market.
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URBAN ATTITUDE In the last decade we’ve seen an

increased splintering of market
As a result, there’s great motivation
for many brands to claim a stake in
demographics. One of the trends the inner urban, but this kind of cred
has been the growth of the ‘urban’ is not easy to claim. Where a brand’s
audience, typically made-up of people visual language reflects an urban
in the before kids and after kids (or status, authenticity resonates. When
the no kids at all) stages of life. These a brand has no urban credentials, the
twenty / thirty / fifty year olds who visual language will come-across as
chooses to live in inner urban ares try-hard, alienating the very market
are driven by a different values and they wish to connect with.
mind-set to their contemporaries in The visual language of ‘Urban
the suburbs. Attitude’ has a edge that combines
The brands that appeal to this market what’s happening on the streets, youth
are typically closer to the edge, new, and fringe cultures.
different and less traditional. The
urban market is often where new ideas
form and take hold before spreading
to the mass market.
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OTHER TRENDS:
AND
MORE
Further significant trends in brand visual
language that don’t cluster together as part
of greater trends.
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SHAPE SHIFTING The fracturing of markets has driven

significant change in the way brands
One trend in brand visual language to
be driven by these changes is what we
communicate. A single concept, above call ‘shape-shifting’.
the line, one size fits all approach no- Gone are the days of strictly policed
longer works. Social media and the universal consistency of brand identity.
web, street media and new forms of This new era of brand visual language
direct have introduced a plethora of sees brands who are comfortable with
new channels through which brands varying everything from packaging to
can split and customise their messages. point of sale, from brand colours right
As a result, brands need to be far more through to brand mark in order to
flexible and comfortable in varying make sure their customers everywhere
their messaging, including their visual are noticing and remembering them.
language in-order to be relevant and
to make emotional connections.
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THE SECRET OF The QR code was created by Japanese

corporation Denso-Wave in 1994, but
QR Codes can be used by brands
to provide a link to URLs, product
QR CODES more recently has switched into the
mainstream as brands have begun to
information, competitions, etc. The
codes are usually included on ads
adopt the technology. in magazines, outdoor advertising,
‘QR stands for ‘Quick Response’, bus ads, business cards, or any other
as the codes allow information to be object that may act as a catalyst for
‘decoded’ at high speed. customers to seek information about
People with a camera phone and the brand.
the correct reader software can scan QR technology provides the
the QR Code causing the phone’s potential for a range of new brand
browser to launch and redirect to the interactions, especially around
programmed URL.
consumer retail experiences.
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OTHER TRENDS:
TRENDS IN
TYPE
Whether it’s logotype, headline font, or body
copy, type has always played a lead role in
the visual language of brands. These are the
key trends we’ve seen playing-out in brand
type design.
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TO SERIF OR NOT As the vast majority of brands strive

to remain up-to-date, contemporary
Without exception, every market from
finance to food is dominated by brand
TO SERIF? san serif fonts continue to be the most
popular. Of the thousands of brand
visual language designed with san
serif fonts.
identities we researched, more than
80% were designed with san serif
fonts. Whilst serif fonts are typically
associated with more traditional
brands, this heavy bias creates unique
opportunities for brand prepared to
buck the trend.
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WHATEVER THE The trend of all lower-case type for

brand marks has been around for more
The last couple of years has seen more
mainstream brands adopt this trend.
CASE than a decade. To begin it was the
domain of small, boutique, friendly
As many as 40% of the brand marks
we researched were designed with all
brands, but as the trend gained lowercase logotype. At the same time,
momentum, brands of all shapes and forward thinking brands have been
sizes sought to adopt the style in order reverting back to a traditional capital
to connect themselves with some of and lower-case format. Confused?
those values they aspired-to. We’re not surprised.
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THE HERO TYPE There have always been brands who

build their identity around type. The
This style of brand visual language is
well suited to brands who have alot to
trend of ‘logotype’ which is a word say, and often adopted by brands who
mark without an accompanying visual wish to tell their brand story through
symbol is not a new one. packaging or advertising.
However, the sheer number of brands Customized type, hand-crafted type,
who continue to build their visual three-dimensional type, type created
language from a typographical starting from soft drink - we’ve collected
point is significant enough that it a range of some of the best recent
requires inclusion in this report. examples of brand utilizing this style
of visual language.
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OTHER TRENDS:
BRAND
COLOUR
TRENDS
Colour continues to play an important role in
the visual communication of social and cultural
messaging. Since the beginning of brand identity,
designers have leveraged the meanings of colour to
create brand messages.
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In many western cultures there is However, the additional - and often

a broad understanding that certain confusing - dimension to the use of
THE USE OF
shades of green represent ‘fresh’ and
‘environmentally sustainable’, whilst
colour is fashion. As colours move
through fashionable phases, their
COLOUR IS SO
navy blue represents ‘conservative’ popularity encourages brands to WIDE-SPREAD
and ‘traditional’- pink is for girls, adopt them for reasons other than
blue is for boys, black is expensive, their established meanings, often THERE ARE FEW
yet yellow and black means
‘discount’ - the list goes on-and-on.
creating mixed messages.
IF ANY BROAD
These are examples of social and TRENDS. HERE
cultural colour associations.
ARE SOME OF
THE INTERESTING
THINGS WE SEE
HAPPENING IN
THE WORLD OF
BRAND COLOUR.
WHO’S THE A trend that we’ve seen building for the

last several years is the use of a bright
As the trend spreads, brands are
turning towards brighter and even
BRIGHT SPARK? colour palette by brands wishing to
position themselves as vibrant, fresh
more vibrant colour tones in order to
stand out. The thing about very vibrant
and friendly in their marketplace. colour palettes is that fewer brands
This trend appears across virtually can stake a legitimate claim to them.
all markets from finance to food, and Only brands with a genuine freshness
from travel to telecommunications. and energy to them, not just relative to
their market, but relative to all other
brands can wrap themselves in these
extremely vibrant colours and remain
relevant and believable.
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I SEE RED Whilst the world of colour in brand

design is far too complex to make
For some time now leading brands
have understood the value of ‘owning’
sweeping statements about a trend a colour in their marketplace.
towards one colour or another, That-is being the brand customers
there’s no doubt we’re seeing a associate with a certain colour in
disproportionate number of brands their advertising, store presentation
featuring red and orange as their or packaging. As we’ll illustrate here,
primary colour. choosing a brand colour (especially
a more popular colour like red) and
featuring it prominently in your
brand communications alone will not
provide you differentiation. Often,
unless you’re careful, it’ll provide for
the very opposite
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A BLEND OF The search by brands for individuality

has coincided with the improvement
The ability to blend different colours
or tones of the same colour adds a
COLOUR in printing and production techniques.
These two influences have created a
new level of sophistication, elegance
and softness to the visual language of
new wave of brand design we call the brand design.
‘Colour Blend’. The world has very few flat colours,
Advances in production capabilities even colours that are printed flat
have created an opportunity for brands appear to graduate from dark to light
to have complex blends of colour (even if only slightly) due the angles
in their identity system reproduced of light and perspective. There’s
faithfully and cost effectively across something appealing to the eye about
print, signage, packaging, web, even the application of blended colours,
uniform embroidery. perhaps because of the way they
reflect the natural world as we see it.
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OTHER TRENDS:
THE FINAL
WORD
As we researched this report a couple of quirks
in the brand continuum caught our eye...
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DEATH OF THE The ‘Swish’ is quite possibly the most

noxious brand visual language trend
Brands from almost every market
in every corner of the globe became
SWISH of the last twenty years.
Inspired by the success of the Nike
infected, trading relevance and
individuality for the glittering allures
‘swoosh’ and given momentum by of the ‘swish’.
the visual attributes of technology and Finally after far too long this trend
momentum, the ‘swish’ spread like a seems to have lost its steam. If your
virus for more than a decade. brand still has a swish for a brand-
mark, it’s long overdue for an update.
INSINCERE As brands continue to go global,

some businesses in emerging markets
FLATTERY are quick to understand the equity
that resides within the brand identity
of market leaders.
As a result, ‘branderfeit’ stores are
popping-up throughout the newer
economies. Here are some examples
of these misplaced gestures of flattery
- amusing unless the brand they’re
leveraging happens to be yours.
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THE 10 01. Which visual language trends carry the

greatest relevance for you market and
QUESTIONS how are you leveraging them?
YOU SHOULD
BE ASKING 02. Does your brand identity consciously or
unconsciously follow any of these trends?
YOURSELF and if-so, is there a good reason for that?
ABOUT YOUR
BRAND’S VISUAL 03. Have you consciously considered
the messages your brand identity is
LANGUAGE: communicating?
04. Have you compared your brand identity to

those of your competitors and the leaders
in your market?
05. Does your brand have a distinctive voice

when it speaks?
06. What unique brand identity properties

does your brand you own in your market?
07. Where does the strongest authenticity

reside for your brand and how is your
visual language reflecting it?
08. What unique story does your brand tell

and what visual cues do you have which
assist with that story telling?
09. Is your brand identity being consistently

leveraged across every one of your
customer touch points?
10. If your brand’s visual language needs

enhancement, do you have a brand design
specialist capable of assisting you?
2009/2010 Trend Report; © 2010 Truly Deeply. Truly Deeply

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491 VisualLanguageTrendReport

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491 VisualLanguageTrendReport

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2009/2010 TREND

HOWEVER THE When it comes to brands, the thing

OVER THE PAST The brand expressions we tracked

Global ‘Blanding’ is the homogeniz- Global ‘Blanding’ describes the

THE SPHERE OF The strongest of the global ‘blanding’

EVERY MAN Whilst consciously or inadvertently

SHARING SHARDS Another sub-trend gaining popularity

THE NEW FACE As sporting clubs around the world

THE FLYING GRID Key-lines have been used to create

SAME-SAME BUT Was it Einstein who said “There is

be different.” It turns out Einstein’s

THE RIBBON Ribbons have long been a symbol of

THE VISUAL Brands with tradition and craft at their

THE SIGNATURE A sub-set of the wider trend of

BACK TO THE One of the traits we often see in

GREENWASHING ‘Greenwashing’ and ‘Farmwashing’

MADE WITH LOVE Another variation on the ‘authentic’

FAKING IT When it comes to authenticity,

AFFORDABLE The broader trend we are seeing of

CULT OF As businesses evolve the way they take

URBAN ATTITUDE In the last decade we’ve seen an

SHAPE SHIFTING The fracturing of markets has driven

THE SECRET OF The QR code was created by Japanese

TO SERIF OR NOT As the vast majority of brands strive

WHATEVER THE The trend of all lower-case type for

THE HERO TYPE There have always been brands who

In many western cultures there is However, the additional - and often

WHO’S THE A trend that we’ve seen building for the

I SEE RED Whilst the world of colour in brand

A BLEND OF The search by brands for individuality

DEATH OF THE The ‘Swish’ is quite possibly the most

INSINCERE As brands continue to go global,

THE 10 01. Which visual language trends carry the

04. Have you compared your brand identity to

05. Does your brand have a distinctive voice

06. What unique brand identity properties

07. Where does the strongest authenticity

08. What unique story does your brand tell

09. Is your brand identity being consistently

10. If your brand’s visual language needs

2009/2010 Trend Report; © 2010 Truly Deeply. Truly Deeply

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