For any brand, a logo plays a very important part in making a strong market presence. Brands spend a huge amount on designing their logos. Their only target is to make it appealing to the audience and stand apart from the crowd.
However, a recent phenomenon has left the world in a puzzle. Many leading brands have been redesigning their logos exactly the same.
The occurrence has been so common that a Twitter user, David Perell, has taken it upon himself to explain what exactly is happening. In his thread, he not only talks about logos but also about how homogenization can be seen in novels, art, and architecture today.
What’s causing all these logos to look the same? pic.twitter.com/DgnNfOV20v
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
My best guess comes down to two factors: software and the Internet.
1) Software: Designers are using the same tools, which exert the same unconscious forces on their creative process.
2) The Internet: Aesthetic diversity is bound to fall in such a hyper-connected world.
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Something to factor into your answer: The homogenization doesn’t end with logos. It’s happening to phone booths, doorbells, street poles, and bookshelves too.
(h/t @culturaltutor) pic.twitter.com/5cqBiA2GEb
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Two interesting responses:
• “This is what happens when the creative dept is overrun by the marketing dept. Being data driven is the death of art.” — @cfcreative_
• “All businesses are online now and sans serif is among the easiest font set to read online.” — @CartuneNetwerk
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Though we’ve never had so many options, we all trust the same curators to make buying decisions for us. Sometimes, it’s Wirecutter. Sometimes, it’s the mass-scale department stores that homogenize the world while advertising the illusion of choice.@SimonSarris explains it well. pic.twitter.com/bUp2RiM9PS
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
The homogenization of tech logos. pic.twitter.com/LWIzIVwUDG
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
How much of these homogenization trends come from trying to quantify beauty?
Robert Pirsig argued that quality can’t be defined because it transcends language when he wrote: “When analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process.”
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Look at how Pepsi’s logo has evolved. The brand identity has become flat, bland, sterile, timid and unimaginative.
Maybe globalization is to blame. The more you scale, the more you need to appeal to different kinds of people, which sucks the personality out of what you’re doing. pic.twitter.com/GYU47VxhuR
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Seinfeld has a bit about how people wear the same clothes in every movie about the future.
(h/t @ChrisCuilla) pic.twitter.com/sT9ZMcE1KY
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Writers aren’t immune to these trends. It seems like every non-fiction book follows the same blueprint of simple words, short sentences, and research papers to justify every obvious intuition.
And yeah, it’s efficient, but where are the unhinged Hunter S. Thompsons of the world?
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
MFA programs might be homogenizing novels. @ErikpHoel has written: “Workshop-trained writers are often, not always, but often, intrinsically defensive. This single fact explains almost all defining features of contemporary literature.” https://t.co/OO58Z3o0PX pic.twitter.com/wU6SpjpHFN
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Have you seen these drawings?
The style is called “Corporate Memphis” and it’s everywhere now. It was originally designed for Facebook. The figures are flat, minimal, abstract, and geometric because they’re non-representational, which makes them feel universal. pic.twitter.com/n0CuDPwfns
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Architecture follows a similar pattern.
I keep seeing the same kinds of modern houses that look like they’ve been copied & pasted by a slapdash architect. Professional architects might call these homes “minimalist,” but I think they’re just soulless copycats of each other. pic.twitter.com/BOJh4AVjz8
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
Counterpoint: Many of the places we think are most beautiful are incredibly homogenous. Think of Paris and it’s pretty Haussmann style apartment buildings that cover the entire city, simply because Napoleon III said so.
The difference is how global these design trends are now. pic.twitter.com/k9SzZOi4Qu
— David Perell (@david_perell) July 9, 2022
