11 Creative Branding Trends to Follow In 2021

We’ve entered a new decade and a new normal. In this new beginning, everything including branding trends will be tainted by the brush of Covid 19 pandemic and the resulting disruptions. That said, everything evolves and changes and so will branding. Litmus Branding, a branding agency in Ahmadabad brings you branding trends to follow in the New Year, and the new decade.

1. Face Up

Branding companies in India and elsewhere are realizing that advertisement without people in them, fall flat. More and more advertisers are using real humans, illustrated or animated pictures of humans and even avatars to humanize the products and branding message. For this reason, brand ambassadors are also trending. Look at White Hat Jr. for instance. They are using several brand ambassadors from Bollywood and Sports to humanize their offerings.

2. Go Quirky

The millennials are a fun-loving bunch, who love a laugh and find humour in everything. Adding a quirky message or image to your content resonates with their sense of humour and joy of living. Not only is that another reason for animated ads to trend, funny, quirky content will attract not only the millennial but also baby boomers and others — after all who doesn’t like a laugh?. Just look at Taco Bell or Old Spice on social media and you’ll get the picture.

3. Express

Traditional wisdom says that you should go with a clearly defined colour scheme using a few shades. That does not mean you cannot experiment or express yourself and your brand. After all, Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and Georges Roualt (1871–1958) gained fame because they expressed themselves through colours. While colour schemes are important it is also good to be bold. Target and Apple are classic examples of expressive logos — you can create your own.

4. Take a Stand

If you want to resonate with your audience, you must subscribe to their beliefs. With digitization and online social cultures, staying honest and transparent is hard — for individuals as well as brands — but the Gen Z is astute enough to see through any subterfuge. So be honest and transparent as possible — if only because every brand identity design company is advocating it.

5. Rough Geo (metric)

There’s a flaw in the Gen Z gene. They see perfection in asymmetry and flaws. Branding companies in India are intentionally roughening and flawing their design, matching it with bold typography and smart content appealing to the defiant streak in Gen Z. Yet, even as they go rough, marketers are also trending patterns and wallpaper-like look, which is a not so new trend in creative branding design that is re-emerging. They’re being used on everything from menu cards to t-shirts, to web-pages and logos. As both rough and symmetrical designs are trending, why not combine the two and see what you get?

6. Let them Dive in

UX is no longer focused on logos or web-pages alone. Marketers are now offering a holistic UX giving their users, consumers, and visitors, an immersive experience. Brand strategists are thinking through the entire buying process and wowing the consumers at every stage from the first visual to the unboxing of the product. The last — unboxing — is catching on like wildfire evoking a variety of emotions from sheer amazement and surprise to romance — depending of course on the product.

7. Less is more — Authentic

The pandemic unveiled a good deal of subterfuge and false claims by leaders and marketers alike. This has made consumers wary and alert. Many branding agencies and marketers are using a minimalist muted approach to attract the Gen Z who lives on the fast-track and demands transparency. Whether it is clean images, thin lines, flat icons, or muted colours, — the minimalist approach promises less camouflage and works fabulously in mobile marketing and resonates with the idea of lean and green. Minimalists will now rule the roost and transparency will be the order of the day.

8. Data Provenance

As authenticity and transparency take centre stage, brands are now using data to show their capability, transparency, and convince consumers about their product or service. The post lockdown Swiggy advertisement that says XXXX people have ordered food online is a classic example but there are other ways to use data to convince your consumers.

9. Animation

Even as websites go minimalist and offer visitors a clean and uninterrupted viewing experience, animated logos and header images are taking over the responsibility to attract customers. Want to see an example? Look no further than Google. IKEA too presents a wonderful example of a minimalist but animated logo — the sheer simplicity of which is attractive and appealing.

10.Stress-Free

The lockdown and resultant digitization escalated the already alarming concern about strain due to extensive use of devices — mobiles and computers. Brands are now recognizing and acknowledging this strain and seeking to reduce it by offering minimalist ads and websites in dark mode. Can you imagine a fine dining restaurant using dark mode? Take a look at Eat the Ordinary a restaurant in Charleston USA that uses this theme beautifully.

11.Text Video

One of the many fallouts of the pandemic was that teams scattered and studios shut down. Videos and films became hard if not impossible to create. Marketers and branding strategists responded by popularizing text-heavy video content — particularly on social media — after all, video still attracts billions of viewers — and the trend is likely to continue if only because text videos are easier to create and cost-effective too.

Many of these trends are direct fallout of the pandemic while others have evolved from earlier trends. Be that as it may, LitmusBranding — branding agency in Ahmadabad — will continue to bring you news and trends from every brand identity design company around the world.