Logo Design Has Changed Forever
I saw a new logo for an organization on a billboard. The new logo was ornate, elongated and fine-lined. To some it is beautiful. To a digital graphic designer it is a blur in the night. 
The internet has changed everything, including logo design. The best place to start looking at great, modern logo design and usage is with the companies that are leading the digital space. Gone are fine lines. Gone are narrow rules. Gone are complicated structures. They are now replaced with extreme simplicity.
The mantra for the modern, digital designer is simplicity and legibility on smaller screens and devices. You have to start thinking smartphone, watches (and other apparel devices) and app buttons. The application and usage issues are forcing many companies to adapt with two logos, although they call one a logo and the other an icon. I view them as the same thing.
Netflix is using a stylized “N” for apps and other small device uses. However, the iconic Netflix typeface is still the office logo. Google has also decided to use a prominent “G” as its app icon. Even the New York Times has simplified its logo-font to a T, but the fine lines are easily lost when you view it on a phone.
Today’s logos, and accompanying style guide, need to start with a mobile-first orientation. Once you have that logo use established, then design for the billboard. More eyeballs will view the logo online than will ever see the board on the side of the road.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
