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Designers love to talk about blanding; the phenomenon of brands becoming more visually neutral and hyper-minimal. But are we starting to see some de-blanding?
February 14, 2025
5
minute read
Designers love to talk about blanding. It’s sad to see a logo with a deep history or a lot of character be rebranded to something entirely too safe or just entirely too boring. In the 2010’s we saw a lot of flat graphics, super simple icons, sans-serif typefaces, and limited color palettes. There seemed to be such an intense fear of coming anywhere close to breaking a single design rule that it resulted in total blandness.
Many of these reblands were not well received, many passed by unnoticed, perhaps some were even liked. But after years and years of hyper-minimal, super-safe design, I sense some exhaustion with bland brand design and a call to return to the bolder elements of design from previous eras.
In the earlier parts of the 20th century, logos were more illustrative and highly detailed. In the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and even into the early 2000’s we saw bold colors, textures, and depth in even some of the biggest company logos. In more recent years, those elements have been stripped down to the flattest and most printable-on-anything form. They technically follow all logo design rules, but at what cost?
In a blog titled “How Minimalism Can Sometimes Remove More Than Just Clutter,” I talked about the dangers of embracing absolute minimalism in design, and how breaking the rules of design can be a good thing. Now, I want to explore some examples of good news: logos and brand identities from recent years that have stepped in a less minimal direction.
But first, let’s refresh on what “blanding” looks like.
Here are the saddest examples I could find of “blanding” in logo redesigns.
The saddest of them all. What did they do with the dog and cat? Where are they?
Quit having fun over there.
Enough with that wavy funny business. Just do squares.
Just because it’s supposed to look like a happy face doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.
It wasn’t that exciting to begin with, but somehow they found a way to make it more boring.
Now let’s get into the topic at hand: something I’m calling “de-blanding”. Logo redesign that adds more character instead of removing it.
Many brands have succumbed to the temptation to bland. But many—whether it’s due to them coming to their senses, or just getting too much backlash—have de-blanded by being pushed back closer to where they started, maybe with a little tweaking.
This is one of the biggest examples I’ve seen recently of a rebrand that didn’t stick for long. Burberry went from a traditional logo to the blandest of bland sans-serif logos… then right back to a more traditional look.
Not as fun as the older logos, but a step in the slimier direction.
This recent rebrand doesn’t stray away from the incredibly flat and textureless graphics we see in many bland rebrands, but I find the all-lower-case awkwardly warped 2008-2022 Pepsi logo to be hideous, and I think this more retro looking logo with big bold letters is a major upgrade.
A famously poorly-received rebrand that only lasted 6 days and then went right back to the classic.
Another example of a brand trying out a perhaps far too clean and safe new look, then later deciding to go back to their more recognizable (and more interesting) original style.
Here are some more examples of brands de-blanding, or taking a safer and more by-the-numbers contemporary brand design and pushing it somewhere bolder.
This one does a good job of illustrating this trend away from the extremely flat graphics of recent years to perhaps some signs of depth and texture we may start to see more of.
This one comes down to personal taste, but I think this rebrand was a bolder move than I would typically expect from most tech companies.
From generic to hypnotic. If you could have an alien cow mascot named Bertie, why wouldn’t you?
The original wasn’t overly bland compared to some others here, but for a colorful treat this is a much more fittingly colorful branding.
Be adaptive! This one comes alive more in the full branding rather than the logo on its own.
I see the joy in this robot’s eyes now.
Now that’s a pretty logo for a brand built on being a pyramid scheme!
Bold veggies!
Let your type get weird!
So that’s where the PetCo cat and dog went! (and they found a horse!)
This one looks like a happy face, but it does make me happy this time.
Now that’s a yogurt-like dairy product I’d cross some icy waters for.
Beary refreshed.
This observatory logo went from bland to bend. (The bend of a telescope).
Make those letter move! This meal delivery has a new logo with a lot of movement and some fun variable versions as well.
Add a twist to your logos.
As all of these examples illustrate: the blander, the less stand-out your logo will be amongst the sea of other logos. In a world where logos tend to lean extremely minimalist, this becomes even more of a reason your logo and/or branding won't stand out. In the attempt to make a logo redesign sleek, minimal, and clean to "update" it or "bring the brand into the 21st century," it can actually make the brand lose what sets it apart. If it means bringing a little life into, or back into, a brand: don't be afraid to break the rules a little. Stretch some type, use some bold colors, add some texture or dimension, and maybe — just maybe: do something besides put the company name in a sans-serif font.
Special thanks to design blogs like Brand New, The Dieline, and Logo Design Love for getting the idea for this blog rolling.
