Logo Design Trends: Pixels

December 2, 2010

Last week I started a series looking at some of the trends that have been apparent in logo design over the past year. Although it’s interesting to look at trends, and the aim of this series is to be both educational and inspirational, it’s important to remember that trends come and go while good, classic design looks good forever. So learn from others but don’t forget to “plough your own furrow” as they say. We looked at “The Shift” last week, today let’s cast an eye over logo designs based on pixels.

Favicons on the web have given us a taste of what some well known images and symbols can look like when reduced down to tiny squares. Pixels (short for picture elements) are the smallest part of a digital image. A pixel is essentially a small square of color located at a specific part of an image. As an essential building block of a digital image, it is probably no surprise that designers are using what looks like giant pixels as building blocks in their logo designs.

By their nature, the symbols created using pixels tend to look quite basic and often quite abstract. The symbols are colorful, but often with a range of tints based around one single color. They convey the idea of elements coming together to create a recognizable icon. Pixel-style designs require skill to pull off effectively, or they can appear to give the impression of a badly drawn (on the computer) image.

So now for your viewing pleasure and inspiration, here’s a small collection of logos using pixels as a major design element. (It’s probably no coincidence that a few of these businesses have Pixel or Pix in their names.)