Pick-Up Sticks

Randomness is an interesting concept that a definition will tell you lacks pattern or
predictability. Though repeatedly dropping a fist full of pick-up-sticks will never create the
same order twice, it nonetheless will create the same appearance each time. Or in other
words a predictable pattern we will call random. What does chaos bring to the table for a
designer? It provides a surface that is untamed and represents a consistency of idea that
honors the unexpected. Lines are woven together like so many fiberglass strands and are
equally as strong because of their unpredictability.

Because of the accidental arrangement, it might reflect the patterns in nature like a woven
birds nest or so many pine needles on the floor of a forest. Maybe these remind us of a mud
bank that is dried and cracked, or the arbitrary cobweb. All are patterns with a purpose but
a dash of mystique as well. Man too weaves these patterns with roads and paths, and with
air routes and sea-lanes. Possibly the most compelling reasons for utilizing this in a logo is
its confrontational nature. Humans love order and serving up the antithesis guarantees a
thoughtful encounter.
 Circle Break

Imagine a pie chart so great that the middle has been eaten and all youre left with is a really
perfect ring of a crust with the same remnants of the colored wedges left on the perimeter.
Occasionally there is a piece or two missing but the rim of a circle is always evident. The
colored band areas may represent percentiles, or minutes on a clock, or some less orthodox
representation, or they could just provide a decorative effect. An unbroken band like this
has so many underlying meanings from continuity, to seamless process, to eternal
perfection. The addition of a layer of significant color is just one more bonus message.

Though some of these marks resemble a rotating ring, such a ring has become one more
iteration of the ubiquitous loading or as many read it, the waiting symbol. Yes, that is a
process and we like to discuss process with a mark, but probably not one that leaves
consumers adrift in a state of animated suspension. A more positive interpretation is a
recognition of multiple parts assembling to work in unblemished unison. This is also a way
to introduce some intense color in such moderation that it avoids becoming a garish chroma
spectacle.
 Trixelate

Obviously the offspring of what happens when a triangle and a pixel hook-up. But not just a
solid field of homogeneously consistent triangles. Full of diverse scale and with floating
pieces that portray motion and the story of process. These marks are either equilateral or
right triangles, but not both in a single mark. They demonstrate a scientific quality and
technology, much as a pixel would, but with a much more aggressive feel with sharp points
jockeying for a place to land. Almost like peering another layer deep into a field of pixels and
discovering their molecular make-up is actually the triangle.

These represent entities that understand the story of the whole being greater than the sum
of the parts. Or a company that uses building blocks in a strategic plan of growth. Much as a
tangram puzzle allows the player to create images from triangle parts, there is an almost
game like quality to these marks. Note that some use transparency to allow for overlay while
others allow for a general gradient to wash over the full logo. Others are a solid color, and in
some, the color family is singular but of varied values. Despite the differences, all of these
were born of the same DNA.
 Rays

If its important, how do you make sure the world knows? If its an email, we go to all caps,
or bold face it, or underline it, or maybe we even jump protocol and emphasize the drama by
turning it RED with an exclamation point or three!!! Long before those options were
available, the master painters and artisans created an ethereal radiance behind their
subjects to indicate importance or a call for reverence. To demonstrate this in a graphic
manner they used an array of vectors emanating from a central point. This created the effect
of a glow that appeared to dissipate as it projected outward. A starburst if you will but
generally crafted from mono-weight lines.

This year marked a dramatic bloom in the number of marks incorporating this technique. It
may be an offshoot of a need to fill space with a single line weight decoration, but the
diversity of application has been extraordinary. At a smaller scale the lines tend to soften
down and provide a vector solution that starts to read as a subtle gradation. The merging of
two of these nimbus elements can even be a unique way to establish a color blend as
demonstrated in the Oblivium logo. Look for designers to investigate how various cultures
have dealt with this effect as this technique is here for a spell.
 Chroma Coaster

Using a single continuous line to swerve, tip and twist its way into a logo is a time-tested
tool for designers. Quick and to the point these marks often rely on a line break or shadow
at intersections to read well. Imagine any of these marks displayed in a solid color without
transparencies and they would hardly capture your attention and could leave you perplexed.
Enter the continuous gradation driven stream of hue changing color, coursing through their
lineal vein, and a trend is born.

A bit like navigating a roller coaster spewing an ever-changing stream of high chroma
plasma in its wake. Color can be transparent, opaque, or with shadows and highlights to
convey a 3-D aspect to the mark. Whichever you chose, this demonstrates a trail or a
pathway of discovery essential to a client process or consumer service. It moves the mark
from a status of dormant to active. It coveys a level of vibrancy in activity and in thought. It
might allude to shifts in culture, product or ethos. Either way, this vivid technique makes for
a dramatic pop as designers search for ways to incorporate additional layers of information
and brighten their solution.
 Flat Facets

Another equally prolific line of trends over the last few years has been the facet. Watching
this particular technique rocket and split into a variety of interpretations embraced by the
design community has proven it has legs. This year's report identified four emerging strains,
including Facet Fields, Crystals, Type Facets and Flat Facets, which we'll expound on
here.

Facets first came about with an attempt to create three-dimensional objects from a series of
intersecting planes. With shifting gradients or transparency, these marks certainly tried to
define volume for the viewer. This trend steps back and allows the very same planes to
become dimensionally flat. No attempt to fool the eye here. The greatest value of these
marks come from telling the story of recognizing worth in a worthless stone then, making it
perceptible by finely honing the surfaces until it takes on the qualities of a priceless gem.
 Trans Menagerie

Flat yes. Transparent yes. Animals yes. In one of the oddest clusters of kindred thinking, the
desire to craft beast logos from very flat transparent layers has arrived. Appearing from
seemingly diverse geographic sectors, these marks are created from a handful of geometric
shapes and are executed with base simplicity. Though I'm absolutely positive I could
rearrange these parts to make an inanimate subject, designers have a real fixation on
animals here.

The clarity of the overlays represents a transparency of process to be expected in dealings

with the client. This is a key factor whenever see through layers are used as building blocks.
Although there is some modest use of gradation, the majority of these rely entirely on flat
overlapping color. This outgrowth of 2012's Tessellation trend brings transparent pattern
to the eventual construction of a specific subject.