This is a sundry world in which some want to hunker down and focus on the delights of everyday routines or enjoy the reassurance offered by naturalistic, childlike fonts. Others are finding subtle new ways to focus attention on the welfare of our planet. And some people just want to pull out some neon, switch on the strobe lights and boogie down.

 

Whether you’re in the boogie down crowd, or keeping things subtle, it’s important to pay attention to brand design. Wanna know why?

 

Brand building is the key to business success these days. Branding provides businesses with an identity beyond products and services alone, creating something unique that customers can relate to. 

 

No matter if you are a business owner or a designer working on a branding project for a client, building a strong, relevant, and recognizable brand is essential to growing your business and building a loyal, scalable customer base.

 

Here, we explore six super impactful design trends in branding for 2022.

 

1) Eco brands drop the “eco” look

 

With our world facing an existential threat from climate change and species loss, sustainability has moved firmly into the mainstream. From global treaties to grassroots campaigns, eco-friendly messages are increasingly common.

 

There’s plenty to celebrate here. But with the market crowded with green designs, in 2022, how do brands avoid consumer fatigue and make their branding fresh and distinctive?

 

This year sees eco brands drop classic green and brown hues, and move away from classic images of trees and rivers. Instead, many are defining their brand with more personal, conceptual, and on-the-pulse artwork that will hook eco-friendly buyers.

 

Brands are creating campaigns around their “eco” messages and building a tribe of loyal customers and activists that align with company values and culture without the traditional context of blues, browns and greens.

 

2) Disruptive branding

 

Looking sharp and sleek is all very well, but it can make your product look like it’s just come out of a focus group meeting or a factory line. In 2022, many brands are looking to showcase a different side to their personality.

 

Messy layouts, jumbled words, and amateurish artworks are all kinds of anti-art that we’re increasingly seeing in brand design.

 

Whether it’s wild lettering that makes shoppers look twice, an all-over-the-place craft beer label that looks like it might have been put together by a tipsy brewer, or a wine brand that wants its bottles to be enjoyed by casual enthusiasts rather than wine snobs, disruptive branding gives companies the chance to show they don’t play by the rules.

 

3) Monograms for personal brands

 

As flexible employment and freelancing have grown increasingly important, more individuals have needed to brand themselves as a business. Abbreviated logos are short, snappy, and can give partners and clients the feeling that they’re buying into something special.

 

Monograms are an increasingly popular branding design trend in 2022. There’s nothing new about them—they were used on Greek coins as far back as 350 BCE and can be seen in fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel. But they’re a great option for the modern freelancer.

 

By uniting two or more initials in a single symbol, they’re a strong statement of who you are. They’re versatile enough to slot in the middle of business cards or the margins of web pages, and that flexibility can help viewers appreciate your versatility.

 

And, with a world of fonts and colors out there, an abbreviated logo is a great way to show off creativity.

 

4) Charming line drawing and scrawling

 

This year is also seeing brands choose to base their identities around handwritten, unpolished lettering and illustrations. These logos and brand messages -rather like the disruptive branding that’s also making waves this year – can look like they were created in five minutes.

 

But giving a word or picture a bold, childlike form can help shape a brand, suggesting a charismatic and unpretentious company whose products are built with human hands and guided by genuine passion.

 

5) A limitless digital future

 

Retro-futurism was one of 2021’s key trends, but brand designers are stepping on the throttle in 2022. As money moves further and further from physical notes and companies open up augmented-reality visions such as Facebook’s Metaverse, brands are embracing increasingly techy and futuristic designs.

 

Images might be picked out in ultraviolet or feature dynamic patterns that echo digital networks or neural pulses.

 

Mysterious symbols and crisp lines are common, with many of these hypermodern branding designs giving organic or everyday objects an evocative twist, a mix of the real and aspirational that points to the future while keeping consumers’ feet on solid ground.

 

6) Mischievous mascots

 

Brand mascots tell a story about a company and, as with the best marketing campaigns, have a definite life of their own. Many of them also have a classic feel, partly because today’s most prominent mascots were created decades ago. “The Michelin Man” dates from 1898, “Tony the Tiger” from 1952, and “Mario” from 1981.

 

But after a quiet start to the century, mascots are making a comeback in 2022 via clever branding designs that are packed with sly humor and personality.

 

Some, like the Mr. Peanut by Planters, recall the designs of 1916. Others, like the Rich Uncle Pennybags by Monopoly.

 

Brand design is looking bright

 

With fluorescent ‘80s tones and shimmering visions of the future, jaunty line drawings, and playful mascots, many of 2022’s trends come with more than a hint of optimism.

 

Not everything is flamboyant, of course, but even the more restrained developments point to climate care, personal development, and finding joy at the moment.

 

We may not be swinging into a bright new world quite yet, but these colorful and engaging brand design trends suggest 2022 should brim with life.

 

Lovepreet, EBS MCC

BTW: if you know someone whose business or brand needs an update, be sure to share this with them. And what’s even cooler is that our branding team at EBS can help any business owner bring their old, forgettable brand into the contemporary, distinctive youthfulness of 2022. Set up a branding consultation call here.