Rising Color

This wraps up our third trend that is actually more technical in nature as opposed to form in orientation. Rising color is a subtle approach to the separation of layers or depth in a logo. A mark generally lives on a flat plane, so any inference of depth or dimension has to choose early on if it’s leaning towards realism or symbolism. If this trend had to choose, it would probably set up camp toward the realism side, but since it lacks shadow and highlight, it may fall closer to the middle.

The premise here is to build a surface gradation that follows a pathway through a mark so that any line or shape crossing over itself is evident by a shift of color intensity from the area it overlaps. Though this is rife with possibilities for linear marks, it doesn’t have to reside there. The mark for Minneapolis Downtown Council starts with a deep blush of color in the lower right, and as it loops around like an off-ramp, it’s able to project under and upward without shadows or line-breaks for separation. Obviously, you won’t pull this off without the use of halftone, but that consideration in a mark seems to be losing the tug-of-war with such a high percentage of clients living in an RGB world.

LOGOLG17_51_RISING1
NOT PROVIDED, AVANADE
LOGOLG17_50_RISING2
CAPSULE, MINNEAPOLIS DOWNTOWN COUNCIL
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DOTZERO DESIGN, GENERATIONS UNITED PDX
LOGOLG17_48_RISING4
COURTRIGHT DESIGN, BITWISE
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