The Top Branding Trends of 2020 — & What to Expect in 2021

2020 was, to put it lightly, a wild ride. In some ways, it seemed like the world began to move a little slower — no more rushing to the office in the mornings or cramming our schedules full of social engagements. In other ways, things moved at a breakneck pace. People and businesses alike had to adapt overnight to constantly-changing regulations and market shifts. And the world of branding certainly wasn’t exempt from this rapid change. The natural fluctuation in preferences that happens over time combined with the extraordinary events of the past year led to some seriously innovative and cool branding trends in 2020.

We’ve highlighted a few of the most notable ones below, as well as insight into how they might evolve over the year to come — read on to get some inspiration for your own brand.

2020 Branding Trends

Making Flat Designs Pop

In the past few years, many brands have favored flat designs without any dimension, shadows, or perspective. While it’s still possible to see strong examples, it’s becoming harder to keep the no-depth look fresh. Brands are starting to play with this trend more, though, as they incorporate new elements to add an additional level of complexity to their 2D design.

One example I’ve been seeing a lot of is 2D images with moving elements, like this Instagram post from artist and photographer Brooke DiDonato. It can be tough to get right, though. Brittany Spears’ “Swimming in the Stars” visualizer, for example, falls flat due to how busy it feels.

Another trend in adding depth to 2D design is mixing geometric patterns with textured and perspective design so that it feels more dynamic. Here’s an example from Dropbox.

Mixed Typefaces

In 2013, branding was awash with sans-serif typefaces, many of which were all-caps with a very condensed letterform (Bebas Neue seemed like it was everywhere). In later years, brands moved onto rounder sans-serif typefaces, like the new Google logo. Today, fonts like those are still popular, but brands are now mixing them with serif typefaces as well, especially in brand identities.

One brand that does a great job exemplifying this trend is Hims, a direct-to-consumer men’s health company. Their logo is a serif typeface, but all of their digital typeface is sans-serif — a good choice, since serifs can be hard to read in small print. That being said, I think their all-neutral palette could use some updating. Let’s get some color pops in there!

To take serif fonts a step further, a lot of brands are using very thin stems and embellishments – something that will likely continue in the new year.

Non-Design

In the age of digital media, content can be created and published instantly, and brands are taking advantage of that. With so many companies creating content, however, it’s no longer a differentiator. To stand out from their competitors, brands have to publish more and more content at an ever-increasing rate. Because of this, designers must work within a constantly shrinking timeframe, which can put a lot of constraints on the creative process. Paradoxically, though, these creative constraints can often result in innovation.

Many brands are now taking a low-effort design approach, where they leverage tools like emojis, gifs, Instagram Creator Studio, and templates to create quick and easy designs. Frequently, these designs are composed of simple shapes, limited colors, and just a few typefaces. 

Cove, a biodegradable water bottle company, is one example of a brand doing this look well. It’s super simple, but every element fits in and complements the others.

Retro Futurism

The design world always seems to be in love with the aesthetic from two decades before. Now that we’re in the 2020s, people have really begun to embrace the look of the 2000s — with a bit of a twist. Creatives are obsessed with nostalgia, but still dreaming of the future, which results in a unique retro-futuristic look that’s surreal and euphoric with lots of sparkle effects and glass type. This is especially present in digital media, like the example below from Fisk Projects.

Some brands are kicking it back even further, like Kin Euphorics, which combines a 70s feel with a modern flair.

The Natural Look

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it got people outside and helped inspire a renewed sense of appreciation for nature. A lot of brands seem to be acknowledging this with design that incorporates the outdoors and a more natural vibe. I’ve noticed this with a few recent commercials, such as this 90-second spot from Gucci or the More Nature campaign from Jeep.

I’m seeing more and more use of fuzzy and blurred imagery as well, which feels similarly organic.

Source: Mary Herbert

Today’s brands are very aware of the world we’re all living in, and acknowledging it — and even finding some beauty in it — allows them to connect with their audiences on a more personal level. Although a vaccine is on the horizon, it will probably be a while before we return to normal, so I don’t see this trend ending anytime soon. 

Experiential Design

In a year where indoor gatherings are off-limits, a lot of companies found creative ways to reenact experiences in a digital format. And this wasn’t just limited to event-based businesses. Hulu came out with an awesome haunted house simulator called the Screamlands around Halloween (or, as they called it, Huluween).

Another experiential area more brands are leveraging is virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Even the fashion world is adopting these technologies, with luxury brand Balenciaga recently announcing that their fall 2021 collection will debut in VR using avatars as models. AR is also taking off in popularity thanks to platforms like Spark AR studio for Instagram that make it more accessible. It’s bringing a lot of fun weirdness back to branding — check out this AR crossword puzzle filter The New York Times recently released.

As audiences become more comfortable with interactive experiences on websites and social media, my prediction is that brands will begin carrying it over to their native apps soon as well. 

Playfulness

If there’s one thing we could use more of right now, it’s levity. Thankfully, companies all across the board have been stepping up to the plate. Brands seem to have loosened up a little bit on their guidelines, giving them the flexibility they need to succeed on more casual channels like social media. As a designer, this is exciting, because it allows you to play with a brand in all its different forms and craft a slightly tailored visual language for each.

In addition to brand design, this is also happening in brand messaging. Companies are embracing a more down-to-earth tone of voice, sometimes successfully (Dollar Shave Club does a great job of being casual, clear, and often entertaining) and sometimes not (Cosmopolitan tries a little too hard with all the slang and abbreviations).

This playfulness has even extended to data visualizations. Companies are going beyond bar graphs in brand colors to display data in interesting and unique ways, like this piece from creative studio Datalands.

Of course, these branding trends may not all be right for you — it’s much more important to embrace authenticity than whatever’s in the zeitgeist. But if you can figure out how to incorporate one or more in a way that feels true to your brand, you’ll be ahead of the curve in 2021.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

Breaking Down the Silos: the Art of Marrying Copy and Design

In the modern workplace, it’s easy for projects to become siloed. Take the creation of visual assets, for example. Often, the process goes something like this: a marketing manager builds out a campaign plan and sends a brief to a copywriter, who drafts copy for the required assets then submits a request to design, who sends the finished products back to the marketing manager for approval. Copy and design team members each know their role and stay in their lane. This is especially common now, with so many teams remotely distributed due to COVID-19. And while that might seem efficient, it doesn’t mean it’s effective.

Copy and design may be two separate elements, but they work best in tandem. An ad with stunning visuals might grab your attention, but without strong complementary copy, it won’t drive home the right message. Conversely, an ad with great copy but lackluster or mismatched design could completely fail to catch your eye in the first place. To create truly powerful design, visuals and words must be informed by each other.

The easiest way to ensure this is usually to partner from the very beginning. Whenever you’re able, set up a joint brainstorm session between the writer and the designer so you can chat about the context behind the asset (brand identity, target audience, goals, etc.) as well as share ideas and discuss how those concepts could manifest in both copy and design.

Creating Design Based on Copy

Of course, it’s not always possible for writers and designers to sync before a project, particularly if you’re dealing with tight deadlines, busy schedules or coordinating between an in-house team and an external one — in fact, it’s not unusual for designers working at an agency to receive a brief from the client with the copy already finalized.

If that's your case, you’ll need to really absorb the text. Take off your designer hat the first time you read the copy, and just process it. Get a feel for not only the content, but also the voice, tone and style. After you’ve sat with that for a while, think more about how design would factor into it. Edgy, in-your-face copy, for example, might go best with a grittier design. You can also try scanning the copy for words, metaphors or concepts that would lend themselves well to design.

Let’s say the phrase “bringing the team together” appears. The visual representation doesn’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) be as literal as a group of smiling employees in a circle — a more abstract depiction, like a graphic pattern where shapes approach each other, will feel fresher. If you do go with this theme, though, make sure the header copy and design are in alignment. For a lot of people, this is the only text they actually read — so even if “bringing the team together” shows up three times in the last paragraph, the analogy will be lost on them.

If you’re still unsure about whether the design you’ve come up with pairs well with the copy, you can also reference materials like the brand book, if there is one, or examples of past work. Does the style you’ve envisioned line up with what you’re seeing? If not, it might be time to go back to the drawing board. A good designer doesn’t just go with their own style — they try to match and level up the brand’s.

Creating Copy Based on Design

Other times, a copywriter might receive an asset with an approved visual style but unpolished or placeholder text. In that situation, writers will need to dig deep into the “why” of the design in order to come up with the right copy. Before approaching the designer, though, do some research on your own. You can look at a brand book or examples of previous work, like I mentioned above, as well as the company website or social media accounts — anything that will help you understand how they talk about themselves, who their target audience is and what their brand stands for.

Think about the context of the asset as well. Certain mediums, like social media or banner ads, might require more casual language than others, like white papers or brochures. The goal of the asset will affect copy, too. The copy for a banner ad aiming to drive sign-ups for a free trial should read more persuasively than one aiming to raise brand awareness, for example.

Once you’ve got a solid grasp on the brand, you’ll be knowledgeable enough to have a valuable conversation with the designer. Instead of relying on them to catch you up on the brand basics, you can go into deeper topics, like why they chose the design they did. Odds are, it’s not just because it looks pretty — there’s almost always a concept behind the imagery. Asking the designer what words they would use to describe the visual brand can also be helpful in determining the voice, tone and style you should use in the copy.

You probably don’t excel at creating both copy and design in equal measures, but that’s okay — it doesn’t mean you can’t create great work. While the best design usually has both strong, cohesive copy and visuals, they rarely come from just one person. As long as you take the time to understand, appreciate and complement your counterpart’s expertise, you’ll be well on your way to success.

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.

Building an Agency from the Ground Up

Many people looking into how to start an agency see large, established firms and think to themselves, “I could never do that.” But the reality is, almost all of the prestigious studios we know and love started with just one or two people. The way they got to where they are today was just by taking baby steps time and again over the long haul.

Launching and sustaining a business takes a lot of patience and effort, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Personally, I work longer hours than I did before I started my agency — even if I don’t like to admit it — but the creative freedom and sense of ownership I have in exchange is worth it. Not to mention, working for yourself is a pretty sweet deal: your schedule, clients and projects are completely up to you.

Of course, you’ll have to save up for it first — I recommend saving enough for five months’ worth of expenses, plus whatever tools and equipment you need to start. You may also want to earmark some money for consultants who can help you navigate complex topics like marketing strategy and finances.

But once you’ve reached that goal, you’ll be in a good position to begin taking concrete steps towards opening your own design agency. To help turn your business from daydream into reality, we’ve put together a checklist of tangible actions for you to take — read on below.

Tips on How to Start an Agency

1. Develop Your Business Plan

Business plans can encompass a lot of different things, from financial projections to organizational structure and more. Exactly which elements are necessary will vary a little bit from company to company, but I think all business plans should clearly state your services offered, target audience and mission/vision statement, with an emphasis on how you want to position the company. This plays a huge role in defining who you are as a brand and how you stand apart from the competition. It’s also helpful to address the unique skill sets your agency can offer and who you’ll do it for.

While a good business plan should be thorough and polished, you don’t need to get too hung up on perfection, especially if there are other aspects of your business that you’re anxious to work on. It’s not worth waiting years to move forward with your business just because your intro deck isn’t picture-perfect.

2. Assemble Your A-team

No person is an island — we all rely on others at some point or another to get by, and that’s especially true when it comes to starting your own business. Whether they’re friends, family members, former coworkers or LinkedIn contacts, you likely have people in your network that would be happy to chat about your new venture and lend their expertise.

While there are tons of different fields that can be beneficial for you to learn about, I suggest that you prioritize finding professionals in the legal, finance and business consulting industries. Reaching out to other agency founders or creative directors can be really helpful, too. Before I launched my business, I cold-contacted a few different creative directors I admired to get their thoughts on how to start an agency, and I was pleasantly surprised with how eager they were to share their experience and advice. Most of them started out in a similar fashion, so they were happy to help.

3. Create a Budget

For a lot of creative entrepreneurs, their agency is their baby, and it’s understandable that they’d want to keep spending more to make it the best it can be. But doing that is an easy way to burn through your resources, and maybe even have to close as a result. To avoid this, a budget is essential.

You can reference the sheet below as an example, but at a high level, you just need to make a list of all of your recurring expenses and then decide your salary. Make sure to keep this separate from your personal budget — intertwining the two can lead to lots of confusion later on.

4. Make It Official

There are a lot of fluffy thought-leadership pieces on how to start an agency out there that can basically be boiled down to tired clichés like “take risks,” “believe in yourself,” etc. But what I found most helpful when I was preparing to open my agency was really practical, actionable advice — the nuts and bolts aren’t exactly glamorous, but they’re very helpful, particularly if you’ve never started a business before. Requirements vary by state, but I’ve listed a few of the nitty-gritty tasks I had to complete in order to launch in California, as well as some links to guide you through them:

• Set up your business structure

• Register your company name (if it isn’t already taken)

• Get your EIN (Employer Identification Number)

• Get a PO box, if you don’t already have a business address 

• Set up a bank account

Once you tackle all of these steps, make sure to securely save all of the documentation and information associated with them.

5. Find Your Clients

It’s often said that your friends and family are your first clients, and that is, for the most part, true. But you don’t have to rely on them exclusively in the early days of your business. Get your portfolio and website in top shape, then try… 

• Uploading your contacts in a CMS: There are plenty of client management softwares, or CMSs, that are affordable for small businesses. We use Hubspot. Upload all of the relevant contacts you have, create some email templates and use them for outreach.

• Developing a marketing strategy: One of the investments I chose to make early on was hiring a marketing strategist for a consulting project. It was money well spent — she helped me find out who my target audience was and how I could most effectively reach them.

• Attending events & networking: My company set up shop in a women’s coworking space called The Wing. It’s been a great place to connect with people, which has directly led to a few different projects for us. Find out where your audience is and go talk to them — face-to-face interactions are powerful!

• Asking for referrals and reviews: Reach out to your former and current clients to see if they’d be comfortable leaving you a review, or even putting you in touch with organizations they know are looking for an agency. To incentivize them, you can offer referral discounts and promos.

Once you do find a potential client, try to set up an in-person or phone meeting with them to find out what they’re looking for, what their budget is and how you might be able to address their needs. 

6. Establish a Workflow 

Beyond deciding what you’ll do for your clients, you need to figure out how you’ll do it — this is something I wish I would have focused on more when I first started my design agency. A few things to consider:

• What will the general process look like — how many meetings, and how many rounds of feedback? What will meetings/feedback rounds entail, and how will they be held — conference call, video chat, in person?

• How will you communicate with clients in the interim — email, Slack, phone?

• How will clients pay (card, check, direct deposit, etc.) and how will you invoice them — will they pay a portion up front and the rest upon completion, or pay a weekly retainer?

  • Tip: Holding off on giving the final files to a client until they’ve paid you in full has really worked well for me!

• What exact services and deliverables will clients receive? They should never be surprised by how much you’re billing them or what they’re getting in return.

• Will you have subcontractors, and if so, how will you manage them?

• How will you empower clients and get them excited about your work?

As you’re outlining this process, think about ways you can make it more efficient, such as email templates, platforms that would be useful, a list of potential freelancers for you to call if needed and so on.

7. Get a Feel for Taxes & Expenses

Finance is difficult enough as it is, but when you become a small business owner, things get even more complex. Generally, it’s a good idea to work with a professional who can help you get everything in order, but it’s still valuable to understand some basic principles. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:

• Taxes change: Rather than paying once a year, those who are self-employed usually pay estimated quarterly taxes. The exact percentage you’re charged will fluctuate, but around 30% is a pretty safe bet, so make sure to account for that when budgeting and forecasting.

• Document your employees: Always have employees and subcontractors fill out a W-2 or W-4 form, depending on whether they’re part-time or full, and give them a 1099 form or W-9 at the end of the year.

• Log your expenses: Keep track of everything you spend, whether in a spreadsheet or accounting platform, and make sure to use tax categories so that creating profit and loss statements and filing your taxes at the end of the quarter is a cinch.

• Watch your spending: A lot of financial advisors will tell you that increasing your bottom line isn’t just about earning more — it’s also about spending less. Work on getting your business up and running before you think about investing in things that can wait, like full-time employees or social media management.

8. Adapt & Maintain Your Competitive Edge

At this stage, you might feel like it's too early to think about long-term business performance, but it’s something that can really help you out down the line. Establishing KPIs (key performance indicators) and OKRs (objectives and key results) early on will give you a baseline to measure success and hold you accountable for continual improvement. If you don’t log these things in the beginning, you won’t be able to understand what’s working and what needs to change later on. Here are a few things I found important to measure:

• Revenue

• Profit

• Number of clients

• Hours worked

• Hours billed

• Followers on social media

You may also want to add KPIs specific to ads or marketing, like the number of ads you created for your business and the number of posts you shared on social media.

As you craft your OKRs, don’t be afraid to get ambitious — you don’t have to (and in fact probably shouldn’t) achieve all of them. The team I was on at Google aimed to achieve 70% of their OKRs — if you achieved 100%, the consensus was that you weren’t setting them high enough.

Starting your own agency is complex and takes a lot of work. It’s understandable to feel overwhelmed or bogged down by the details, but if this happens, try to remind yourself of what you love about design in the first place. Go to galleries and museums, buy magazines if the cover catches your eye, look up the latest work of the designers you admire, watch and attend conferences. Often, that can give you the motivation you need to push through. As someone who’s been in your shoes before, I understand what a big task you have ahead of you — but I also know that the creative freedom, flexibility and sense of ownership you get from starting your own business makes the effort completely worth it.

Want to learn more? Check out a recording of this presentation and read the Q&A from our session!

Anastasia Salazar Ltd. is an independent design studio for tailored branding and digital designs. Reach out to learn how we can help you fuel growth and maximize your brand’s impact.