This is the second part of Mirror Images. Head over here to read the first.
Only two years ago, we witnessed the LogoGate scandal, when it was noticed how strikingly similar the Squarespace and Mutual Mobile logos were. During LogoGate, the first recommended step to avoid such confusion was to "use real designers." Frankly, the two logos covered during LogoGate were not the half of it.
Authy had this to say about any perceived similarities: "Authy is a chain link coming together. (like a secure link). Thats a big stretch there."
The emerging Geometric "S" trend seen in the logos for Storehouse, Studio Science and Sam Mularczyk promises serious competition for the first LogoGate. (Microsoft Zune's latticed logo is thrown in for good measure).
Phenomena of this sort are a somewhat regular occurrence in design. According to Amy Hoy, in the early 2000s there were swooshes in an astounding number of logos.
The popular app Overcast has many great features, and is my go-to app for podcast listening. According to the developer Marco Arment, for Overcast to be marketed as visually standing apart from the crowd post-iOS 7, all it took was a custom typeface, orange accent colors and a subtle equalizer. These might seem like quite minor details to visually differentiate one's app, but things get worse.
iOS Twitter clients pre-iOS 7.
iOS Twitter clients shortly after iOS 7 launched.
iOS design today.
In Fall of the Designer Part III, I noted how Twitter apps were becoming visually homogenized to the point that they were virtually indistinguishable. I could not have imagined it could go further. Following a recent update by Twitter for their native iOS client, it seems all three apps might as well have been designed by the same person.
Quora finally removed their deformed bust and replaced it with a human. GoSquared and Google went in the opposite direction and adopted alien greys.
In an unnecessary attempt to appeal to a mass audience, Facebook continues to remove all individuality from its brand. This despite the fact that Facebook has proven successful at mass appeal thus far, boasting an audience of over 1 billion active users. Similar to the removal of the memorable Klavika typeface, Facebook is now literally rounding out the design of all graphic elements, in this case the iconic friends glyph. The calculus is as follows: round = nonthreatening.
In the first Mirror Images, I noted the similarities between the Facebook Groups icon and Apple's Game Center icon. But Facebook is not holding still. They have just released another app with almost the same visual treatment, Facebook Moments.
It seems there is a rush to appropriate the Windows 98 aesthetic with horizontal gradients. Seen here are Stripe, Twitter and Google's interpretations.
It is hard to pinpoint who proposed this first, but many are now noticing a resemblance between the 1996 Space Jam website and the Apple Watch homescreen.
Roger Dario produced this evocative Secret logotype in 2013, to be followed up shortly by NPR's popular podcast, Invisibilia.
Relook app paid homage to the classic (recently refined) Saul Bass Girl Scouts logo in their app icon.
Last but not least, it turns out that Erik Spiekermann may well have been the model for American Gothic.