Graphic Design:usa has assembled a list of recent trends in corporate logo design. What’s particularly interesting is how they link the trends to developments in printing and design technologies. For example, one of the trends they note is “transparency” in logos — including the example above:

Let’s face it: The old rule that dictated that any really well-designed logo had to (A) be reproducible in only one color, and (B) that color had to be solid, not screened, is gone. Sure, there are still challenges to be faced in playing fast and loose with these rules when a job must actually go on press, but the internet is much more forgiving. There are many logos today, like the MSN butterfly, that have transparent qualities that reveal themselves through multiple layers. These designs can be very compelling, especially since they are still novel enough to stand out from the already crowded world of flat one-, two- and three-color logos.

The politics of logos are quite hilarious. That logo above? It’s so pretty! It’s so cute! And it’s for Altria, the parent company of the immeasurably bleak corporate citizen Philip Morris.

Of course, Graphic Design:usa might want to consider rebranding itself. I’ve never seen a company whose name incorporates a more fey and annoying use of a semicolon. I mean, people, seriously: Get over yourselves.

(Another cool find from Lonnie Foster’s Tribblescape!)