For a decade, almost every fashion house, tech giant and major corporate slowly converged towards sans-serifs fonts, millennial greys and a carefully neutral brand voice. At the time, this trend was celebrated as clean minimalism – today, we’d probably term it ‘blanding’.
Few in the design world look back on this period of time fondly, but at the time, it was widely considered the right thing to do for four key reasons:
In the mid-2010s, smartphones became the norm in every household. Branding that was typically at home on billboards, TVs, and in print suddenly had to be shrunk to fit the (at the time) very limited pixel count on a smartphone. This forced the simplification of logos, as overly complex or ornate images came out muddled and ugly on a smartphone.
Many businesses were in the process of going global, and brands had to appeal to much more diverse audiences. History was second to clarity, and cultural quirks were replaced by more universal symbols or simply erased entirely. This exchange granted brands better global visibility and comprehensibility, but ultimately sacrificed much of their unique, individual charm.
While broadening their appeal internationally, brands were also looking to broaden their appeal within national markets. Every brand wanted to offer something for everyone. Too much personality can be divisive, meaning stakeholders shied away idiosyncracies or extremes for fear of alienating customers. The result was a design-by-committee approach that led to homogeneity rather than distinctiveness.
Minimalism, as a movement in graphic design, was strongly associated with modernity due to its heavy adoption in tech-forward industries. While, in retrospect, it is easy to dismiss its simplistic aesthetic as unappealing, it was genuinely embraced and seen as forward-thinking at the time. And when done right, it is still appealing today.
Luxury brands, as some of the oldest brands with some of the most storied brands, became prime examples of this trend: Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Balmain Paris, Jimmy Choo – all intentionally heavily simplified their iconic logos, with one of the most notorious examples being Burberry.
Back in 2018, under the creative guidance of Peter Saville, Burberry traded its century-old Equestrian Knight for a logo that could as well have been been designed in a text editor. It was ‘safe.’ It was ‘global.’ And it worked well on screens. It was also about as exciting as a bowl of plain oatmeal. Even at the time, it was a polarising decision.
Fast forward to 2026, and now the knight is back – and in electric blue to boot. In terms of global rebrand turnarounds, it stands as one of the more major ones in recent memory. And it’s just one example of what we think is a wider trend: a return to personality. We are seeing more and more brands returning to the engaging, personality-filled brands of the 90s and 2000s and leaving their adventures in minimalism to the history books.
Arguably this revival of nostalgic designs began with Kodak, who were one of the first to bring back theirs in 2016. This isn’t a brand new or sudden phenomenon. Neither is it an all-encompassing one. The urge for minimalism hasn’t gone away overnight, nor will it. You only need to look as far as Cracker Barrel’s recent controversial (attempted rebrand) to see that much.
Yet the pendulum seems to be swinging rapidly in the favour of bolder brand personalities, in large part due an increasing body of evidence that they have a positive impact on brands. According to research from the University of Calicut, 72% of Gen Z consumers prefer brands that integrate nostalgic branding elements, with retro packaging and product relaunches demonstrating the highest consumer appeal.
The same research highlights that platforms like TikTok and Instagram serve as engagement accelerators, with nostalgic content yielding a 43% higher engagement rate than non-nostalgic counterparts (you can find our dive into nostalgia here.)
What’s driving the shift? We’ve identified forces influencing this comeback in personality-filled brands:
Cultural Psyche
The easiest way to explain this return is to look at the current climate. We are going through a prolonged period of global political and economic uncertainty. Many people are craving optimism and escapism, so they are choosing ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’ brands that can provide it. Others are looking for stability and resilience and are choosing the heritage brands that celebrate their history like Burberry.
Cultural Atomisation
We are no longer in an era of monocultures, and even subcultures are rare. We live in a time of microcultures. Digital platforms like TikTok and Instagram have atomised audiences into thousands of niche tribes. This makes it is nearly impossible to appeal to everyone. Neutrality means invisibility. Brands must now project a sharper, more distinctive personality. This serves as a beacon, attracting and resonating with niche tribes rather than everyone. Mass appeal has simply gotten far harder.
Oversaturation
In today’s consumer landscape, choice is abundant. For many product categories, utility and performance have become commodified. Put simply, products that ‘work’ are ubiquitous. While functionality remains crucial, the emotional connection and how brands make consumers feel has become increasingly vital in driving purchase decisions.
Fashions in branding always have underlying reasons. Injecting personality back into brands is more than just an aesthetic trend – it serves as a survival tactic and a growth strategy. In a world craving optimism, saturated with choice and splintered into micro-tribes, brands must find distinctiveness. Personality acts as a magnet, cutting through the noise to connect with the right audience. It has become the emotional lever that secures loyalty and drives sales.
Your brand personality should obviously be grounded in who you are and what you stand for. You must also consider how you are perceived by your consumers; if ’who you are’ has not historically been how the brand is perceived, then any attempt to highlight it may come across as inauthentic.
So how do you actually build it? As personality is a nuanced phenomenon; there isn’t a single answer to that question. Different brands pull on different levers with different effects. However, here are three brands that have been applying different strategies to draw inspiration from:
In 2023, McDonald’s brought back their long-lost mascots, with Grimace leading the charge. In what McDonald’s itself called “culturally relevant” marketing, the campaign celebrated Grimace’s birthday with limited edition products and imagery that leaned heavily on the playful, garish aesthetic of old McDonald’s advertising. It generated 3 billion views on TikTok and coincided with a 10.3% increase in US sales
Nostalgia is a powerful force right now, and if you’d like to know more, we dove into it here.
For years, IKEA were the default choice of every student with their inoffensive, beige furniture that disappeared into the background. Recently, however, they’ve been edging back toward maximalism using what many are calling “Joycore” – saturated colours, playful shapes, and pieces that actually want to be noticed.
For example, the Nytillverkad collection has revived its most vibrant vintage designs for a modern audience. Six waves in, each has sold out quickly. Similarly, the VINTERFINT vase, part of their Gustaf Westman collaboration, sold out in pre-sale, and despite costing £22, reached hundreds on the aftermarket.
Duolingo’s entire brand identity grew out of the fact that they received complaints that their mascot Duo had a faintly threatening tone. Rather than softening it, they leaned in. Their TikTok grew from 50,000 to over 16 million followers since launching in September 2021, almost entirely through organic content. When they staged Duo’s death in early 2025, it trended worldwide, and people were writing genuine eulogies for a cartoon bird.
This effort resulted in a 47% year-on-year revenue growth in 2026, with daily active users rising by 62%.
The world spent ten years pursuing mass market minimalism, fueled by the rise of smartphone, globalisation, and a wider aesthetic movement. Today, however, with cultural fragmentation and an overwhelming array of choices, brands are realising that conformity is dangerous. The most effective strategy for differentiation is to create a distinct personality.
In this context, distinctiveness isn’t a risk, it’s insurance against being forgotten. So before you sign off on that sleek, minimal rebrand, ask yourself: is there any personality?
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