"2025 was a year defined by buttholes and fury. AI companies, fueled by unlimited piles of cash, got in line with the same approach to branding: what's been scatalogically dubbed a " butthole logo." The amorphous circles neither propel you forward like a Nike swoosh nor ground you like an Apple's apple. Instead they spin you around, hypnotizing you into who knows what's next, just keep staring."
"So what's awaiting us in 2026? It's a question we posed to several leading brand designers. Of the themes that followed, everyone seemed to agree that in 2026, we'll see the design world's response to AI-or, perhaps more accurately put, its many responses to AI. At the same time, we're hearing early indications of designers who plan to draw more lines in the sand with clients, and take a more active role in this tenuous techno-political moment."
2025 saw AI companies adopt similar amorphous "butthole" logos that hypnotize viewers rather than convey motion or solidity. A polarized United States turned design into a political battleground, visible in choices from the Trump administration's typeface to interventions around Cracker Barrel and American Eagle. Marketers intentionally provoked outrage to drive engagement. Leading brand designers predict 2026 will bring multiple, varied design responses to AI, not a single approach. Designers are planning to set stronger boundaries with clients and to take more active, politically aware roles in shaping brand decisions amid technological tensions.
Read at Fast Company
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