Creative Bloq put out their top 15 trends for how to brand a logo in 2012. The number one trend developing is that of the App Icon logos. These bite-sized action icons are becoming synonymous with (and contributing to) a brand.

The Facebook icon is quite unmistakable at this point in time. But how about icons for brands such as NPR? Or how about Spotify, with its logo that recalls both a record and a volume key:

The consumer has become increasingly attached to their multipurpose phone device. Personally, I use my iPhone to listen to music and to check my e-mail more than I do to make phone calls. Even the icon for text messages: receiving a text would feel odd without it’s earned normalcy.

App icons have become the faces that we wouldn’t appreciate lest they were gone. What would Twitter be without the swooping bird? It just wouldn’t be the same; and that’s how you establish a brand.

Image Source: Spotify app icon.