When launching a startup or undergoing rebranding, logo design is oddly not placed at the top of the priority list. Everything gets changed: website design, color palette, print styling, new brand companions, and so on. But the logo is left for later—maybe only one color is changed, or it's completely recolored. And that’s it. Nothing more. And you know what? That’s actually fine.
The first and most important priorities at the beginning of a startup are finding a product or service that people need, hiring staff and partners, securing initial funding, and getting those first investments. Some startups even grow successfully in their early years without a logo at all.
But if you’ve decided to create a logo —or you’ve been asked to design one by a small company or startup—there are some useful insights for you as a web designer. This article highlights the best logos of 2017—ones that became hits, were recognized as truly unique and fresh globally. We also take a look at the websites of the startups behind these logos. Whether you focus on web design or also dabble in logo illustration, this material will be helpful, if only to see new ideas, combinations, trends, and styles.
Mush
At first glance, it might be surprising how all the logo’s elements are spaced apart. This logo belongs to Mush, a London-based startup whose mobile app helps young parents connect. Whether it’s swapping baby gear, chatting, selling items, local meetups, or spontaneous stroller walks—Mush supports it all.
Despite the seemingly disjointed elements, the logo feels friendly, optimistic, and playful. The simple icons convey the app’s multitasking nature and its motherhood-centric features—food, walks, games, local spots, and more. They also reflect the "chaos" that a new baby brings into a household. The app helps parents make sense of that chaos without panic—offering guidance and support.
Naava
The startup Naava was founded in Helsinki, Finland, and creates smart indoor green walls and air purifiers to provide people with cleaner air. Since the project’s mission is to enhance life quality, the logo uses a minimalist style. A cluttered logo or website wouldn’t have worked. The site’s designers also used linear icons, a clean typeface, and plenty of white space.
The creators of Naava cleverly used incomplete letters combined with green—a color symbolizing nature and trees. Mimicking the rational minimalism of a mid-sized hi-tech company, they achieved a calm and elegant website design using imagery, video, text, forms, and more. It’s structured and by-the-book—in a good way.
Uniplaces
Uniplaces is a Lisbon-based platform that helps students across Europe find housing. Today, over 250,000 students live and study locally or abroad thanks to it. Their logo, however, has a slightly cartoonish feel. Notably, the dot over the Latin "i" is missing—creating a sense of youth, casualness, and the feeling that nothing is too serious yet. The logo also subtly communicates that entering university opens new doors in life.
The website is filled with photos, icons, stylish design elements, and of course, lots of well-structured text. There’s almost no bold font, but subheadings are styled with distinct color, size, and type, while body text uses alternative styles.
Shipyard
Another startup from Helsinki creates GPS-based mobile games and is published by Supercell. Their logo and website share a unified style. The Shipyard logo features stylized typography and a large “S” that resembles a shipyard crane hook. The website continues this dockyard theme with humble and cohesive design choices.
Monzo Bank Limited
Monzo is one of the hottest startups in the world, having received its banking license in April 2017. When you ask people to entrust you with their money, you obviously can’t rely solely on a flashy logo. But as a startup, you do want to emphasize your youth and forward-thinking tech approach. This mindset is perfectly reflected in the company's logo, which achieves a strong balance between all key elements.
The mobile banking site design is equally remarkable—strict, high-contrast, minimal text, and plenty of explanatory visuals. All extra information is placed in the footer and sorted by category. There are no animations or effects—just a clean layout that inspires trust. Creating a design that instills a sense of safety is an art in itself.
Elevatr
New York-based startup Elevatr aims to help people struggling with mental health through a free mobile community app. It connects users with others facing similar issues—essentially a social network for a niche audience. The logo resembles Naava’s styling: simple and smart. The stylized “A” looks like an upward arrow—often seen in elevators or positive charts—implying growth and hope. The idea is to convey that things can improve, and we should move upward toward better days. It may seem naive, but for many, these messages are deeply needed. That’s psychology.
The site itself isn’t overly flashy, but the photos, videos, and textual content are noteworthy. The people in the images are portrayed sincerely. Typography is clean and functional, fonts are modest, and styles are consistently applied.
Bomberbot
The Amsterdam-based startup (Netherlands) focuses on teaching kids to code . And what do 8–14-year-olds love? Robots! Whether in cartoons, games, or stories—robots rule. The colorful retro robot head in their logo fits perfectly. The multicolored font reinforces the brand’s playful identity. The robot’s geometric shape also implies a structured, logical approach to education.
On their website, you’ll find loads of icons, themed clipart, helpful text, and of course, the robot mascot. The robot head wasn’t chosen by accident—it ties into every part of the design.
Norsepower
The Finnish startup Norsepower manufactures sails for cargo ships. Their goal is to reduce fuel consumption and emissions—sounds odd, but it’s rooted in science. Their upgraded rotor sails are based on Anton Flettner’s rotor concept. If you’re curious, check out Popular Mechanics for more.
The logo’s seriousness reflects the company’s mission. The color palette is formal, which is appropriate for an older, specialized company. The stylized “O” resembles both a ship’s propeller and swirling wind.
Their website is not flashy, but it’s functional and clear. The text is readable, each page features themed imagery like ocean waves, and there’s a consistent use of shadows and typography. No frills—just a serious tone that suits their professional image.
Varjo
Helsinki is also home to Varjo —a startup working on VR technology that mimics how the human eye actually sees. Their tech lets people view objects at 100x the resolution of current VR/AR headsets. Their website has a lot of fascinating content.
Their geometric logo embraces abstraction in every sense, conveying the ambitious goals of the startup while remaining mysterious and intriguing.
The site, on the other hand, is dynamic and unique. Though the color palette is minimal, there's a gradient animation at the bottom that shifts over time. The thin-line elements and sharp layouts enhance the hi-tech feel of the brand.
TravelPerk
TravelPerk was founded in Barcelona, Spain, and helps manage business travel bookings in one place. Why include them? Mainly because of their clean, informative logo, which cleverly combines a Wi-Fi symbol and a plane. It shows that tech is just as relevant in travel as in any other field.
The site’s design is almost aggressively plain—blue-grey tones make it feel like a medical project at first glance. But it’s clean, with excellent iconography, typography, text alignment, and a visual consistency with the logo.
Conclusion
We didn’t cover every new logo and website from 2017 startups—only the most interesting ones, in our opinion. Most of these companies are already well-known and have user bases, but not all of their sites strictly match their logos in color or style.
Ideally, a site’s colors should stem from the brand and logo—but as we’ve seen, that’s not always the case. Still, it doesn’t look amateur. Designers have found a middle ground, where either the site or the logo enhances the other.
Creating an abstract logo is one thing—building a full site around it, where buttons or borders are deliberately incomplete or minimalist, is another. Users might subconsciously think the site is broken or sloppy.
So, when working with or around a logo, designers must think carefully about what each brand element represents, how it communicates, and where and for whom it will be used.