It’s been a while since we talked about logos (since we saw our mark in black and white) so we will revisit the issue today! We know the importance of having a logo that represents what we want by its strokes, fonts and colours. It is the symbol that unifies a whole, whether a clothing brand, a company car wash or graphic design studio 😉
The trends in the design change over the years. What just a couple of years “was trending” today is old-fashioned. But do not obsess with this. It is true that logos cannot and should not be a static entity that one day was created and must remain in an untouchable folder, but neither should we change them to every new trend. A good logo is the one that remains “fashionable” as fashion changes, like the black dress Coco Chanel. It is complicated, but there are always some concepts that we consider to redesign.
Towards a flat design
We have left behind the ornate designs with shadows and effects and now we go for the flat design, a much cleaner one in which every accessory design is removed. This is one of the factors that have determined that many brands adapt and redesign their logos.
The best known example is Google. If we take the logo from 1997 to today, we see the outline remains the same. The colours remain (adapting hues.) Fonts are very similar but become smooth, shadows disappear… In 17 years, the logo has had 4 redesigns, but none of them has lost its image.
Wikipedia
Another example is Wikipedia. While maintaining its image in general, it has softened strokes and effects. The pieces of the puzzle are not so marked and soften the colours to gray.
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network has also worked to eliminate shadows and reliefs and get its logo “more flat”.
Dell
Dell is among those who have thought that some retouching is needed 🙂 One of the trends of 2014 was the inclusion of geometric forms and this is one of the changes introduced to the logo as well as a colour smoothing.
Overall, the new logos are very similar to the previous, so we totally recognize that the images are the same, but the forms are a little closer to current trends.
Renewal image
Other reason why a company redesigns its logo is because it no longer fits or wants to give a renewal image. We assimilate an old logo represents an old company. We are now in a moment of luck because retro is in fashion, but be careful. What is trend is retro designed from a current point. Not everything that was done 30 years ago is now in fashion. If you have not changed your logo in 30 years, it needs some retouching. 😉
US Democratic Party
The Democratic Party decided (wisely) to renew its image. The old logo is rather traditional and somewhat “heavy” in shapes and colours, so it was relegated to this other more contemporary and modern. They kept their colours (American Flag) but both the logo and fonts are now much clearer and representative.
Symantec
Symantec renews its logo with more modern and current forms. Now it’s represented in 2 dimensions. It is much friendlier. The font is changed to a “Sans serif” with a greater thickness which gives it strength.
Redesigns that should not be done
However, not all changes are for good. Here you have two examples of well known brands whose logo redesign was not a good option. This is why we recommend: do not redesign “like a crazy”. Changes must be for a reason and always remembering that will precede a logo that was already known. It is not always necessary to redesign, but if the redesign is going to be radical, we must consider how to adapt it to the old one. Users assimilate one logo to a brand, so radical changes are really risky. 😉
GAP
Well-known is the example of the famous clothing brand GAP. After making the new logo they had to go back and return to the first. The old logo shows more signs of modernity that the new one.
Airbnb
The logo of Airbnb was redesigned a few months ago. The jokes in social networks were expected, since many people found a similarity between the logo and the (male and female) sexual organs. But not only for that, but also for its similarity with the logo “Automation Anywhere”, which is somehow more serious. Logos must be unique, since they are the most representative of brands. We have already said several times, they are our symbol of distinction.
However, while I bring two radical redesigns that did not succeed, I must say, that it is not the general case. If our brand has become old, it is always good to change (as the Democratic Party did), but always forward!
