Why is branding so important? It triggers emotions. You don’t necessarily have to buy a product, to be familiar with it – you can be made aware of it by watching television, reading newsfeed on your smartphone or looking at ambient media (yes, outdoor advertising is still relevant, as well as television).
A simple, memorable and engaging logo becomes recognizable really fast. Hundreds of companies all over the world have already proven that. But what happens when a well-known company makes a decision to change its trademark’s styling?
Logo redesign is always about taking risks. Giving up a tried-and-true logo in favour of new trends, may lead to unexpected circumstances, both good and bad. This post is an overview of a few noticeable re-brandings that you may have missed last year. Read the stories about these five companies and their logo re-designs below.
Mini
Mini is the world famous car make, largely known as an iconic British brand. However, only a few people know that this brand had been owned by BMW since 1994 and remains its protégé to the present day. Having such a vast history, this legendary vehicle, made even more famous by Mr Bean, not only became the well-known for its fuel economy, but proves that a tiny car can also be powerful.
The Mini’s logo has some history too. It’s one of the most distinguished car trademarks ever known, due to its famous winged styling. Keeping up with the times, Mini modified its logo by changing the 3D form in favour of a trendy, flat design. Though the new 2D logo has new typography, it saved its traditional brand look.
Looking for the first time at Google’s logo redesign, you might think: “what’s the difference?”. Well, the difference is huge. The redesign wasn’t just about changing the way the brand looks. It was about making Google more accessible for users. Not only in terms of the search engine, but for everything this corporate giant does in our multi-media world: smartphones, laptops, watches and even cars.
Now animated, Google’s new logo transforms into four interactive dots, which behaviour depends on your actions. Introducing “Google G” – the compact logo format, Google made its logo prettier and more recognizable on all devices.
As a result, original sans-serif typeface made Google’s logo more beautiful and refined. They’ve done a great job that will definitely be inspiring for others in the near future.
Opera
Launched as a web browser developer more than 20 years ago, Opera offers manifold software that is far beyond web browsing. The company hired a web designer who collaborated with such world famous brands as Pepsi, Nike, MTV and Converse. They released a new logo that is quite different from the most companies’ trademarks you may see these days.
At a time when the vast majority of companies tended to design their logos in two dimensions with no volume, Opera went against the stream by refreshing its well-known “O” and turning it into a three dimensional ring-shape.
The new Opera logo is undoubtedly attractive. It seems like the company has put a lot into this rebranding. There is nothing left, but to wish them good luck with their fierce competition against such giants as Google and Microsoft.
The year 2015 was pretty special for Facebook. On August, 27 Mark Zuckerberg announced the achievement of an important milestone for his company. Facebook reached a total of 1 billion users in a single day.
A month before that, Facebook introduced a new logo that differs from the old one only in a few details. As it turned out, these few inconspicuous details caused a stormy reaction on the web. The renewed “a” and “b”, rounder “e” and “o”, as well as different kerning, split up Facebook users in haters and lovers. They say “haters gonna hate”. Nevertheless, like any other company Facebook is trying to keep up with the times by refreshing their branding.
Conclusion
Everything changes. There is one undeniable truth in business that says: “Be active!” . If you run a big company, you must keep up with the times. That’s why every year we witness a couple of brands that refresh their designs. Following the latest trends is the best way to stay in the game. But obviously, the various players understand this trend quite differently. Let’s just watch them playing and see what happens in future. I’m sure the outcome will definitely be worth noticing.
