19
SEP
2007
There are some logo remakes that should be praised, and there are some that should be hazed.
When it comes to re-branding a corporate identity, you would imagine that the CEO would take great care in making such a decision. In some cases, this is not true. In fact, there are many cases where you begin to question the sobriety of those in charge when they decided to remake their brand.
Let’s start off with the logo redesign that sparked my desire to write this, which I stumbled upon at Under Consideration.
Paypal, *blank stare*
I’m not too sure what possessed them to take their logo, which has been perfectly fine, and ruin it. From a clear, bold stroke logo, it has changed to a fill with an awkward anti alias and two colors that don’t really complement each other. PayPal now looks like some toothpaste.
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Paypal should take example here and learn from this logo redesign. The difference is clear. The colonel has lost the white jacket and gained an apron… to show he too once worked at KFC for slave wages? Either way, this logo has been modernized and I like it. Way to keep with the times.
Hindustan Construction Company
You may not have heard of this company, but they have been around for 80 years, which is probably when their original logo was designed. This is a great example of what a redesign can do for you. From 80s children’s TV to the 2007 internet world, well done.
Dairy Queen Needs a King
Wow. Let’s take a perfectly good logo and put two streaks of the designer’s entrails on it. The new logo looks like the original logo, but vandalized. Graphic designer? No, vandal. Poor color scheme, not sure what the swooshes represent. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Armor All has Increased it’s Armor Class
Another great example to learn from. Their logo has been tastefully refined and tightened up. I love it. One of my favorites. I think everyone can agree that this is a very fine redesign.
Payless Gives the Boot to a Great Brand
I’m not exactly sure what happened here. A few questions:
- What on earth is that circular thing? And how does it represent shoes?
- Are you trying to go Web 2.0? If so, WHY?
- Did you realize you had an extremely strong brand and completely washed it away with napalm creamsicle?
This is probably one of the more painful ones to see.
Enterprise makes a good move
Enterprise does a nice job here. They keep their core brand of the green to black rectangle while making their type larger and easier to identify. A good move, though I did like the size of the original ‘e’, but I think I can cope.
Astroturf treads lightly
Unquestionably a sharp new look. Maybe because it reminds me of the Patriot’s logo, which reminds me of football, which reminds me of Astroturf. Regardless, the re-brand is sharp and gives them more of an iconic look. Speaking of football, this reminds me of the NFL logo re-make.
The NFL simplifles
These changes have made the NFL logo bolder, sharper, and simpler, yet give you the same effect. This is a quality example of a good logo redesign. Less stars, less clutter, more scalable. Well done.
Jiffylube, Another Non-Web Company Goes 2.0
I got nothin’. Has the Web 2.0 craze spread into the lube market? Maybe it will make for slicker interfaces… bad pun. Their previous brand really stood out when you would be driving around looking for an oil change.
Compaq Should Be Focusing On Things Other Than Ruining Their Logo
Feast your eyes on a logo that appears to have been vomited out by a Commodore 64 on a bad day. Compaq has bigger things to worry about than their logo, which was fine. The important thing to remember here is that even if something doesn’t look fantastic, people are used to it. Changing what people are used to is not always the best thing. In this case, I don’t like the new blocky font nor do I like the new purplish red.
AT&T Has Merged So Many Times, It Better Have a Good Logo
A good example of modernization without overdoing it. Drop the caps, a well done 3D globe without losing it’s flatness. Well done at&t. You must have been influenced by Steve Jobs. This logo is probably the most disputed in this list. I’ve been seeing the new at&t logo everywhere I go in the city and it’s really starting to grow on me. The difference between these two is very clear. The original gives the impression of the old titan. A brand that has been around strong for a long time. The new design has given at&t a fresh look, and they are definitely moving and shaking, so it complements them well.
Excel Airlines Excels At Being Bad, XL Bad
Speechless. Let’s change our logo from something mediocre and put it in the hands of child’s party favor balloon artist. Tsk tsk. Not that the original logo was fantastic, but it definitely overdo itself. On a positive note, the new XL logo will definitely stand out more, but like a sore thumb.
MSNBC loosens up
The simple side-by-side comparison here tells it all. Look to the left, you feel constricted and tight. Look to the right, you feel cool and at ease. Well done. Note that this is the second brand to lose the old-school CAPS LOCK.
Ditech takes a step backwards
If you look at this, you’d think that before and after are swapped. The original logo has a nicer font and tells you everything: Home Loans online. The new logo reduces the size of the subtitle and adds a red element to the ‘t’ that doesn’t really mean anything. Another confusing branding decision.
Qantas Takes a Step Forward
Nice change of color and type. This is a nice example of being able to touch up your brand and make it look much better without actually changing the brand. Most average people would not notice the difference, but they might notice the brand more now.
Delta follows suit
A good modernization. I like the more symmetrical feel of the new logo. Though the only reason I rate this good is because I’m not a fan of the old logo either. At least they’re making an effort. The spacing between the letters in the new logo is a little too much.
Jockey Loses Their Brand
Ok, while the new logo doesn’t look bad, they did ditch the nice jockey figure which was their brand point. They made the change because they wanted to be unisex, which may be good in the long run, but they’ve lost their brand. I wonder what this tri-tentacled object represents.
Old Navy Goes Navy
This subtle change is a subtle mistake. Originally I found this to be an improvement, but after looking at it for a while noticed the oval is not as nicely shaped and the front spacing is awkward in the oval and in it of itself.
Pantone Loses Its Color
I like the idea of trying to simplify, but this change in brand is for the negative. How does white and a pastel make me think of color? I far prefer the original logo that really makes you think of pictures and see their company name.
Before makes me think of an old time ice cream shoppe. This new logo makes me think of a McDonald’s play place. I think this brand really comes down to personal preference. The new logo may appeal to kids more, or appeal to parents who have kids because they think it is funky and cool, and they want their kids to have fun. The ‘31′ on the new logo is clever, but it appears kind of forced. The old logo was no gimmicks, straight up neat.
–
[update] A lot of people have pointed out that I used Under Consideration’s blog to get almost all of my images, this is true. They were my biggest resource. On the flip side, I did not take the guy’s opinions. I am simply putting my own editorial mask on top of his data. Thank you for the concern, though. My goal was to take his big cookie and give you it all in one of those little bite-size cookies. I highly recommend visiting their blog if you want to be up to date on logo redesigns.
Buy me a beer if you liked this post or found it helpful
September 20th, 2007 at 12:29 am
i have no idea why Paypal would redesign their logo…
September 20th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
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September 20th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I can’t be the only one who disagrees with you about the AT&T logo. The old one is ten times better than the new one.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I mostly agree, but I think that the new Astro Turf logo should, somehow, feature green. To me, its current incarnation, looks too much like a sports logo.
And the new Delta logo doesn’t work for me. In the original, the blue (to me) evoked the uniforms of the pilots and a sort of masculine steadiness and control (appropriate for an airline, I think). I also liked that the D was in caps with the rest of the world in lower case. It was assertive and confident. To me, the new does not evoke the same feelings.
This was a great list! Thanks for posting it!
September 20th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I agree with all of your ratings except for the AT&T redesign. The old graphic strikingly uses a 2D pattern to represent a 3D object (the Earth, reflecting sunlight, I assume). The new one appears to be shredded, hollow, and tipping forward (I hope it doesn’t represent Earth!)
I’ve noticed over the last couple of decades that companies which rely upon completely lower case logotypes are soon out of business. It’s not really a good way to go, because it implies that the name is just not very important. I suspect that they believe it is more friendly and casual, but lower case lettering can also be read as weak and insignificant.
What do you think of Hilton and Best Western?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
[…] gringo A Clever Cookie, escrito por Chrys Bader, um programador do purevolume, publicou uma pequena lista comentando alguns redesenhos de logotipos, entre eles: AT&T, PayPal, Compaq, Msnbc, […]
September 20th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
i’m with rob there– i think the old at&t logo was far superior, both the caps and the globe (far more subtle)
otherwise, i’m pretty much in agreement with everything else.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Huh, did you just take all of these off of Brand New?
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
You should have checked the website today. You also could have cribbed the horrid new Photoshop logo.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Oh, and that’s the wrong PayPal logo, by the way. You should have stolen the corrected image out of the comment thread.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:09 am
How about Cisco’s? I think the new one is better.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:03 am
While I think most of your good/bad assertions are correct but your explanations are terrible, and offer no real insight beyond the obvious. If you are going to claim one is better than the other be prepared to back it up. “I got nothin’.” sums up your critiques quite well.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:05 am
P.S., much of the research behind this appears to be stolen from http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
September 21st, 2007 at 4:38 am
I don’t have much personal preference in the paypal or quantas changes; I prefer the old KFC, although I think that’s at least half because I’m so accustomed to it (but I really don’t think the new one is a visual improvement); I prefer the old Enterprise because it seems to fill up its space better (the new one might benefit from trimming the empty space above and below the word/letter).
And the slick new AT&T logo makes it look more like a startup selling electronic toys than a huge, old corporation. Which I’m not sure is good, since AT&T is in fact a huge corporation and the old logo represented that far more faithfully… the new one even seems outright deceptive.
Other than those, I agree with the (pretty nifty) article. And I’m no graphic designer, so my opinions only count for half
September 21st, 2007 at 4:57 am
Wow, does anyone else think that your choices are just completely random? You justifications for these are ridiculous, and as pointless as some of the logo changes. You seem to be arguing about which is the best colour, blue or red, and trying to come up with reasons - completely pointless.
September 21st, 2007 at 8:30 am
Agree with most, but particularly not with the KFC one. The Colonel’s cartoon isn’t very good, and turns the refind old Kentucky gentleman image which has been cultivated by the brand for years & years into a goofy-looking senior citizen fast-food worker. They’ve devalued the brand image of their founder. I reckon a merging of the old Colonel Sanders image with the newer elements might have worked better.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:23 am
I disagree with the enterprise change being good. I absolutely detest when a logo uses the mark for the first letter in the company name. Luckily Enterprise has a well established brand and we know what the name is but when I look at it I see the company name as nterprise with a funky e in front of it. Terrible!
September 21st, 2007 at 9:25 am
Oh my gooddness that ditech logo needed to be changed. The new one is great… also Old Navy has made me sad. Not everything old needs to be changed or fiddled with. I hate the shape enclosing the type…
September 23rd, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I live in Colonel Sanders’ hometown. BOTH the KFC logos made him way skinnier than he ever was, even as a young man. The logo might look better, but around here it is seen as silly.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
[…] Muy curioso, se nos ofrece la posibilidad de comparar los últimos “reestiling” de logotipos de grandes empresas americanas, algunos mejoran pero otros empeoran notablemente. Se puede ver en ACeleverCookie: The Best and Worst Logo Remakes of the Century. […]
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I think the new Baskin31Robbins logo is clever and funky - though I have no idea what Baskin31Robbins is - but the new font looks like entertainment.
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Baskin Robbins is ice cream.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:14 am
An upfront disclosure of where the logos came from would have been the proper blog etiquette to follow. Some of these logos are hard to find, especially when they come out; taking them without proper credit is, well, inappropriate. Plus, centering those logos is hard work!
We didn’t invent the before/after set-up, nor did we design the logos, so there is really no infringement of any kind. But when bloggers live off the content that we produce with little to no remuneration, the best we can do is acknowledge and support each other. Plus, it’s a small world after all and, as was enlightened by the commenters, people will call bull when noticed.
September 24th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Oops… I had the wrong link copied on my clipboard. This is Armin of Brand New, not Sports Logos.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I can’t believe you approve of the new at&t logo. They took one of the best logo designs of all time and turned it into something so mediocre it should be criminal.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
unfortunately the NFL Logo, a favorite on this list, is still not being used in nfl.com, what gives?
September 25th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
The Qantas logo re-design is just a dog. The original kangaroo was far more refined and elegant.
September 25th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Paypal obviously needed to replace their logo as they have become a bigger company and need to relate to a larger audience. The new logo, with the differentiation in colour gives the reader/observer an obvious pronunciation change without the obvious change in text. Overall a good change, here here. End of rant
September 25th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Although most of this can be found at Brand New. I think you need to do a little better at your justification of the logos and why they are bad or good. Pointing out colors is one thing but you have to take in effect all the mechanics behind the logo. The reference to web 2.0 for some of the logos is off par as well. You seem to be seeing this from a view point of a web world instead of print.
As for the at&t logo I find the new version a lot better and stronger than their last. At first I didn’t think much of it due to it not being very strong visually. But I had to do a case study of ATT since they are a client of ours and viewing their brand guidelines floored me on how well thought out this logo is. I also understand that I’m privileged to have access to information that not everyone can read about. So opinions are based on the surface of just the logo itself and not the whole identity of the company. So sad.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:53 am
regarding pantone, what a joke. the logo has become iconic and can be easily adapted to many colors, as shown on their website.
http://pantone.com/
September 26th, 2007 at 7:30 am
I generally agree, but I disagree in many cases - the kerning is way off in many of the new logos, where they were perfectly good in the old ones! The L and the T in the new logo, for example, look completely wrong.
September 26th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Eh, without Armin’s thoughtful critiques this just comes off as a shallow, unsophisticated opinion. Which is ok, for some people, I guess.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:32 am
[…] A Clever Cookie wrote up a review of these logos that have been rebranded just recently. Were they successful? Some were, but some clearly were not thinking clearly when making the decision to pay these awful designers. I agree with most of these ratings, and really love the side-by-side comparison. […]
September 26th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Even though most people never saw the original Starbucks logo (which I believe was brown with a topless mermaid and the full name of the company back then: Starbucks Coffe & Tea), it should be added here as a good example of logo redesign. Who in the world does not recognize the iconic white and green Starbucks logo these days?
Another good example: Apple.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:40 am
1. AT & T: The new identity looks like a lopsided egg, it is also very clumsy looking, difficult to be sized downed and does not translate well in B & W.
2. DELTA: The new logo refresh is remindful of the CITGO oil company logo. Goto: http://www.citgo.com and see for yourself and the new typeface lacks personality. What is up with the lettering spacing? The designer must have gone to the Art Institute on a scholarship.
3. OLD NAVY: Another lopsided egg, looks like a “turd”, the new blue-green color is god-awful. The new new typeface is the only improvement.
4. PANTONE: The new logo is an absolute improvement over the original logo. It is simple in shape and form and resembles a Pantone chip, I really don’t know how this was critiqued as “Bad”?
September 26th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I don’t fault you for taking images from The Brand New blog - when it comes to Identity Design, it is the foremost reference one can use. It is timely, thoughtful and, more often than not, deeply provactive in its research and writing.
I do fault you, however, for making a list entitled “Best and Worst Logo Remakes of the Century” because (1) “Century” as in the century we currently are only 7 years into? (2) it is called a “redesign” not a “remake” remakes are what they do to old movies when they want to put young, popular actors in them and make them worse than the original and (3) something titled “The Best and Worst” should never, ever, for any reason, I don’t care what the list is about, begin with Paypal and KFC.
Also, arguing points like the new AT&T logo is better than the original with justifications like “A good example of modernization without overdoing it” does a disservice to the larger issue of historical pieces of graphic design undergoing “modernization.” The AT&T logo, the IBM logo and even the original Apple logo are recorded pieces of graphic history and discussing their redesign can never be boiled down to 3 simple sentances - regardless of your position on whether the redesign is good or bad.
My advice: next time you put a list like this together, do your research, give it a clearly title and make it known, up front, that this is nothing more than your humble opinion (which is all Brand New ever does and part of what makes it so successful)
September 26th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
The pantel logo is much better by way of form and brand identity. Pantel used its color swatch shape to reinforce the proportions of the rectangle with the square inside, for quick user recognition. I think this is awesome. The first logo’s image was way too cluttered, and it either looked as if the color sample was in front of a gradient of other color samples of a higher tint, or… is spinning through time and space to get to the image-front. A little cheezy.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
hah.. did i say pantel? i was thinking pantone.
hah
September 26th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
[…] Link […]
September 26th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
[…] [Copiado descaradamente de:aclevercookie] […]
September 26th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
I agree with your reviews except for the redesigned AT&T logo. It think the new one, especially the choice of font, is butt ugly. It looks amateurish and so dot-com bubble days.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:28 am
I’ve worked as a designer for nearly two decades now and have learned that while the arts of color, typography and composition should be respected and cultivated… there’s no science that will satisfy the subjective minds of people.
I agreed with some of these, disagreed with others. Lighten up on the guy. Why be so snotty and petty? I spent years listening to sophisticated design lectures that, in the end, never said more than CleverCookie did.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:18 am
[…] blog called a clever cookie has an amusingly written analysis of some well-known logos and their recent re-designs; each are evaluated for what they’ve […]
September 27th, 2007 at 7:21 am
You forgot one. The redesign for K-Mart. Now Big K (mart) and Super K (mart). This redesign was so absolutely pointless as an attempt to modernize their image. Its obvious the artist had the right idea in dropping the “mart” and going with the big red K as their logo, but then some corporate boob botched the deal by demanding the word “mart” be put back into the logo. I hate corporate idiots who think they have a clue.
September 27th, 2007 at 10:26 am
[…] [A Clever Cookie - The Best And Worst Logo Remakes Of The Century] […]
September 27th, 2007 at 11:00 am
I’m sorry to say but I think your credibility is shot
September 27th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
i agree with Hbrdshry*Girl. pretty slack job here.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
[…] good friend of mine from Chicago send me an article entitled The Best and Worst Logo Remake over at aclevercookie.com that provides a number of wonderful before-and-after comparisons of […]
September 30th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
[…] The Best and Worst Logo Remakes of the Century (aclevercookie.com) Dare I say it? Is the Vancouver Canucks logo in the bad section here? […]
October 1st, 2007 at 10:12 am
[…] How do some recent corporate logo redesigns hold up? [via] […]
October 1st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
KFC
Surprised you didn’t mention the introduction of the bucket shape into the logo. And I’ll bet the apron is partly to obscure the tie, which screams Old South and some not-so savory connotations.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Speaking of logos, have you looked at yours? A gray “a” on a gray gradient background?
~ “wtf were you thinking?”
October 1st, 2007 at 4:16 pm
@kc: Yes. And again, if you didn’t have your thumb in your ass, you’d see the gradient ends before the ‘a’. Plus, the ‘a’ is of little importance and I didn’t want it standing out.
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:02 am
[…] A Clever Cookie nos presenta una extensa lista de Logos rediseñados, y nos explica porque considera que el cambio fue atinado o no. Recordemos que rediseñando el Logo, pieza fundamental de la imagen corporativa de la compañía, existe mucho riesgo. Puede ser un cambio positivo o negativo. Ya que el mismo vive dentro de las personas, en especial si es un Logo que lleva muchos años en el mercado. Posts Relacionados Los mejores iconos, logos y botones gratisLos 10 Mejores Sitios Sobre TipografíaTodo evoluciona, incluyendo los LogosLogos LegalesFormas de dañar un buen LogoLogos en la webPatternLa Importancia de Seleccionar un Buen Logo […]
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:30 am
[…] The Best and Worst Logo Remakes of the Century (aclevercookie.com) Nice list of branding changes that have taken place recently and a quick analysis of how succesful they are. (tags: design logos marketing) […]
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:51 pm
You obviously have no design experience, and you must not be active in the modern marketing realm. Granted some of the ones you chose are actually bad changes, a majority of the ones you say are “bad” are simply a modernization of their old logo, and is considered a good design. Pantone especially… modern is minimalistic, because it makes it extremely recognizable and easy to use… some of these logos are great improvements.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I’m not a designer, I’m a consumer so what I say has more value because afterall is said and done I’m the one that the logo is meant to appeal to and influence.
That said, I disagreed with nearly every single evaluation and it made me realise that the end of the day what makes a good or bad logo is basically intangible, because a bad logo that ends up being popular where it counts will just change the rules of logo design. Hence talk all you want but it will be nothing more than hot air all your doing is being a salesman for your own predilections.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
@William: You’re right, I have no true professional design experience. Since when do critics have to have experience in the things they critique?
I am looking at these logo objectively from my experience in experiencing the effect of logo design and brands. A CEO can recognize a good brand or guide a designer towards a good brand, but he does not necessarily have hands-on experience making logos, does he?
Anyway, thanks for sharing your opinion. Constructive opinions are always welcome.
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I like the idea of this blog and agree with most of your assessments as well. I did however prefer the Delta logo with blue in the “arrow head” portion of the logo. This could have been easily retained. The Baskin Robbins new logo is cool but the “31″ is too obscured for most people to pick up on. The one logo that I totally disagree with you on is the “Old Navy” logo. The new version looks indecisive to me and an abomination compared to the original. Just my 2¢ -John Zubuk IT Works
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I would like to think it is obvious why Dairy Queen changed their logo I figured it out almost when I first saw the change later this summer. They are simply trying to showcase that they are not all about ice cream anymore. The two swipes showcase the hot eats for the orange and the cool treats for the blue.
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
@Jak: Thanks for clearing up their intentions. Unfortunately, it looks like crap :/
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
You’re right about half the time. That isn’t really all that great.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
very good post ..
thank you … got more?
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Cookie -
Thanks for having the guts to put something like this out there. It appears you have taken a lot of flack on your opinion. However, it looks like there have been a lot of responses to the actual topic. It is always good to see other opinions.
Keep up the good work.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Very nice recopilation.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Ah this guy doesn’t have guts, hes just some nit picking graphic design student that flips out when a sans font gets mixed with a non sans. I’ve worked with a couple wack jobs like this and they’ll spend hours detailing why bubbled edges and easily reproducible lines guarantee commercial success.
To me the history of a logo is a powerful element consumers look at, hence the simple “add-on” changes many companies make. Keeps the brand tradition and bridges some gap. And I don’t understand how barely changing the dimensions of your ellipse in one brand makes it “cleaner” and “newer” while doing the same minor geometric change in another is a huge plus.
Not to mention the new armor all logo that completely lost it’s personality and hand-drawn charm. The old one sort of made me laugh, the new one looks like a new division of haliburton weapons corp.
Stop thinking you can go to school to tell people what they like
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 pm
*is a huge MINUS.
sorry wrote it all in one go
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Regarding the pantone logo… when made your decision on whether it was a good or bad logo. Did you at all consider the usage of the logo and the fact that it’s not just the one color that they use, it’s whatever color the white mark happens to be on, have you seen any of pantones marketing collateral? If you have, then you would have know this. And further more it seems that you are basing you judgments on all these logos on pure aesthetics on just one piece of the identity pie not the pie as a whole. Granted the identities of some of these guys have seriously declined in a lame attempt to remain relevent and current with present trend. (Dairy queen for one, they should have stuck with what they had… classic)
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Disagree, on MOST of those.
KFC you’re kidding me. Neither of them are good, hard to read the ever infamous and over used vectorization…. but a step back non-the-less. Agree with DQ, the swirls serve NO purpose. ArmorALL BAD!!! lowered the contrast of the logo. i’m sure it’s hard to read small and in black and white. losing the circle was good but should have stuck with the same high contrast to white. And Payless, GOOD!!! why stick with a dated logo…. i’ll give you maybe not such a major jump with out a major ad campaign but still a timely change for a dated mark. Jiffy Lube, GOOD! Compaq BAD not even an attempt to make them look the same.. or a poor attempt to match fonts. Looks like someone just messed up not a purposeful change. Skipping down but again BAD outlook on most of the those marks. But one last comment Pantone. By FAR the best improvement, clean clear to the point can fit onto packaging better. Contained and useful, I’m curious what your background is?
October 4th, 2007 at 12:12 am
The worst abomination of all time, I think is the Milwaukee Brewers with their ugly ass new M. They had the best ever.
And Im not even a Brewers fan. Im a Royals fan.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:27 am
I like the new Payless one. So what if its a bit “Web 2.0″, the old one was designed in the 70s and you can tell. It could be better but its still an improvement.
PayPal is trying to reinvent itself and rid itself of the cheap, insecure alternative image. I think that’s the main reason for the change. When you look at their whole new site the logo isn’t as bad. They’ve definitely improved the functionality but I suppose that’s not really what we’re discussing.
The Hindustan one still sucks. HCC means nothing to me and the “design” is just bland. If they were really well known it might work but since they aren’t they need something better.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:56 am
I agree with some, others not. But overall its nice to see some comments (good and bad) on logo designs.
Especially KFC is good. It really shows how to reform a logo. As many others have noted the AT&T logo has turned out really bad, the original is probably too well know.
I also disagree with you assumptions in regard to excelairwais -> xl.com. This logo is changed to something completely different, I agree, but if its a part of a strategy to move their clients to the internet, booking online, the change is perfect. In the original logo you have no idea where to look. In the new logo… well can you guess the web address?
Other of your examples are really good. Especially the “bad” ones. Some logo changes are almost jokes.
Keep up the good work. Hope to see more analysis from your hand.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Yup … about right half the time. Some “BAD” Logo’s show more creativity than the criticaster’s comments.
What that circular thing is @ Payless? Must be a P and an L, I guess. And it represents shoes just as much as the blobs that are supposed to be o’s in the old logo.
Biggest (n00b) misunderstanding is that images in a logo should be coupled with the product.
Other than that a noteworthy post though. Definitely would have grabbed some ppl’s attention ^_^
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