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IMHO the simplest explanation is that style is cyclical, and we've entered into a minimalist, almost brutalist, period and these brands are simply skating to wh
by dagmx 4y ago
IMHO the simplest explanation is that style is cyclical, and we've entered into a minimalist, almost brutalist, period and these brands are simply skating to where the puck is.
Will this design trend last? Probably not but doing a rebrand to freshen things up every few years is cheap enough, while the value in being "current" is very much worth it.
A lot of those logos looked old fashioned and almost early 2000s in comparison, which tech forward folks probably don't care about, but it's subtly picked up by the average consumer.
You'll notice this even for companies that haven't changed their brand in ages like Apple. All of Apple's branding and presentation style has changed in similar ways over the past few years.
- zeroonetwothree 4y agoAgree. They all look more modern in the new versions. It’s just a natural cycle of design, look at the history of logos for longer lived brands and you see the same thing.
- nine_k 4y agoThe trick is to look quaint without looking old-fashioned. Few can pull it off. Maybe the Ferrari logo has this quality. Even better it is to look timeless; maybe the Mercedes Benz logo has this quality. These are really really few: say, Apple had to rework their iconic bitten apple logo.
- vosper 4y agoCoca-cola and McDonalds are probably two good examples here. Especially Coca-cola.
- nine_k 4y agoCoca-Cola indeed! They changed the taste, but the logo stays. Interestingly, they experimented with it in the early days [1], but the design from 1887 is basically what we have now, with minimal amendments. [1]: https://designbro.com/blog/brand-logos/coca-cola-logo-visual-identity/ https://designbro.com/blog/brand-logos/coca-cola-logo-visual...
- hn_throwaway_99 4y agoThe hard thing to say, though, is "does Coca-cola's logo show timeless design?" or "Is Coca-cola's logo timeless because they just decided to never change it, and coke is such an iconic product that there is no need to?" I mean, the latter part appears to be pretty much what this article is arguing. Just look at the Pinterest change, from a nice, cursive logo to boring, generic block letters. Coca-cola may have made the same boring transition if somehow minimalist sans serif was all the rage in the late 1800s.
- nine_k 4y agoDo you remember Coca-Cola logo ridiculed often? I don't, so I mark it as "timeless", not "stuck in time".
- thrwyoilarticle 4y agoCoca Cola did make the transition with new Coke which is still used for Diet Coke
- KerrAvon 4y agoAt some point, if yours is the only one left standing from that era, it becomes timeless. Coco-Cola management was very conservative throughout most of the 20th century.
- listenallyall 4y agoI think McDonald's has the best logo of all time. Coca-Cola's pretty much requires the text -- the stripe alone probably isn't universally recognizable. And Diet Coke, Coke Zero, etc all have variations. Meanwhile the Golden Arches don't need any accompaniment, they are plastered on everything, and, just like I used it above, the logo itself has a name.