The Best and Worst Logo Remakes of the Century
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 .
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.
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[update] A lot of people have pointed out that I used 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 if you want to be up to date on logo redesigns.
Wednesday 31 Oct 2007 | admin | Design
