Spotted New Logos

Thursday, February 09, 2017

When I see new logo identities for big companies popping up, I find it useful to look them over as a group. I'm always amazed with the huge budgets these places have, that the newer branding always seems like a wasted opportunity. It's like no thought process goes into it, other than what it visually looks like on the surface, which then takes a turn for the worse anyway due to design by committee. Every logo can't have the success of a majestic hidden negative space arrow like FedEx, but still!


The new Best Western logo is one that really doesn't agree with me. The timing is good as far as the old identity looking ancient, but the new logo is already very dated looking. The whole beveled circle thing was big like 15 years ago and makes the logo bulky all stacked together. I would just drop that part immediately. Really the chance was missed to update the regal crest look. It could have been made more modern and would fit right in with current visual trends. Overall, just very unoriginal looking and poor thought development from a major hotel chain.



The Mr.Sub logotype had seen better days but wasn't completely out of place among current brands out there. The new type is cleaned up with a sleeker, modern feel... if anything it is just a little too non-descript. What I don't get is the sub bun lines. For an element that is supposed to jazz things up, it just looks like an after-thought. I think it could have been pulled off but way more exploration was needed as far as line shape, spacing and thickness.



The Sears Canada identity is one everybody is familiar with. Seems like its been around forever. So it does look dated in a not exactly timeless kind of way, but still scores for familiarity points. The new type views okay but lacking panache. I kind of miss the blue colour... black seems so extreme when we are talking about Sears. Mostly the maple leaf bothers me... at this size it needs a stem! If you are going to get artsy with it, there must have been other options.



The new Taco Bell logo is an interesting one. Really, the old one had more years left in it, compared to how dated many big company logos look. The colour change seems off again to me here... the black type and dark purple seem too extreme. I think reversed out in white it probably has a decent feel though. The simplifications to the bell graphic are quite nice, and shifting it down to one colour is a good choice. I miss some of the flair in the type (pretty similar to the Sears update here really.)

You Might Also Like

0 comments