Changing the logo of a company or organization is tantamount to changing the brand of the company. A lot of discretion needs to be exercised because the new logo might spark off negative reactions from ardent brand followers. A recent case was witnessed when The Metropolitan Museum of Art decided to change their old logo and adopt a new scarlet palette. The choice seemed not to be a popular one because the new logo was resisted by so many people.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened a new modern art annex on Madison Avenue, and they thought that they could take advantage of the new development to have a new logo. However, the redesign did not work well for the branding needs of the company. To many, the redesign got the label as a “disaster”, and other also termed it as a “graphics misfire”.

In an attempt to try and defend the redesign, the museum accepted the fact that the new logo could probably not be accepted by everyone but according to them, they needed something bold, simple, and indisputable and that was what the new logo represented. So why exactly did the new logo spark of such geysers of negative reviews? We take a look at the old logo as well as the new one and see why some people might have been disappointed in the new look of the company.

The old logo of the museum was nothing but an M while the new one has replaced the M with “The MET” written in capital letters and made to appear as if the two words are flowing into one another. Forming the Metropolitan new logo. The new design was the work of Wolff Olins from their New York Office.

According to the designers, they are actually pleased that people are talking about the new logo and they are not bothered by the negativities being expressed from some quarters. To them, their objective is to come up with designs that people talk about. They defended the new design by saying that other than being visually appealing, it captures the essence of the museum, and it is aimed at expanding the reach and the relevance of The Metropolitan Museum of Arts. This was seen as an improvement on the old logo.

The new logo is scheduled to start being used from March and it was not just a normal logo change but a drive in enhancing the branding of the museum. The campaign will include other elements such as signage and many more to revamp the decade-long look of the museum.

The initial logo of the museum relied only on the use of a symbol, but the new one has discarded this approach as it uses words that have been commonly used to refer to the museum, “The Met”. As a result, therefore, the new logo has an immediacy which speaks to all audiences once they see it. They no longer try to figure out what the M is all about since they will see a name that they are already used to. In as much as they try to defend the logo, the new design is still continuing to get loads of criticism from even some of the most respected quarters.

Justin Davidson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture and art critic issued a blistering assessment of the logo comparing it to a red double-decker bus which has stopped and shoving passengers on each other’s back. To him, the logo is nothing but two short words printed scarlet letters before being squashed and tucked together. He also thought that the logo gave much prominence to the word “THE” and this has no relevance to the museum.

Another respected Arts critic found issues with the logo and thought that the museum ought not to have adopted such a design for a new logo. According to Judith H. Dobryznksi, the museum has traded a classic image they had held for years for a more minimalist design. To her, this shouldn’t have been the case since the museum now risks losing an identity and an image it had for long and which most of the fans had loved so much.

Another independent illustrator and designer, Steve Cup, thinks that the concept of minimalism in logo design has come as a late adoption by the museum. From his perspective, this is a concept that has been around for some time. He regrets that the museum has just woken up to realize that they needed to have such a logo.

But all the raging criticism on the new logo are expected, especially when you dealing with a big brand with a huge following. Not everyone is bound to accept it, but as long as it serves the branding needs of the organization.

Check out these top graphic design books!

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The Barclays Premier League has established a new look logo for the season 2016/17. The logo is slightly different from the previous one though it has retained all the identifying symbols present in its predecessor. As with every logo redesign, there is expected to be mixed reactions depending on the perception of the target audience.

To some, the logo is a complete flop while others have hailed it and wondered why it took so long for the league to change it, given that the current logo has been in use for more than two and a half decades. To best understand the new logo, it would be prudent to take a walk down the memory lane to see how the new look premier league logo was arrived at.

The Premier League was established in 1992. The ownership of the league lies in its 20 member clubs which bestows upon the league the ability to act on negotiations regarding sponsorship deals and broadcast licensing without any input or interference of the Football Association – the soccer governing body in England. Since 2001, the league title sponsor has been the Barclays Bank – a British multinational financial and banking services company.

The sponsorship is scheduled to expire in 2016, and the Premier League is not keen on getting another title sponsor and is likely to rely on the broadcast and advertising deals that it has been generating in the recent past.

The Premier is the most popular league in the universe with a fanatic following in almost all the countries. In just 2015, the league sold broadcast rights worth 5.136B, the highest ever recorded by any league in the world. The logo redesign is to act as a complement to the new stream of income.

The old logo featured a lion pawing a ball with a crown on its head. This is because lions are known to have crowns and if they find a ball, they will always paw it. Figuratively, the use of the lion in this manner was an indication that the premier league was the king of all football leagues in the world.

Also included in the Barclays premier league logo was the Barclays eagle neatly resting inside a ball. This was not one of the most amazing logos, given the popularity and the lucrative nature of the sport. Some people observed that the logo was already aging.

The new premier league logo, on the other hand, is quite different and has infused life and freshness in the almost redundant Barclays premier league logo. It has also taken away the secondary Barclays Bank logo which featured in eagle inside a ball.

You will also miss the king of the jungle with his claws pawing the red ball. Instead, the full lion has been minimized into a ball shaped lion with a crown on its head. Using animals in logos is always very difficult but the new premier league logo has successfully managed to display all the characteristics of the lion in a simple yet effective manner.

You will also find the new face of the lion to be very impressive. Unlike in the previous premier league logo, the new face is not looking straightforward. It has a three-quarter view, which makes it challenging to draw but at the same it has broken the expected symmetry in the most awesome manner. The common features usually present in a lion have also been well captured. These include the mane, the snout, the eyes and the ears.

The typography of the new premier league logo is also spot on! DesignStudio – the creators of the logo must have adopted the Capsule Wardrobe concept (by Steve Jobs) of wearing the same thing day in day out. According to Steve Jobs, you don’t have to stress yourself thinking about what to wear but instead, stick to one limited and prescribed types of clothes so that you can free your mind and concentrate on more important things.

The typography chosen by the DesignStudio for the new premier league logo nouveau geometric sans serif – their dad jeans and black turtleneck. (Steve Jobs favorite attire). Though the typography doesn’t exude the energy and the passion of the game as well as the lion, it was a good choice and it has blended well with the rest of the new premier league logo design.

Finally, the new premier league logo comes with a lot of versatility since it can be made huge, shrunk, colors switched amidst other adjustments without it losing on the readability. It also renders well on small screens, and big screens and it also has room for the name of the title sponsor should the premier league decide to have one in the future.

Check out some of the oldest logos here!

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Several cases have been witnessed where a rebrand received a hostile reception from the fanatic followers. The most recent one is by Uber, the taxi hailing app, whose rebrand was likened to toilet tiles, thus making the company receive a lot of backlash from the customers. The rebrand by Uber was designed to give the users a different logo based on the various locations where the services were available. So serious was the redesign that the CEO and co-founder of the company as well as the Uber design director had to resign due to the excessive criticism that the new logo had.

Customers love their brands, and they are ready to protect it should there be a need to do so. This is usually a significant challenge for many corporate organizations looking to rebrand. There is always an apprehension on the kind of reception the rebrand will receive with the most dreaded one being a rejection of the rebrand by the loyal customers. As a matter of fact, most businesses will have several tests to gauge the effectiveness of a brand before they finally release it to masses.

About the Uber Redesign

The new Uber logo is centered around a theme of atoms and bits representing the company’s focus on humans and technology. Instead of hiring an external design team to take up on the rebranding of the company, Uber decided to use their own in-house design team led by the CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick together with Uber design director, Shalin Amin. According to sources intimate to the redesign, the co-founder did not trust anyone else to make a good redesign, and this is why he decided to get on board with the rest of the design team.

The new redesign caused a storm worldwide, with the majority feeling disappointed by the sheer lack of creativity and the casual nature in which the new logo was made. Others have referred to it as “asshole” because it represents the type of tiles usually used in constructing toilets. The patterns on the back of the app icon when it is loading are the design of the company’s communications designer, and she admitted that the inspiration came from the small square tiles found in her bathroom.

One of the most disappointing things about the Uber logo is that it attempted to change the entire identity of the whole original logo. For instance, the conspicuous and well designed U in the initial design was taken away. Instead, it has been replaced by a circular motif and a hexagonal shape for rider’s and partner’s devices respectively. Both the patterns have a square “bit” right at the center, and this is what caused outrage on the design. Many people likened the bit to the anus.

The other glaring and potentially annoying difference about the new Uber logo is the conspicuous absence of the white and black theme present in the initial design. Instead, the company saw it fit to adopt a colorful palette which they claim that was inspired by the textiles, architecture, fashion and art present in the various countries where the company has operations.

For instance, in Mexico, the logo displays palettes of pink as well as the patterns present in the local tiles. In Ireland, the design was inspired the Georgian architecture and the lush green vegetation typical of the Irish countryside. The Nigerian version of the logo, on the other hand, was inspired by the Ankara due to its bright colors and the wonderful geometric patterns. The typeface used in the new logo design is also more condensed, thicker and simpler. The typeface was chosen to remove the curls that were present in the R and U on the previous logo.

With the new logo design, users in the various countries will see customized versions of the logo to match the identities and the colors of those countries. The company also has plans to roll out city specific logos which will depict the patterns and the colors of the cities. This is intended to enable the customers see Uber from a distance, and also to reflect on the fact the company has grown and is now more mature than it was a few years ago.

The resignation of the lead designers who spearheaded the Uber redesign is an indication of how sensitive a logo change is to the customers. It is the desire of every company to keep their customers as close as possible and would not admire for anything to make them unhappy. The storm is not yet settled on the perceived poor redesign of the Uber logo, and there are speculations that the company might as well revert to the old design as they think up of something new. Only time will tell.

Check out these color combination tips to avoid mistakes in your own designs!

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The decision to begin to revamp your company logo is usually a tough one for businesses to make. Logos are the brand identities of companies and changing them implies that you are changing the whole face of the enterprise. Many are the occasions when business attempted to change their logos and got negative feedback from the clients only for them to revert to the initial logo.

This shows that before a business decides to change or revamp their logos, certain factors need to be given a lot of consideration. So how often should you be changing your company logo? Check out the following as a guide to knowing whether or not it is time to change your logo:

Consider the initial design approach

For most businesses, the importance of having a professional logo usually becomes apparent when they realize the need to brand and market their ventures. At the point of start-up, the logo is never in their minds since they are busy with other logistics trying to get the business on its feet.

Hence, they will use just any type of logo without giving it much thought. But when the business begins to grow and start to have a large customer base, branding becomes necessary for the continued growth of the company. If you started a business in this manner, then perhaps you should consider changing your company logo now that you are getting more insights and clarity into where you are headed.

When your logo design becomes outdated

Changing your company logo becomes inevitable if your current logo design becomes obsolete. Remember, the logo is the visual representation of your company to the outside world. Due to changes in operation and passing of time, the graphics or the text on your logo may cease to be relevant, and this may not work for the effective branding of your business.

The solution in such a case is to revamp your logo to be in tandem with the current business operations and also fit the general expectations of the customers as well as the public. In some instances, you may have used the logo for a very long time such that it doesn’t exude any vibrancy for the company. You must thus embark on changing your company logo to inject life into the brand image.

When there is a significant change in your company

It goes without saying that when your company changes significantly, then changing your company logo is inevitable. And this is usually one of the most significant considerations for businesses who want to change their logo. A logo represents the company’s image to the potential clients and customers. It reflects the values as well as the nature of the products and services offered by the business.

When a business, therefore, changes its operations or line of products and services, this must also be reflected on the logo to help create awareness and promote the new look business to the clients and customers. Rarely will you have significant changes in the operations of your business and fail on changing your logo either partially or completely.

When your logo is too complex

A logo should be simple enough yet properly designed to pass across effectively the central marketing message of the business. If your logo is too complex, such that the potential customers are not able to comprehend the meaning out of it, then it no longer serves its marketing and branding purposes and changing your company logo would be the best option.

The current trends have seen major corporate giants shifting from complex logo designs to very simple yet effective designs. There is a great adoption of the “less is more” concept where logos are not crammed with graphics and text but rather, they are designed in a minimalist way, and still manage to communicate effectively.

When your logo is confusing

Apart from starting to revamp your company logo when it is too complex, it is also important to change it when it is confusing. A logo becomes confusing when customers are not in a position to tell explicitly what the logo is all about. Either there is no correlation between the logo and your products or services or the logo is nearly similar to that of another business.

Hence, customers keep on confusing you for the other venture. If, suppose you hand over your business card to clients, and you notice that squinting in confusion, and then know that something is not right, and you should probably think of changing your company logo.

As observed earlier, changing your company logo is usually a tricky affair, and you need to be certain that the change is necessary. Do a lot of research to validate your reasons for changing your company logo, or else, it will be a waste of time and resources if you change it, and your clients reject the change

Check out these recent rebrands for inspiration if you have decided to change your logo!

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The decision by a company to redesign their logo is usually a serious one that requires a lot of consideration. The established brands considering rebranding run the risk of alienating some of their loyal customers while the less established ones may be moving too fast to rebrand before they have a chance to evaluate the effects of their current logo. But such an uncertainty on the possible outcomes of a redesign should never discourage a company from doing a logo makeover. Most of the big companies usually hire marketing professionals to oversee the entire redesign process. Whereas some have managed to get impressive results with the new redesigns, some redesigns became disasters thus a regrettable branding move by the businesses. Below are the top ten worst logo redesigns conducted by various companies in the recent years-:

Bacardi

Bacardi is a world’s famous rum brand. The company decided to redesign its logo to feature a design that was used way back in the 1930s as a way of dramatizing the Cuban history. The result of this logo redesign was a disaster since it ended up showing a roughly polished bat and the font used to in the company name were also less rosy than the previous ones.

Black Decker

Black Decker is a popular appliance and tool manufacturer. It’s attempts to rebrand itself, including redesigning their logo’s went south by all standards. The new design is just plain and boring, and many people have voiced their concerns with regards to this, but seemingly, Black Decker is adamant to do something about it.

YMCA England

YMCA England is a charitable organization and whereas we are trying to focus on the failed logo redesign attempts by businesses and other corporate organizations, the terrible failure of the redesign by YMCA England is screaming too much to be ignored. The organization tried to modernize its logo only to end with an ugly logo that was far much worse than the initial one. The current logo looks more of an AC/DC logo, entirely unsuitable for an organization of its caliber.

The Hershey Company

Logos in the present times no longer have photo-realistic images of one of their products. The Hershey Company had such a type of a logo hence it was necessary to redesign to reflect the current trends in the design as well in the marketing world. In the process of modifying the logo, they decided to do away with the last S, which was present in the first logo and this ruined everything. It appeared flat and displayed apparent lack of maturity in the new logo redesign.

Cole Haan

Cole Haan is a men’s footwear brand, but it is currently making steady inroads into the fashion industry by introducing a variety of clothes, shoes, and accessories for both men and women. In its rebranding process, it redesigned its original logo that was a simple logotype of Cole Haan with a piece of a needle and thread in between. The current logo redesign is just a simple logotype of “Cole Haan” with the year of the establishment on a blue backdrop. Many people think that they have relaxed their artsy charm in the new logo, and they are trying to ape the likes of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

Olive Garden

Following a terrible marketing spell that led to the Italian restaurant raking in huge losses, they decided on a major redesign aimed at attracting a younger and enthusiastic crowd. However, their logo redesign ended up being flat with the faux-handwriting font appearing to be unappealing to the intended target audience. The rebranding did not help them tap the new client base they were hoping to get.

Brut

Brut is a men’s grooming line, and it attempted a logo redesign to have something appealing to the younger men. The result ended up being a very simplistic design that might not even appeal to the adolescent boys.

Nationwide

Nationwide is an insurance agency, and it decided to redesign its logo to something similar to what they used to have before 1998 but with a few modern updates. Initially, the logo used to feature a blue frame, but the new one became one of the worst logo redesigns and has a blue eagle that the company claims to be easily recognizable to many people. The new design, however, looks like a terrible college logo lacking coherence with a renowned insurance company like Nationwide.

Monster Worldwide

With over 200 million registered users, Monster Worldwide thought that it was a great time to rebrand. The resulting one of the worst logo redesigns was in the form of a new flag with 3D effects. This is something completely different from what they had in the past, and it ended up being entirely off the mark. Many users felt lost, as it was as if they were dealing with a totally new company.

Airbnb

Airbnb, one of the worst logo redesigns is another great display of lack of maturity and creativity in the design world – according to the sentiments of some professional graphics designers. The new logo is visibly awkward, with similarities to some body parts that a majority of people don’t appreciate as part of a marketing tool for any company. However, the company seems to be in love with their logo, and they don’t mind the dirty jokes people are making about it. I guess if you don’t like it then you will just get used to it.

Check out these iconic logos to gain inspiration from brands that have stood the test of time. 

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