Logo Redesigns in 2019

Slack

In April, we wrote a full article on why Slack needed to change its logo. If you are not familiar with this tool, it is an internal chat program widely used by companies. For starters, the original logo was very complex. It was a hashtag at an angle of 18 degrees in 11 different shades. Because it was difficult to use and reproduce, the company overhauled and simplified its brand image. They changed the logo from 11 colors to 4 and removed the 18-degree angle. Four lines and four small conversation bubbles now make up Slack's new logo. 

Source: Medium

Volkswagen

What do you do when your company wants to restore its image? For many, it is a logo redesign. This is exactly what the German company Volkswagen did in order to escape its diesel gate scandal. Like many other companies before, Volkswagen simplified the original logo. In this case, any superfluous items were removed to keep only the circle and the letters V and W. The 3D effect was also shelved. Volkswagen said it opted for this logo because it has a more digital look and to mark the new era of electric cars. Only time will tell if this new brand image will help restore the public perception of this company.

Source: Underconsideration

IKEA

Did you know that Swedish giant IKEA changed its logo this year? We swear! There were some subtle modifications made to increase the readability of the text of this well-known around the planet yellow and blue logo. First, the spacing between the letters was reduced to bring them slightly closer together. This resulted in a slightly shorter logo. The bottom of the letters, which were already very light, were softened. In short, nothing major!

Source: Underconsideration

Zara

 Speaking of a change in spacing between letters, have you come across Zara's new logo released earlier this year? This change brought the Spanish company a lot of criticism. The old logo made up of the company's name in a black serif font was modified to a similar version, but with very tight spacing between the letters. So tight that some letters were merged. This change has been mocked and parodied by designers and typography creators. One typographer asked if the logo had been designed by a robot.  

Source: Popbuzz

Yahoo!

And yes, Yahoo! has changed its logo again this year! This is the third redesign in less than 10 years, which is quite a lot when the lifespan of a logo is about 5 to 7 years. The new logo of this former king of the web uses a font very different from the last logo, but the purple has been kept. In addition, the company's name is now in all lowercase letters, which gives a younger and more modern look. The emphasis is also on the exclamation mark that serves as a variation from the last logos. In short, this is a big change, but will it be enough to compete with Google?

Source: Underconsideration

Android

 This year too, Android went from a signature logo to a combined logo. We saw the company's name as the logo, even though the symbol of the little green robot is easily recognized.  This well-known little robot has changed to a color called 'Android Green' and the head of the robot is paired on top of the name android. Something that is similar to the YouTube logo.

Source: Androidcentral

Mozilla Firefox 

 Even though the change had not been made at the time this article was written, Mozilla Firefox did announce earlier this year a new brand identity. We would like to point out, that this is not a secret since the company had announced a while ago that it was working on a redesign. This web player who has already had a very rich history with its logos has decided to continue the evolution of their original logo. Indeed, the fox (yes, we know that it is actually a red panda) will always be present in some way, but the blue of the logo will be replaced by a more purple hue. This change comes with a range of new logos for the different products they offer. 

Source: Underconsideration

In conclusion, for the most part, it seems that we have seen some pretty successful redesigns. We are far from the catastrophic cases of BP, Gap and Cardiff Bluebirds. What was your favorite logo redesign of 2019? And which company should take some time to redo their logo in 2020? We are sure that the new year will bring its share of new trends that will force other companies to modernize! Happy New Year!