We take a look back at this month’s biggest logo designs, including News Corp, Superman and Moleskine.
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As creatives we constantly strive to reinterpret the world in new and visually exciting ways. Yet we can also be conservative and often have a knee-jerk reaction to something new.
So on the day a new logo design is launched for a familiar brand, the first reactions are usually negative. Once some time has passed and the new design has been seen in action, though, it can be a different story. Here we take a look back at the month’s biggest redesigns: with a bit of fresh perspective, what do you think of them now?
01. Moleskine
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This month designer notebook brand Moleskine refreshed its logo (above), with the help of Milan-based consultancy A+G Achilli Ghizzardi Associati. The main change is the addition of a new monogram graphic, which uses a series of nine modules to form a square. The typography has also been tweaked slightly, with a new proprietary font that has a softer look than the strict, sharp edges of the previous font (below).
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“The intention was to create a fluid visual icon that communicates its multi-faceted and open nature while unifying its many objects, types of users and brand values,” said Moleskine in a press release.
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02. Motorola
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Over more than half a century of technological innovation, Motorola devices have carried the same ‘batwing’ logo (below), created by award-winning Chicago graphic designer Morton Goldsholl in late 1954. Then in January 2011, the company split into two: Motorola Solutions, an enterprise- and government-facing wing, and Motorola Mobility, focusing on handsets and set-top boxes. The latter was bought by Google in 2012 – and the search giant has now made it clear who’s calling the shots with this new design (above).
The new logo features a new, strikingly thinner font that seems well in line with the current trend for minimalist, flat design typified by the recent iOS7 makeover of the iPhone interface. The much loved batwings remain, but the solid single-colour disk has been replaced by a 12-coloured outer ring, the letters are a softer grey and the whole feel to the design is much more in keeping with Google’s own visual identity. And just to ram home the point, there’s a new tagline: “A Google company”.
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03. News Corp
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News Corp‘s new handwritten logotype is certainly a step into the left field for a global media corporation. The cursive lettering certainly evokes the concept of ‘writing’, which is of course the core of the business. But this typeface style is generally reserved for homey, mom-and-pop style enterprises (although two of the most famous exponents of the script logotype, global behemoths Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s, are at the other end of the spectrum, of course).
Robert Thompson, chief executive of News Corp, who announced the new logo in a memo to employees, saying: “The name is historic and the script is based on the writing of Rupert [Murdoch] and his father, who have provided us all with not only a name, but a remarkable professional platform.”
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04. Superman
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DC Comics released this new logo design to celebrate Superman’s 75th birthday. The jagged, outline of the silhoutte give a rougher look to Supes that suggests hidden depths to the character, while the typography continues the theme, surgically removing a shard from the ’5′ to create an starkly angular effect.
05. Firefox
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Following this week’s release of Firefox 22, a new version of the browser that supports 3D gaming, video calls and file sharing, Firefox has released a new, simplified version of its logo (above).
The new design was created by a team led by Firefox designer Sean Martell, who explains in a blog post that they were aiming to address usage concerns such as SVG compatibility and colour consistency.
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This graphic from Firefox shows exactly what’s changed:
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The new logo has now made its first appearance with the desktop release of the Firefox 23 beta, and will be rolled out across all other Firefox versions as well as websites and promotional materials in the coming weeks.
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What do you make of this month’s biggest logo designs? Let us know in the comments box below!