Total Followers 132,503
As we realize that we are now living in the Brand Era, where everything is branded and labelled we are more concern to companies we believe can help us, shops where we can get our supplies, or websites we trust to keep our data or information securely. This is how a company’s logo appeal as the first thing costumer will consider to trust or not.
Among thousands of logos out there, some of them may look cheesy and cheap, and some visually give us confident. In order to grab our attention and get our trust, many companies even consider to re-brand/redesign their logo. As might be expected, the company will have to take the risk and be prepared of the pros and cons of this act. They should have really consider the reasons behind the redesign of their brand.
Below is a list, in no particular order of what I think to be famous and successful logo redesign from their old logo to the latest with explanations of what has been improved.
Toys R Us has been the second largest overall toy retailer in the United States with many branch chain which located in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Canada.
The yellow reverse “R” in quotation marks, which is similar to the Cyrillic letter Я, (ISO 9: Я), imitates a small child’s backward writing of “R”, which is short for “are”. The “R” is the most distinctive part of the retailer’s colorful kid-friendly logo. The current, modernized Toys “R” Us logo was introduced in 1969 as the first logo, then a blue star was added to the logo in late-1998/early-1999 during the Toys “R” Us “Concept 2000″ era.
On September 24, 2007 the logo was redesigned with alternating sized characters and a star in the middle of the reverse R. The letter R was changed from yellow to blue. In this new logo, the company achieve a better shape for the font character, leaving the “classic” feel behind and gives a bright and fun feel to it.
UPS, short for United Parcel Service, Inc. is the world’s largest package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States. UPS is well known for its brown trucks, internally known as package cars (hence the company nickname “The Big Brown Machine”).
The iconic package and shield originally designed in 1961 by Paul Rand. It became their original logo and first saw use in 1916 when the company was American Messenger Company. In 1935, the logo was redesigned to reflect the company’s new name United Parcel Service.
UPS decided to re-brand themselves in 2003, the new logo was designed by New York-based FutureBrand and it represents a strategic decision to emphasize UPS’s expanded business operations. All four designs for the logo shared the shield theme, but the new design clearly feels much more modern and and clean. Although the logo obviously doesn’t direct us to the shipping company, it gives the safe feel with the shield on the logo, knowing that our package will be protected.
Skittles is a brand of fruit-flavored candies which were first made commercially in 1974 by a British company.
Candy brands are some of the most enduring brands in the market. Skittles have the excellent & long standing tag line ‘Taste the Rainbow”, with this tag line the company only focus on the rainbow color for additional effect behind their “Skittles” text which in this case become their logo.
Miles Newlyn admitted that concept & design for the new Skittles logo is not his but that of Dragon Rouge. Nevertheless, The colorful ‘tongue’ he retouched has been blogged around the internet. This multi-colored tongue concept is a literal though stylized translation of the brand’s slogan, “Taste the rainbow.”
Easily recognized since it’s first launched on August 1, 1981 is an American cable television network based in New York City. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs. Today, MTV doesn’t play music videos, and primarily broadcasts a variety of popular culture and reality television shows targeted at adolescents and young adults.
Throughout MTV’s early days, the channel’s main logo was a large yellow “M” with red letters “TV,” but unlike most networks’ logos, the MTV logo constantly morphed and adapted with different colors, patterns, and images filling in the large block letter. The very first moments of MTV after the “moon landing,” as well as the top of every hour until at least the mid-1980s, featured a rapidly changing station ID logo that changed its appearance several times per second. The only constant aspects of MTV’s logo at the time were its general shape and proportions; everything else was dynamic.
MTV’s logo has been instantly recognizable for the last three decades. Up to this point, MTV revised their original 1981 logo by excluding the “Music Television” caption under the big “M” letter, and the trailing letter “V” that branched off to the side of the original logo. Their long-running tag line “Music Television” at this time has been officially dropped since they are not primarily broadcast music videos anymore.
As it emerged from bankruptcy, Delta Air Lines wanted to signal to both customers and employees that the airline was “coming back new and better”. In preparation for the momentous occasion, Delta engaged Lippincott to reposition the airline with a revitalized image and redesigned customer experience that would force reconsideration of the airline.
Delta’s identity has been short-lived for the last decade or so. Throughout its history with a whopping 19 logos in 78 years — with two major identity changes. See Delta Logo Timeline.
Some people think of Delta’s redesigned logo is more to a realign than a redesign. In spite of that, Delta’s new logo now looks sharp. The colors in are more subdued and the choice of a all caps sans serif typeface gives the modern look and feel as well. This 3-dimensional red widget logo successfully reflects Delta’s transformation into a highly-differentiated, customer-focused airline.
With the largest coffeehouse company in the world, we can hardly ignore this green logo from Starbucks.
The original Starbucks logo sported a wood cut type illustration of a siren from Greek mythology. The logo has been significantly streamlined over the years. In the first version, which was based on a 17th-century the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully visible double fish tail. In the second version, which was used from 1987 – 1992, her breasts were covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly.
Starbucks’ current logo is used since 1992, her navel and breasts are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. Today the current incarnation of the logo is much more streamlined and and memorable. It is a significant and unique logo for coffeehouse furthermore giving the impression of ‘one of a kind’.
Sprint is a global Internet carrier and makes up a portion of the Internet backbone. In the United States, the company is the third largest long distance provider and also owns a majority of Clearwire, which operates the largest wireless broadband network.
The original Sprint logo was used from 1989 to 2005 with 4th variant used from 1995–2005.
When Sprint merged with Nextel a few years back they underwent massive re-branding campaign. Nextel’s attention getting black and yellow color scheme was merged with The Sprint name. The new symbol is based on sprints signature ‘pin drop’. The switch to a nice sans serif typeface also does wonders for making the logo look modern. This logo really shines when the symbol is set in motion.
By the late 1990s, the stylized likeness of Colonel Sanders as the KFC logo had been modified and only used until November 2006.
With the colonel putting on his apron to replace his suit coat, this new KFC logo giving us the friendly and inviting feel. The new angled backdrop to the logo also adds a nice dynamic feel and implies quickness.
CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS) is a major American television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network’s former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the “Eye Network” in reference to the shape of the company’s logo.
CBS unveiled its Eye Device logo on October 17, 1951. Before that, from the 1940s through 1951, CBS Television used an oval spotlight on the block letters C-B-S.[16] The Eye device was conceived by William Golden based on aPennsylvania Dutch hex sign as well as a Shaker drawing and made its broadcasting debut on October 20, 1951. Since then the company insisted on keeping the Eye device and using it as much as possible.
Today the logo which is alternately known as theEyemark, has been slightly changed on the typography to get the modern and futuristic feel, keeping their classic long lasting Eye device logo (vaguely bigger) in the front of “CBS” characters.
Apple’s first logo, designed by Jobs and Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by Rob Janoff’s “rainbow Apple”, the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Janoff presented Jobs with several different monochromatic themes for the “bitten” logo. In 1998, with the roll-out of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation.
Entering the digital era, in 2007 Apple started to redesign their apple logo to give their customer a simple, minimal, yet modern look with the touch of chrome shade.
The original Federal Express logo was designed by Richard Runyan in 1973.
The Fed is always purple and the Ex is in a different color for each division and grey for the overall corporation use. The original “FedEx” logo had the Ex in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express wordmark. The FedEx wordmark is notable for containing a hidden right-pointing arrow in the negative space between the “E” and the “X”, which was achieved by designing a proprietary font, based on Univers and Futura, to emphasize the arrow shape. Other than giving the new and modern look, this new logo with the hidden arrow was a genius idea behind their new logo, made it looks like it’s presenting the moving forward company as well.
The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne.
City of Melbourne first logo M and leaf symbol was introduced in the early 1990s.
The new logo received many critiques for the cost of the big “M” research and design. Despite that, this dimensional colored “M” is different compared to the other city logos on earth. Unique and sophisticated.
The Discovery Channel’s very first logo was a television screen picturing a map of the World. In the mid-90s, the word “The” was dropped from the channel’s name. A globe became a permanent part of the logo and a strap was added to the bottom of the logo.
Discovery Channel started using a new logo on 2008. With new graphics and the new tagline “The World is Just Awesome”. The new logo has been designed by Viewpoint Creative in Boston and replaced Aurora Bold Condensed with Gotham. The globe has been merged with the “D” in “Discovery”. Their new logo now looks more simplified and less crowded.
MailChimp is a free and paid email marketing service started in the 2001.
Their first logo was the iconic monkey head used in the year of 2001 until 2005. In 2006, they decided to change the monkey-icon logo with using only typography “MailChimp”.
Since 2008, MailChimp with their third generation logo has become one of the best email marketing services. The new monkey logo gives us a warm, friendly feel and overall pleasant.
Target Corporation, usually known simply as Target, is an American retailing company that was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1902 as the Dayton Dry Goods Company.
In 1968, Target changed its bullseye logo to a more modern look. Target script used from 1980 until 2004. Changes from the original logo are that its brandmark is a single red ring with a red dot in the middle, and its wordmark uses the Helvetica font.
Target’s latest logo are in red block letters using Helvetica font that the word “Target” uses in favor of a more streamlined red “Target Brand” look. Over the survey, ninety-seven percent of American consumers recognize the Target Bullseye logo. Perhaps their logo redesign isn’t essential, but by making their Bullseye bigger that the “TARGET” characters, it obviously focusing more on their recognizable brand.
What are your thoughts about these logo redesigns? Feel free to share them with us.
Get The Only Freelancer crash course you will ever need to read!
Also known as Chykalophia, is a professional freelance designer in graphic and web design with 3 years of experience. Founder and Editor of Frespiration!, she recently won The Annual Design Awards 2010 for best product packaging design. Other than design, she loves playing with her mac, being photographed, watching movies and listening to alternative rock. Add her onFacebook Page, or Twitter.
Thursday, March 8th, 2012 17:46
This article review is really great. It really inspiring me for my logo projects
Friday, December 30th, 2011 08:26
Job well done to show how logos evolve over the years. I was surprised to see FedEx old logo and how they improved that. Old logo for most of the companies are not good but for some, I like the older one than the new one. Good Job!!
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 12:40
Out of the all above mentioned logos, i think the most dynamic changes have been from Apple Inc.! I think Google has not changed much anything in last few years!
Monday, November 7th, 2011 02:07
Funny thing is I see these logos all the time and did not even realize that they changed their logos, but after seeing them they needed changing, Fed ex really needed a change
Saturday, October 15th, 2011 01:18
magnificent submit, very informative. I ponder why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t understand this. You must proceed your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 20:53
Red Ice Creations did a good video on symbolism and progression of Apple and Starbucks logos. You should check it out!
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 01:56
logo,s are representation of the business , companies change logo once they see they are getting more business and they want to improve it i saw discovery tv logo is now more simpler and better may be companies change logo,s because they want to make things simpler and better to understand
Saturday, December 25th, 2010 18:05
City of Melbourne’s logo is just awesome and unique.
And for the Sprint’s logo, I prefer the old typeface. the new one looks too clumsy.
Nice article by the way.
Thank you. :D
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 22:56
The beauty of some of the logos that has been changed is that you hardly see it apart from each other, only when (like in this article) seeing next to each other you notice the difference, although some of the changes are huge.
I believe that is the real power of the designer, making the changes without actually seeing it but really improve the logo and create a stronger brand. Thank for the reminder of under consideration, great resource!
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010 18:22
1st things first Paul Rands version is the better one it is simple and elegant and does not fall into that “modern” trap of lets make logos look like they have lights shining on them woo!, look what I can do in illustrator, and photoshop.
2nd why does the colonel have to have an apron on? just makes it cheesey and who in their right mind makes the connection between the slight angle implying quickness, I think the old logo yes dated looks great and feels more genuine then the thick outlinned stroked colonel hey yall look at me i make chiken thats why I have a apron on hick that is out there today.
Thursday, August 12th, 2010 20:10
Firstly, I’m opposed to messing with anything Paul Rand did, you can’t find a History of Graphic Design book without his name peppered into it. Secondly, the article missed something important about Sprint — Because sprint is heavy in the cell phone market, the logo is made up of 5 bars referencing the cell phone reception bar symbol on your cell’s screen. Very Important to the logo, I don’t know why it was missed.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 14:49
For continuity and simplicity you cannot beat BMW, their logo has barely changed since inception and is key to recognition within their market. Proof that simplicity works… and no big re-brand costs… clever carstards!
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 10:22
I really like the new KFC logo. I’ve stopped to admire it several times. The old one looks like a photo taken through a Photoshop filter, but the new one is detailed but still brilliantly simplified illustration. It’s also good to see more than just text and abstract shapes. Simplifying to the extreme is not always the best solution.
Speaking of simplifying, the UPS one looks a bit old fashioned and heavy already. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got refreshed soon. Perhaps getting rid of the gradient and the outer shield shape…
City of Melbourne logo instantly reminds me of MTV. Probably not intentional, but perhaps that way it’s appealing to a wider audience. It looks interesting though.
Thanks for the post.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:13
Agreed on the UPS, let’s see if they really going to slightly redesign it.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 09:46
Nice list! It’s interesting to see how big companies redefine themselves through rebranding. They keep what works and is recognizable, and spin it in a new direction. It would be interesting to look at a few cases where the branding went for a much more radical change, like Pepsi. We find that the best branding, especially established ones, are simple, recognizable, and evoke some emotion. The latter of which is the most difficult to accomplish.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 06:34
Nice article on logos….
Good to see various examples of branded logos in the world. How they did it.
Monday, July 26th, 2010 22:55
Is there any place that I can submit my small businesses logo and get prototypes and if I use one I pay otherwise I don’t? Or any place that gives feedback on how to improve an old blurry logo.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:48
You can do something similar to that at crowdSPRING. Check them out.
Monday, July 26th, 2010 22:36
I was expecting Google here, but… Still a really great list. I like the “Melbourne” one. Feels like an aurora. Cool.
Monday, July 26th, 2010 15:29
I like seeing the old logos and how they evolve over the years, good job with the research on this one very interesting!
Monday, July 26th, 2010 20:55
Very good overview of the logo redesigns…. the effort is much appreciated … Also, i don’t think that’s the logo of Mail Chimp. Its the mascot rather … or so I think :D
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:16
I thought the same. But apparently back then it was. :)
Monday, July 26th, 2010 19:19
All well done redesigns, only the three stripes on the colonel`s grill apron are very sporty and looking at the new Melbourne logo, well do not know why but the first thing that came to my mind was the Sydney Opera House.However, great article with very good explanations of the companies logo redesign.Thanks.
Monday, July 26th, 2010 17:05
Here’s one of the worst logo redesigns ever; Philips.
Nobody sees the different (unless you put them next to eachother) and it costed a very big bag of gold coins to use worldwide.
See this article to see the difference: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/philips_gets_a_niptuck.php
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:18
Wow, just saw that. Well, at least they make the font slimmer :D
Monday, July 26th, 2010 16:11
The current Sprint logo is actually one of my favorite’s.
I love the motion, the energy, and the homage it pays to its predecessor.
Thanks for the list!
Monday, July 26th, 2010 12:13
wow when I see mtv logo is not really big difference in logo, but it have to be a big impact in their business
Get The Only Freelancer crash course you will ever need!
If not, then it's time to learn how to:
You can trust 1stWebDesigner to help you become a better web designer!
- Jacob Cass | Just Creative
Just enter your name and email below and click Get Updates!
aditia
Monday, July 26th, 2010 12:13
wow when I see mtv logo is not really big difference in logo, but it have to be a big impact in their business
praveensms
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 06:34
Nice article on logos….
Good to see various examples of branded logos in the world. How they did it.
Reed Botwright
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 09:46
Nice list! It’s interesting to see how big companies redefine themselves through rebranding. They keep what works and is recognizable, and spin it in a new direction. It would be interesting to look at a few cases where the branding went for a much more radical change, like Pepsi. We find that the best branding, especially established ones, are simple, recognizable, and evoke some emotion. The latter of which is the most difficult to accomplish.
Jarkko Sibenberg
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 10:22
I really like the new KFC logo. I’ve stopped to admire it several times. The old one looks like a photo taken through a Photoshop filter, but the new one is detailed but still brilliantly simplified illustration. It’s also good to see more than just text and abstract shapes. Simplifying to the extreme is not always the best solution.
Speaking of simplifying, the UPS one looks a bit old fashioned and heavy already. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got refreshed soon. Perhaps getting rid of the gradient and the outer shield shape…
City of Melbourne logo instantly reminds me of MTV. Probably not intentional, but perhaps that way it’s appealing to a wider audience. It looks interesting though.
Thanks for the post.
Ari Suardiyanti
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:13
Agreed on the UPS, let’s see if they really going to slightly redesign it.
Rachel Baker
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 14:49
For continuity and simplicity you cannot beat BMW, their logo has barely changed since inception and is key to recognition within their market. Proof that simplicity works… and no big re-brand costs… clever carstards!
george
Monday, July 26th, 2010 22:55
Is there any place that I can submit my small businesses logo and get prototypes and if I use one I pay otherwise I don’t? Or any place that gives feedback on how to improve an old blurry logo.
Aimee
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:48
You can do something similar to that at crowdSPRING. Check them out.
Coolzrock
Monday, July 26th, 2010 22:36
I was expecting Google here, but… Still a really great list. I like the “Melbourne” one. Feels like an aurora. Cool.
Jetfuel Creative
Monday, July 26th, 2010 16:11
The current Sprint logo is actually one of my favorite’s.
I love the motion, the energy, and the homage it pays to its predecessor.
Thanks for the list!
Johan de Jong
Monday, July 26th, 2010 17:05
Here’s one of the worst logo redesigns ever; Philips.
Nobody sees the different (unless you put them next to eachother) and it costed a very big bag of gold coins to use worldwide.
See this article to see the difference: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/philips_gets_a_niptuck.php
Ari Suardiyanti
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:18
Wow, just saw that. Well, at least they make the font slimmer :D
Theo
Monday, July 26th, 2010 19:19
All well done redesigns, only the three stripes on the colonel`s grill apron are very sporty and looking at the new Melbourne logo, well do not know why but the first thing that came to my mind was the Sydney Opera House.However, great article with very good explanations of the companies logo redesign.Thanks.
Darren
Monday, July 26th, 2010 15:29
I like seeing the old logos and how they evolve over the years, good job with the research on this one very interesting!
Richie
Monday, July 26th, 2010 20:55
Very good overview of the logo redesigns…. the effort is much appreciated … Also, i don’t think that’s the logo of Mail Chimp. Its the mascot rather … or so I think :D
Ari Suardiyanti
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 18:16
I thought the same. But apparently back then it was. :)
Hui Kah
Saturday, October 15th, 2011 01:18
magnificent submit, very informative. I ponder why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t understand this. You must proceed your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!
David
Monday, November 7th, 2011 02:07
Funny thing is I see these logos all the time and did not even realize that they changed their logos, but after seeing them they needed changing, Fed ex really needed a change
Grant Brooks
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 12:40
Out of the all above mentioned logos, i think the most dynamic changes have been from Apple Inc.! I think Google has not changed much anything in last few years!
Jessy
Thursday, March 8th, 2012 17:46
This article review is really great. It really inspiring me for my logo projects
Craig
Friday, December 30th, 2011 08:26
Job well done to show how logos evolve over the years. I was surprised to see FedEx old logo and how they improved that. Old logo for most of the companies are not good but for some, I like the older one than the new one. Good Job!!
kal
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 20:53
Red Ice Creations did a good video on symbolism and progression of Apple and Starbucks logos. You should check it out!
Stan
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 01:56
logo,s are representation of the business , companies change logo once they see they are getting more business and they want to improve it i saw discovery tv logo is now more simpler and better may be companies change logo,s because they want to make things simpler and better to understand
Kebing
Thursday, August 12th, 2010 20:10
Firstly, I’m opposed to messing with anything Paul Rand did, you can’t find a History of Graphic Design book without his name peppered into it. Secondly, the article missed something important about Sprint — Because sprint is heavy in the cell phone market, the logo is made up of 5 bars referencing the cell phone reception bar symbol on your cell’s screen. Very Important to the logo, I don’t know why it was missed.
ryan
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010 18:22
1st things first Paul Rands version is the better one it is simple and elegant and does not fall into that “modern” trap of lets make logos look like they have lights shining on them woo!, look what I can do in illustrator, and photoshop.
2nd why does the colonel have to have an apron on? just makes it cheesey and who in their right mind makes the connection between the slight angle implying quickness, I think the old logo yes dated looks great and feels more genuine then the thick outlinned stroked colonel hey yall look at me i make chiken thats why I have a apron on hick that is out there today.
Vincent Hadi Wijaya
Saturday, December 25th, 2010 18:05
City of Melbourne’s logo is just awesome and unique.
And for the Sprint’s logo, I prefer the old typeface. the new one looks too clumsy.
Nice article by the way.
Thank you. :D
Patt
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 22:56
The beauty of some of the logos that has been changed is that you hardly see it apart from each other, only when (like in this article) seeing next to each other you notice the difference, although some of the changes are huge.
I believe that is the real power of the designer, making the changes without actually seeing it but really improve the logo and create a stronger brand. Thank for the reminder of under consideration, great resource!