Links:
- Part 1: The Most Notable Reviewed & Noted
- Part 2: The Best Reviewed
- Part 3: The Worst Reviewed
- Part 4: The Best Noted
- Part 5: The Worst Noted
These are a great set of overviews from UnderConsideration’s BrandNew blog about some of the most notable brand refreshes that happened in 2018. Some surprises include:
- Little Caesars redesigned logo and packaging. I’m not a fan of any of the big three pizza chains, but Little Caesars suddenly has the strongest visual direction of the three.
- Animal Planet’s controversial redesign. Personally I’m a fan. I think the new look is cleaner, clearer, and more immediately readable than the original. But some people have thoughts.
- That DuPont rebranded at all. It’s just not one of those companies I think of when I think about design. It’s actually pretty nice.
- How adorable Battersea’s new logo is. I want to hug it.
- Uber’s 180. Remember the complete mess of a redesign they went through in 2016? Well, they’ve hit the undo button and came back with something much more cohesive.
What really struck me about the worst reviewed designs isn’t that any of them are outright bad. It’s how remarkably unremarkable they are. For example, the Best Buy and Argentina updates make their brands look generic. In contrast, some outright confounding redesigns, like the Library of Congress don’t make the worst-reviewed list at all.
In a way, it makes sense. In today’s market, the last thing you want to be is forgettable. An unremarkable brand identity makes you forgettable. Generic is worse than bad.
Simply Robert 