BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

[Karlston]

BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

Why would you make your logo harder to see?

BMW has a new logo, marking the biggest change to the company’s branding since the iconic emblem was introduced in 1917. As with many modern redesigns of logos made to chase today’s trendy aesthetic of a super flat ultra-minimalist style, the new BMW logo sacrifices the company’s well-known identity in favor of presumed modernity.

 

There are two major changes to the updated logo. The first is largely positive: BMW is reverting back to a flatter design that ditches the very dated 3D effects and shading that were introduced in 1997 with a design that resembles the simpler logo the company has been using since 1963.

 

The second change is the removal of the black outer ring in favor of a transparent background, which just looks plain bad.

I get that the transparent logo effect is meant to look cool and minimalist. Jens Thiemer, senior vice president of customer and brand, says it was designed to “radiate more openness and clarity,” but the effect is anything but.

 

Sure, it looks nice on BMW’s bronze-hued electric i4 sedan concept, but what about on a white BMW? Or a letterhead? Or on a sign for a BMW dealership on a highway? The effect is less “clarity” and more like someone on the creative team got sloppy and accidentally deleted the background on the Photoshop file before they exported it.

 

There’s a reason why we don’t see many transparent backgrounds with white text on them from most companies: a lot of our screens and signs still have plain white backgrounds because that makes it easy to read things. Remove the black ring from the logo, and we’re left with a far less distinctive shape that doesn’t read as “BMW” in the way that the black / white / blue emblem has for years.

 

Furthermore, the transparent effect makes it harder to parse the logo as a whole from a distance: where you once might have registered the outer ring with the “BMW” lettering and the blue-and-white inner disc as a single unit, making the outside ring transparent means that the company is forced to rely on just that single inner element to stand out.

 

BMW is, of course, not the only company we’ve seen go down this route in the past few years: GoDaddy, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Volkswagen, and plenty of other companies have made similar changes that discarded well-known designs in favor of what I like to think of as the “Instagram startup” aesthetic.

 

BMW hasn’t said when we should expect the new logo to show up on its production cars just yet. But given that it’s already made its way across BMW’s website and social media pages, it’ll only be a matter of time before it adorns the hood of your next sedan.

 

 

Source: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design (The Verge)

[dhjohns]

I like the new look.  Very cool!

[Jogs]

The world is a full circle, you end up from where you start. 😁

 

Many companies are turning to this kind of logo, its good for the designers, less work more pay.

[ThisPC666]

just make it into a sticker instead.  so it will be seamless and consistent with the flat design.

[zanderthunder]

BMW unveils new logo for promotional material; vehicles and dealerships to retain current logo

 

 

BMW has revealed its new corporate identity for its online and offline communication purposes, with the BMW, BMW i and BMW M logos reworked for a new look. The logos’ new designs are now more minimalist and two-dimensional, which BMW says ‘conveys openness and clarity’, while the transparent BMW logo is “a more open invitation than ever for customers to join the world of BMW,” the automaker said.

 

“Our new brand design is geared to the challenges and opportunities of digitalization for brands. With visual restraint and graphic flexibility, we are equipping ourselves for the vast variety of touch points in communication at which BMW will be present, online and offline, in the future,” said BMW senior vice president of customer and brand, Jens Thiemer.

 

This means the new logo will be seen on the brand’s billboards, websites and print material, but the new logo won’t be on all its products and locations, however. The existing logo will continue to be used on the brand’s vehicles, as well as for the interior and exterior branding of its dealerships.

 

The global launch of the new brand design took place earlier this week, and the transition period continues until May 31, 2021 for the continued rollout of the new logo on all online and offline communications, and at international trade fairs and events.

 

Briefly, on the history of the ‘propeller’ logo; why was it shaped the way it was, and why was blue and white chosen? The two colours represented the state colours of the Free State of Bavaria, and trademark protection law at the time – when the company received its logo in 1917 – prohibited the use of national coats of arms or other national emblems for a trademark or a logo.

 

That the shape was meant to signify an aircraft’s propeller was actually a myth, and only came about years after the company was registered. It had originated from a BMW advertisement in 1929, which advertised a new aircraft engine that BMW was building under license from Pratt & Whitney.

 

BMW itself didn’t commit serious effort to debunking the myth, and another magazine illustration in 1942 perpetuated the idea. “BMW has long made no effort to straighten the myth, and if you want to stick to the BMW propeller myth, you are not entirely wrong,” said Fred Jakobs, head of the BMW Group Classic archive.

 

The variant with the rotor in the BMW logo is actually wrong, says the company, though the explanation has become natural through the constant repetition.”The interpretation has been common for 90 years and is therefore also justified,” said Jakobs.

 

Source: BMW unveils new logo for promotional material; vehicles and dealerships to retain current logo (via Paultan.org)

 

p/s: Additional images can be viewed on the source link.