A Kinder, Gentler Logo for Hard Times

Warmer, Fuzzier: The Refreshed Logo

Bill Marsh and Alicia Parlapiano

Published: May 30, 2009
The world economy is in mid-swan dive. Wallets are in lockdown. So how does a company get people to feel just a little bit better about buying more stuff? (And perhaps burnish a brand that has taken some public relations lumps?)

Behold the new breed of corporate logo — non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like. Not emblems of distant behemoths, but faces of friends.

“A logo is to a company what a face is to a person,” said Michel Tuan Pham, a professor of marketing at the Columbia Business School. “It’s hard to memorize facts about a person when you only know their name but you haven’t seen their face.” So logos remind consumers about companies’ traits and pluck at emotions — “the glue that ties all the information about the brand name together,” Mr. Pham said.

The economy, environment, image repair — new logos may address all of these. They are also meant to stand out in a crowd, but there are striking similarities among recent redesigns.

TONED-DOWN TYPE Bold, block capital letters are out. Their replacements are mostly or entirely lower case, softening the stern voice of corporate authority to something more like an informal chat.

“Logos have become less official-looking and more conversational,” said Patti Williams, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “They’re not yelling. They’re inviting. They’re more neighborly.”

Blogs and e-mail, Ms. Williams said, may be encouraging a quieter, calmer, lower-case branding vernacular. Who isn’t tired of screeds that assault the reader via THE CAPS LOCK KEY?

Letterforms in many new emblems are lighter and rounder — an extended family of homogenized fonts that would be comfortable on a local newsletter or generic Web page.

FRIENDLY FLOURISHES Kraft Foods has joined Amazon.com and Hasbro, all represented by logos that smile. And to further lighten the corporate mood, whimsy in the form of sprigs and bursts has been appended to several big brands.

Wal-Mart’s old mark was navy blue, but it felt Red State. The company has been under heavy attack for its labor and environmental practices, bruising its brand in bluer quarters.

A major image overhaul is under way, and a new logo is starting to appear across the country. The military-style Wal-Mart star has given way to a yellow twinkle that punctuates a new message: this is a company that cares, with fast and friendly service and a fresh, innovative outlook, according to Linda Blakley, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Ms. Williams, of Wharton, said the softer Wal-Mart logo serves another purpose: to stand apart from the bright reds and louder typography of its main competitors, Kmart and Target. While Target’s design says bold and cutting-edge, Wal-Mart’s sends a signal that it is approachable and sincere, she said.

HAPPIER COLORS “The economy is the No. 1 influence this year,” said John H. Bredenfoerder, a color expert and design director at Landor Associates, the brand-consulting company that produced the new Cheer detergent emblem. Amid all the gloom, he said, “people need a little joy in their lives.”

Cue the new logos: electric blue type with accents in school bus yellow, red, purple, orange and green.

Last year’s top influence, green for sustainability, remains; leaves still sprout across the corporate landscape.

Mr. Bredenfoerder said that blue was also gaining as a stand-in for the environment (think of earth’s blue orb as seen from space, or clear blue waters) as well as for fresh optimism. But please, make it a joyful sky blue — not dark, corporate-titan navy.