There is nothing wrong with updating the logo of a car company once in a while. At Volkswagen, we did it about once every twelve years, to the joy and enrichment of corporate design houses and makers of backlit signage. But did you ever notice that the Volkswagen logo changed? You are not supposed to. The holy grail of logo updating is doing it while the world remains oblivious and thinks it’s the old one.
Jaguar blew that bigtime, says the branding blog BRAND NEW. Boy, did that logo update ever get noticed.
“I have always liked the Jaguar logo, for no particular reason other than it’s well executed, seems well managed, and it’s never tried too hard. With this last version it is trying so hard to be cool and relevant it’s become annoying and, worse, noticeable. Not so much in the jaguar itself, or “Leaper”, which has always featured some kind of metal finishing, but in the typography. Whereas the previous wordmark looked like a luxury, fashion-line brand, the new one has lost all sophistication in exchange for an overly extended, industrial look that cheapens its appearance. It reminds me of the Dodge logo, which I don’t associate with hundred-thousand-dollar cars.”
And don’t get BRAND NEW going on Jaguar’s new print ads:
“The sample of print advertising I found does not help their cause either: I mean, seriously, a sonogram? They seem to have lost track of their audience or what a luxury brand should look and talk like.”
I mean, really, a sonogram? If that kind of a baby would appear on a sonogram, even a Rick Santorum would demand an immediate abortion.
BRAND NEW blames the branding atrocities on Jaguar’s in-house agency Spark44. That agency is so hot, it doesn’t even need a website. Or at least none that is accessible by prospective clients.
The cat is ok, the font should stay the same.
I’m not up on my Jaguar history.
Does 44 have significance to Jag other than Group 44 racing?
I agree. They should definitely keep the same font. They can change its positioning, size, shape, etc., but the actual font type should remain. That’s an extremely important part of any product’s identity (look at Porsche as a prime example of font continuity and identity.)
AMG changed their logo two years ago. The font is the same but they made a slight change to one of the letters. It’s very hard to tell but it’s definitely there (hint: look at the A in the old one versus the new one.) They announced the change in press releases but overall it basically went unnoticed. It’s very subtle but its now slightly more contemporary looking. Like Bertel says, the change should never slap you in the face.
I’m surprised they didn’t change the logo from a leaping feline into a stagnant horizontal fist with thumb appendage sticking out (as in hitch hiking which you will do a lot of if you buy a Jag-you-r).
Speaking of logos – what’s up with Ford’s? That needs an update big time in my opinion.
Paul Rand designed this Ford logo back in 1966, didn’t fly:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/the-ford-logo-that-almost-was/
Zoinks! That’s even worse!! Reminds me of TRON. But not bad for 1966 I suppose……..
Very interesting. I definitely couldn’t see that on a mustang or F-150.
Not sure where they should go from here…
http://static.neatorama.com/images/2008-02/car-logo-ford.gif
Thanks for the link. I’m kind of partial to the one from 1909. :)
While Ford seems to have always used the oval in its advertising, has anyone else ever wondered why the oval badge seemed to disappear from Ford cars shortly after World War II, and didn’t reappear until 1982?
I noticed the blue oval badge on the trunklid when I bought a Ford in 1984, whereas my 1980 and my family members’ earlier ones had “F-O-R-D” spelled out in chrome letters.
I couldn’t disagree more regarding the Ford logo. It is instantly and universally recognizable. You could take the text out of the oval and people would still know what it was. To me it’s as iconic, timeless and recognizable as the Coca Cola logo. Ford would be utterly foolish to change it.
The Ford logo was last updated in 2003 with “Centennial Blue Oval” to celebrate Ford’s 100th Birthday. What, you didn’t notice? (The blue is a bit different and the script is a touch fatter).
Like Bertel said, “The holy grail of logo updating is doing it while the world remains oblivious and thinks it’s the old one”.
Whats the point in updating a logo if nobodies going to notice it?
Not that I support updating logos, I’d rather have something timeless then trendy yet disposable.
“Whats the point in updating a logo if nobodies going to notice it?”
Change is usually bad; people like consistency. But you want something that people respond (subconsciously) to and works with the media you are using. For example, have you noticed that almost all clocks are shown being 10:10 in ads? It’s because the ‘happy face’ the hands make appeals more to people than other times do. Also, marketers have found that people respond better to right shoes a display shelf than left shoes. Thus, you want to have a logo that causes people to respond in the way you want without realizing you’ve done something to change how they respond. Thus tweaking a logo to get the response you want without the audience knowing you did it is the goal.
The NFL recently changed theirs because all the small stars didn’t work well on TV screens and clothing emblems, so they simplified it. Now, it can be recognized faster/easier. It also simplifies embroidery for merchandize.
Chevron changed theirs to add a bit of depth and complexity to the red & blue chevrons (‘v’ shapes) by making them appear to be bent ribbons. The associations people have with a ribbon are different than they have with a solid, plain, strong V: e.g., a flag whimsically blowing in the breeze vs. an Acura shield grille.
Did that font come from Deluxe Paint IV?
You are showing your age and inner geek.
Spot on!
I bet it did
I dunno, looks pretty good to me. The jaguar icon is definitely an improvement. The logo definitely bears a resemblance to the Dodge logo but I don’t think a customer would ever confuse the two.
I guess the one with the green type is the old one???
That typography has been around at least since 1975 on the rear of the first XJ-S. The new script is very 2012 which is probably why it seems so new “Dodge.” Still, it looks good. Re: the sonogram…most all luxury car advertising is childish now compared to the 70s or even 80s. Probably because there are so many more nouveau riche dot-com and hedge fund peter pan jerks running around compared to three decades ago when taxes were higher and wealth distribution was more flat. Sorry, I digress. Change is hard to accept sometimes.
I think an update is needed, as the logo on the left dates (if memory serves) from the mid 80’s. But shiny letters? I thought that went out of fashion not long after you were able to do it in Microsoft word in the late 1990’s.
Stick with the older Jaguar font, but change the colour to a flat grey.
What’s the point of updating the logo if nobody is supposed to notice?
It’s not quite as subtle as the recent, circa a couple years ago, Cadillac update.
Your logo is your brand identity – it should evolve with the times so as not to appear crusty and outdated, but you don’t want to destroy the essence of your company’s external appearance.
Case of bad exposure: GAP’s recent fiasco. When they tried to redesign their logo last year the revulsion (yes, I think that’s the correct word to use here) was so vehement that the CEO backed off and reversed course, very publicly, a few days after unveiling it. The redesign was so God-awful, lazy and craptastic that whomever approved it (CEO?) should have been fired because it’s indicative of a company which has become rudderless.
Good change – take Apple updating its multi-colored Apple and replacing it with a much more modern looking interpretation. Audi recently performed a very subtle update to its logo through a different font. Volkswagen’s update was to make the VW logo a bit more three dimensional looking and less ‘flat’. GE has done a good job of updating its traditional looking logo over the years as well.
As for bad designs, I’d say that most fast food, chain restraurants and soda manufacturers have done an historically bad job at logo revisions over the years. Too cartoony, stylized and melodramatic.
The goal is to make just enough of a change to keep the brand looking contemporary without going overboard. It’s a very fine line.
Huh – I think the new logo is a nice update. Thoroughly modern without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Changing logos is a tricky thing – personally, I think that if you’ve got an iconic logo (VW, GE, Apple, Coke, Gap), you better just leave it alone because the whole world knows it. Some slight updates over the years can be okay, if subtle (VW’s logo is a great example of subtlety), and you can deviate substantially if you do it right (Apple ditching the multi-colored look for the modern brushed-aluminum/chrome look).
But back to Jaguar – I don’t find anything wrong with this update.
I say, bring back the Jaguar lozenge logo:
http://www.paulskilleterbooks.co.uk/images/XJ13-leatherlozenge-500.jpg
I hate when companies change their logos for seemingly no reason other than to look modern and hire some overpriced design agency to make up a postmodern logo that looks like someone threw up at work. I don’t like Jaguar’s new logo, but I’ve seen way worse logo changes (like the recent Pepsi one).
The new logo seems overdone and faddish. It’s symptomatic of the real problem — they don’t have a clue how to position and sell Jaguar.
I don’t see a need for the update. The older logo, looks, well, old. And I think that’s a big part of the Jaguar brand image. Heritage, old world craftsmanship.
While I understand what you’re driving at – if your brand is based on “heritage” – then is it really improving over time, or just stuck in the past like Jaguar designs were up until the most recent iterations?
There are things that are “classic” and shouldn’t change, and I would argue those are things like values and morals. But business, like art, music, literature and aesthetic, all evolve and change. Companies need to do that, too.
As someone who is usually critical of logo redesigns, I don’t really have a problem with this one. To me, the old green Jaguar logo personifies the country club, wood trimmed image of their cars from yesteryear, while the new one looks more appropriate for their new sportier identity. Just because one blogger says it’s bad doesn’t mean it is.
I like the new leaper. In fact, I was at the Aventura Mall where they had Jaguars on display and one of my favorite pictures I took there was of the leaper alone. The more muscular, three-dimensional look is attractive to me.
But I wish they’d kept the old green type since it was much prettier and has some nice symbolism with the British Racing Green that is one of my favorite car colors.
D
Wow, these marketing types sure read a lot into a font. I mean, nobody likes change, but how about trying’ the decaf for a while? It’s just a font. We should all just be patting ourselves on the back that most of us can actually read it.
If their cars are great, I don’t care so much about the nameplates. If their cars are crap, again i dont really care about the nameplates. Is this “theTruthaboutFonts.com” or something?
Jaguar – now you’re only ankle deep in electrical problems.
Jaguar – we’re not a more expensive Ford Five Hundred anymore
Jaguar – we’re still in business, honest
Jaguar – when everyone else at work drives an Audi
Jaguar – when you don’t want Japanese reliability, German chassis dynamics, and you want to pay more
Jaguar – lets face it, the last sexy car we made was the XK-E in 1975
“German chassis dynamics”
You’re joking aren’t you? Does the German language actually have an equivalent term for ride quality?
A little bit of history. Originally, the leaper was a flyer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Austin_Seven_Swallow_1931_ornament.jpg
Then, there’s the pre-ww2 logo which was discontinued for obvious reasons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cars_Ltd
The old logo looks much classier than the fake metallic in print ads.
On the cars I hate the new sideways cat profile, the logo used on the front of Jags, with the cat face, is much better:
http://image.europeancarweb.com/f/21055004/epcp_0908_07_z+2009_jaguar_xf+front_logo.jpg
The leaper on the back of new Jags looks like a loose piece of trim hanging sideways until you get close, the leaper really only works as a hood ornament, and maybe as a print logo.
How often has Rolls Royce changed its logo ?
At least twice.
Man that new leaper looks like it was torn off the side of a Greyhound bus.
Greyhound Bus? Isn’t that a British company?
Brand New is like an old spinster. Armin hates everything and likes all the wrong things for the wrong reasons, and often critique without adequate background knowledge. Enough said.. now back to our car discussions please.
I love these so-called “rules.” Obviously, no one bothered to tell Mazda. Their logo is so different from their old one as to not even be recognizable. The only manufacturer that comes close to this “rule” is BMW, and even it violated egregiously. So what you have is some universal “rule” that is universally never throughout the history of the automotive world ever by a single manufacturer.
I really don’t have any strong feeling about the new logo or the ad. I actually find the ad sort of amusing… maybe because I’m at the age people are beginning to start having babies, and I have absolutely not interest in that yet.
Jaguar…For men who want to get hand jobs from strange women.
So… A Jaguar is an “everyman’s” car now?
Where is Jaguar’s sales growth and success coming from? Is it from emerging markets where they may not care so much about traditional styling but more about flash and showing-off? If that’s the case, then the logo does a lot better at meeting those qualities (as I would think do their actual cars).
I wonder how much a logo change actually matters. Most changes are conservative and not very noticeable, so there’s not a lot of examples to go by. The one radical move by an automotive company that comes to mind is replacing the Toyota words on the front of their cars with their pretty nondescript circles and ovals.
Hmm, keep your logo as bland as possible so as not to offend during a period of high growth?
I think the new Jaguar logo is a nice update and tasteful. I think marketing people may say it is to close to Dodge, but I don’t think that avg Joe would make any sort of correlation.