Yesterday, Starbucks presented their newly modernised logo. Many designers immediately criticised the new design. BBC Radio Wales invited me to an interview to open discussion regarding the importance of a good logo design and the relevance of the new Starbucks design. Below are my thoughts.


Why is a logo important?

A logo is the masthead of any identity, the visual personification of a business or a brand. It can help to forge an emotional connection between the brand and the intended target audience and clearly differentiate from competitors.

A logo is normally the first point of contact with a business or brand. Certainly the first opportunity for recognition. A company only looks as good as its identity and we all make purchasing decisions based on the visual characteristics and presentation, whether consciously or subconsciously.

A good logo will communicate a brand’s values, help to define a brand’s personality and give a real sense of the essence of the brand. It will demonstrate credibility, increase brand awareness and become immediately recognisable achieving the position of front-of-mind.


How do you go about coming up with a logo for a company?

The logo (identity) design will be visually representing that business for years and it must be an accurate reflection of what the business actually is and communicate in a manner that fits with the business’s natural style.

A good designer will gain a thorough understanding of the client and work hard to make a connection between the client’s business and the intended target audience.

Why do companies/organisations redesign their logos?

• To stay current.
• If their brand values change.
• If the operational structure changes.
• If the product or service offering is no longer being accurately represented.

What went wrong when Gap redesigned their logo last year - only to revert to the old one after a public outcry?  Or was it just a publicity stunt?

Gap was an interesting case in its own right. The redesigned logo was so perfectly wrong it must have been a carefully planned campaign to remind customers of their affinity with the old design.

I believe the choice of Helvetica was intentionally controversial. Helvetica is a love-it or hate-it typeface in the design community. Loved for being near perfect in its execution and only hated for its overuse.

The other design elements in the revised Gap logo were the addition of a thoughtless graduation to the already irrelevant blue square and the boring solid black type.

In my opinion, so perfectly wrong, it couldn’t have been an accident. Very clever!


What are your thoughts on the new Starbucks design?

The new logo is a modernisation and an evolutionary step in the design that’s been in existence from day dot. By dropping the typography and making the Siren more prominent, Starbucks have remained faithful to their heritage whilst boldly moving forward and making their logo more relevant to their current activities. It makes no sense for the word Coffee to be used to identify a Starbucks sandwich, Starbucks tea or pack of Starbucks mints!

When comparing the old with the new, the old clearly looks dated. However it takes a confident CEO to action change on something that is so widely recognised. Now, if presented with the new logo in isolation, there is no doubt that everyone would immediately recognise that it was Starbucks. The recent rebrand has been made possible due to the massive brand awareness that Starbucks has achieved. There are few brands that reach this iconic level of recognition; Apple, Nike, Mercedes, McDonalds, Shell for example.

The Siren has been a strong symbol for Starbucks since the company was established in 1971. The new design gives more prominence to the icon, encouraging the public to form brand affinity with their iconic symbol. The statement they’ve put out with the launch of the new logo clearly suggests that they already believe that their audience has an affection for the Siren, however I suspect that this isn’t necessarily true.


What icon would I use to brand myself?

The BBC asked this question, to which I couldn’t give a knee-jerk response. Firstly, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of suggesting an icon for myself, but as my previous responses made clear, it takes a lot of time, effort and resources to produce a design that is entirely appropriate and fit-for-purpose.

Suggestions on a postcard please... the staff have already given me some ideas!