In case you haven’t heard the buzz, for its 40th anniversary, Starbucks has evolved their logo. And this isn’t a post to praise the change or to bitch about it, either. (And quite frankly, those that choose to waste their time analyzing it baffle me, really.)
The one point that I would like to make is this: the words are gone. And ultimately, don’t you want your icon – your company – your brand – to be so well-known and ubiquitous THAT YOU DON’T NEED YOUR COMPANY NAME in your logo any more?
Cases in point:
And then, of course, you could just (basically) start out not using any words:
Of course, this theory doesn’t apply to all brands – especially those whose logos are the wordmark, like Coca-Cola or Walmart.
Anyway, like the new logo or hate it, Starbucks has reached the point that it doesn’t need to tell you that it’s Starbucks Coffee. You see the icon, you know. And you can’t say that about a lot of companies.
John M. Hoyt
Forget the logo. I could recognize their product by the cup. heh
January 6, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Bill Free
Well said. Purely for the sake of quibbling: Pepsi-Cola was a wordmark.
January 6, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Erin Conigliaro
Couldn’t agree more! Thanks for posting this.
January 6, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Taylor
Definitely a good point. Anytime I’m on a road trip I get excited at every sign that is green and round – lol!
January 6, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Michael Todoran
Man, I’ve been preaching the same thing! I think Target is a good example too.
“And this isn’t a post to praise the change or to bitch about it, either. (And quite frankly, those that choose to waste their time analyzing it baffle me, really.)” AMEN to that!
Too many designers are pretentious and overly judgmental. Gives us a bad name.
January 6, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Tweets that mention A quick word about the new Starbucks logo « Ask Spike -- Topsy.com
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Liz Strauss, Amrit Hallan, Erik Fisher, John Lane, Jennifer Pingrey and others. Jennifer Pingrey said: YOU DON’T NEED YOUR COMPANY NAME. RT @lizstrauss: RT @spikejones: A quick word about the new Starbucks logo: http://bit.ly/gEBkXF [...]
January 6, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Colby Gergen
Like.
January 7, 2011 at 12:20 am
Ricardo Bueno
Dude, THANK YOU!! Agree with you 1,000%! I don’t need the
words to tell me that it’s Starbucks. I’d recognize that right
away. But that’s just me.
January 7, 2011 at 12:20 am
Chase Adams
Right On Spike. Kudos to anyone who can have a bunch of
people complain about them removing their name + sole purpose from
their logo & the people complaining still know who they’re
talking about.
January 7, 2011 at 12:30 am
Aaron Strout
Spike, well said. Bottom line is when my three year old
(who can’t yet read) can associate a logo with a brand, they’ve
done their job. Starbucks was one of the first to meet that
criteria for her.
January 7, 2011 at 1:18 am
The Hotlist – Edition Number 2 | Fuel Your Creativity
[...] A Quick Word about the Starbucks Logo – Ask
Spike [...]
January 7, 2011 at 7:11 am
SOB Business Cafe 01-07-11 | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
[...] A Quick Word about the Starbucks Logo [...]
January 7, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Steve Sonn
We’re seeing the logo on a coffee cup here and understand
the topic and context. There are countless applications where the
logo could and will be used. I’ve never really noticed the icon
much before until the logo redesign. Bottom line: Starbucks has the
brand power and marketing savvy to make it work in the
end…
January 7, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Joanna
Never been in a Starbucks and don’t drink coffee. If I’d
seen that logo with no context, I would have no idea what it was
for. Not sure I’d recognize the new Pepsi logo either without it
being affixed to a can. There are plenty of other logos I would
recognize, though. Not arguing against your point at all…just
pointing out that I apparently live in a cave.
January 11, 2011 at 8:27 pm
The Hotlist – Edition 2 | familygoss.com
[...] A Quick Word about the Starbucks Logo – Ask
Spike [...]
January 17, 2011 at 3:08 am
Jeff Finley
I quite like the new logo, it feels fresh. What do you say about phasing out a symbol in place of a wordmark?
January 25, 2011 at 4:24 am
Michelle
was apple’s logo really that goth, originally? never saw that…
March 28, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Wit
Just wondering… how will Google logo evolve… will it ever be “wordless”?
July 19, 2011 at 2:44 pm