What’s behind the trend toward kinder, gentler brandingby Josh Sanburn
AT&T
One of the biggest logo trends is a design that appears to bethree-dimensional. After decades of the iconic bell, culminating in thesimplified 1969 design, has moved its globe symbol alongside thelowercase (text-message-friendly) name.
CBS
The eye has remained virtually untouched since its debut 60 yearsago. Its simple design, inspired by hex symbols on barns, was strikinglymodern when it first appeared.
Gap
In October, unveiled a new logo. People hated it. "This is theworst idea has ever had," one customer wrote on Facebook. "It feltlike the brand was evaporating," says marketing professor PattiWilliams. reverted to its old logo after a week.
KFC
Kentucky Fried Chicken became in the 1990s to avoid theunhealthy connotations of the word fried. Its iconic founder, ColonelSanders, has become increasingly prominent. He's kept the string tie buthas added an apron, so customers won't feel he has lost his talent forhome-style cooking.
NBC
Since 1956, the peacock—originally used to represent 's increasein color programming—has appeared and reappeared in various forms. Butthe bird was dropped from the Universal logo in January, indicatingthat the parent company wants to be known for more than just itssignature network.
Nike
Its name used to be an integral part of the sportswear company'slogo, but the swoosh became so intertwined with the brand that barely uses its name in ads anymore.
Pepsi
's logo started out similar to Coca-Cola's, but the companyhas adopted a philosophy of gradual change. "The best logo redesigns areby evolution, not revolution," says design expert David Carter. That maybe why in the current logo, you can still see the bottle cap.
Starbucks
After 40 years, the 16th century Norse siren in the coffeechain's logo has become queen. She now appears solo, making the logo"acultural," according to design scholar Mittal, and potentially moreappealing abroad. The logo has also reached a tipping point where it'srecognizable without text, something to which most big companies aspire.(See also Nike.)
Walmart
The multinational department-store chain, hugely popular butoften criticized for driving out mom-and-pop shops, adopted a softer,friendlier logo after decades of a stronger approach. The blue islighter, the yellow sunburst suggests optimism, and the lowercaseletters are less imposing than their all-caps forebears.
