• Truly Deeply - Brand Agency Melbourne Logo Truly Deeply - Brand Agency Melbourne Logo
  • Home
  • Our work
  • Our services
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Our Culture
  • Art with Heart
  • Contact us

Blog

By Category

Advertising
Art with Heart
Brand
Brand & Consumer Trends
brand architecture
Brand Communications
Brand Design
Brand Engagement
Brand identity
Brand Loyalty
Brand naming
Brand Personality
Brand Storytelling
Brand Strategy
Client News
Digital communications
Employer Branding
In the Press
Inspiration
marketing
Packaging
Personal Brand
Place Branding
Rebrand
Retail
Socially conscious branding
Truly Deeply
typography

So why did Facebook update their brand mark and is it worth all the effort?

brand identity design

Mastery in the tricky task of Brand Identity Design Update
“When do I update my brand identity?”
is one of the toughest questions for market leaders in managing their brand’s visual assets. This is often followed by the second toughest question; “OK, so how much do I change it?” Facebook’s recent brand mark update is a great case study in both the ‘why’ and ‘how much’.

For most brands the question of updating brand identity comes with an imperative such as declining market share, merging of brands or new competition entering the market – each of these events triggering the need to change tack with brand strategy and the visual brand language that communicates proposition and positioning to the market. But what if you are the market leader, constantly innovating and keeping ahead of the pack?

Which is precisely the challenge facebook identified for themselves this year. It was only a couple of years ago global fashion retailer GAP faced a similar scenario and misshandled it so poorly they ended-up back-flipping to the original brand mark, leaving themselves between a rock and a hard place with a brand mark they can’t change that is progressively pulling the brand’s identity out of date.

So is the change to the facebook brand mark a case of In House designers getting bored, or a well considered piece of brand design strategy?

Why?
All categories are in a constant state of flux. Technology, innovative competitors, changing consumer trends and tastes all play-out without pause, demanding brands to constantly stay plugged-in to what’s happening around them and shift accordingly. Possibly no category reflects this more than social media. It seems every month there’s a new, bright kid on the block promising to be the next huge social media channel, but with the exception of facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, the rest seem to come and go, even those like My Space which seemed to have gathered the required momentum and mass.

brand identity designers

Surrounded by so much change, facebook must spend a considerable amount of focus and energy on remaining relevant. To cool their heels for any length of time has the potential to court disconnection or irrelevance. With that in mind the brand must constantly stay connected to their community and seek to identify areas to improve their intuitive product and brand without risking changing something that might create a greater dissonance than leaving it be.

How?
Designed ten years ago in 2005 by Joe Kral and Cuban Council, the brand mark was definitely at risk of starting to look dated. The weight of the type and letterforms of Type Foundry’s Klavika might feel current for now (just), but in my view the typography is very close to it’s use-by date and likely to soon feel jaded. The timing for this facebook brand identity change is almost perfect, with too many brands waiting until their identity is seriously dated and reflecting a lack of progressive professionalism to the market (often for years) before contemplating change.

The new brand mark retains the iconic ‘facebook blue’ – always a wise brand strategy when updating a brand identity that has a well established primary brand colour. The new wordmark – designed in collaboration between facebook’s in-house design team and Eric Olson of Process Type Foundry – utilizes a customized and crafted evolution of the original typeface. The result is a well balanced update that looks and feels very similar, but has quietly ‘face-lifted’ the typographic elements that were at risking of dating the whole brand.

brand identity design agency

 

brand identity design studio

Updating brand identity is a critical part of managing a business’s image and maintaining the value of the brand’s visual assets. The timing and manner in which facebook have taken-on this challenge will prove in time to be masterful. But we should not be surprised that one of the few brands with the skill and foresight to remain relevant in the ultra-fickle category of social media has demonstrated such a sophisticated ability to manage the tricky task of a brand identity design update.

Dave Ansett
Creator of Brands
For monthly updates of our thinking, click here to receive our free Brand Newsletter

Post a comment

Click here to cancel reply.

Tags: best brand identity agencies, best brand identity designers, brand identity agencies Melbourne, brand identity design, brand identity design agency, brand identity design studio, brand identity designers, Facebook, facebook brand update, facebook branding, facebook logo, facebook's new logo, facebook's new workmark, logo design agency, logo design studio, logo designers, new facebook brand identity, new facebook logo, new facebook logo design, new facebook wordmark

  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009

Send us an email
[email protected]

18 Market Street,
South Melbourne, 3205

Fresh brand insights straight to your inbox

Inspire your brand

Fresh brand insights to your inbox

Find out more

Whether you're developing, launching or managing a brand, we'd love to chat about how we can position you for greater success.

Email Us.

    ×