The iconic Mailchimp brand was already lovely with its scripted font evolved from the original design by the talented lettering artist Jessica Hische. You can see the logo revision process here, jessicahische.is/monkeyingaround. The new rebrand created by Collins, evolves Mailchimp yet again to be a ’balance between the sophisticated and the surreal’. The logo brings in Freddie, the monkey icon and locks it up with a new bolder crafted type. Freddie has had a facelift, a bit of nip and tuck, to work as a simplified mark. He was there in the original branding but not alongside the logo and more of an additional element that was sometimes present. I love seeing logo evolution done well and this one delivers, Freddie maintains his spirited cute and cheeky look with adjustments with simpler features, no “M” on his cap and less fur. The lovely script is gone, although it’s replaced by an unique wordmark that maintains personality and delivers with impact. The logo sits on banana yellow and bucks the current trends of muted softer tones and cooler colours in this category.
“Cavendish Yellow is an energetic brand expression building recognition in moments when our voice must be clear and memorable. We anchor on a single color, used with purpose, to drive consistency across all properties.” From Mailchimp site
The brand also introduces a new brand typeface Cooper Light ‘It can be dressed-up and editorial or casual and approachable. You may have seen its larger cousin on dusty old funk records and inside questionable sandwich shops.’
The most interesting leap for me is the exciting surreal and energetic illustrations. They are quirky, weird and spread everywhere throughout the branding, just go check out the website.
Mailchimp believes they are “personal expression over realistic accuracy,” a move which the company say sees them “nodding to Mailchimp’s support for businesses looking to build their brands by maintaining their unique voices in the world.”
“This new brand embodies so much of what is important to the Mailchimp team — a devotion to craft, a love of creative expression, and an obsession with quality.”
Collins summarises the new brand identity by saying, “In partnership with the in-house Brand Team, we sought to capture and elevate the ineffable Mailchimp spirit, a potent combination of wry humor, modest celebration, and a dash of absurdity. We developed a new brand system that, in each element, works to maintain a precise balance between the sophisticated and the surreal (bucking reductive, over-simplified design trends), to better chart the company’s unique path and expression. The solution seeks to amplify Mailchimp as beacon for its customers, a message to growing brands that growing up doesn’t mean erasing your peculiarities.
The evolution retains all the elements that endeared the brand to its first fervent fans while creating space for Mailchimp to grow and speak with greater authority to a wider audience.”
David Fry | Senior Designer & Writer