In our last post, our new contributor Tymeco, asked the very important question,"When can a brand rebrand?" In this post we'll see a big brand that did.
By: Tymeco Pyles
(our COOL new contributor!)
The airline that America has grown to know and
love is undergoing a DRASTIC, INNOVATIVE, and BOLD change with their fresh
approach on the flying experience. American Airlines has joined forces with US
Airways, using the tagline “Two airlines coming together to make something
better.” This massive move has sparked the rebranding of a small piece of
history, since American Airlines has been around for nearly 80 years. Are you
ready for the bright, new, modern American Airlines?
The redesigned American Airlines
logo represents a number of things that are important to the company. They call
it The evolution of an icon. According to their new
website introducing the recent identity update, the fresh look symbolizes their
passion for progress by incorporating the colors and symbols you've come to
associate with American.
Reflecting
the soaring spirit that is uniquely American, the new logo — the Flight Symbol
— contains the
eagle, the star, the "A," and refreshed shades of red, white and blue.
Together, they represent a clean and modern update to the core icons of the
company.
With such a dynamic change, there is bound
to be some mixed reviews on the pioneering design. I stumbled upon an article
in USA Today entitled: American Airlines’ New Look:
Thumbs up or Down? The
logistics of the article basically boiled down to this:
THE GOOD
1. While it may not be as classic as the old one, it does bring some
elements of the old into the new. If you look closely at the new logo, you can
see the beak of the old AA eagle.
2. The design and logo looks
terrific. At first glance, the tail looked overwhelming but it's grown on the
eyes and now it proudly shouts American.
3. It was hard to translate American Airlines' efforts to be at the
forefront of technology and social media to their ancient, out-of-date
branding. The new look will help align their brand identity with their newly-found
innovative spirit.
THE BAD
3. The minimizing of the "American
Eagle" is a huge misstep in their brand identity. It has been such an icon
for so long to minimize it to the degree that they did shows that they are
disregarding those who have been loyal to the brand even through their worst
years.
Personally, we think its COOL and change is good. Just please take away baggage fees!
See more COOL here.
Good post. When I look at the old American Airline logo, I most definitely see "black and White" traditional America. I can still visualize those two double A's and an eagle on the uniforms of the stewardesses that work the airline. Changing this logo surely took some guts.
ReplyDeleteThe new logo certainly fits in with the new age of simplicity, creation, and modernization of this generation. When I first saw the new logo, I automatically noticed what appears to be an eagles beak as the focal point in the design. However, eyes that aren't as open to change or design may not notice and may feel as though the company may be trying to take "American" out of American Airlines. Uh oh. I don't feel thats the case. Even though I like to keep it traditional with some things, I think the new logo is interesting. In a good way. Great post!