By now you probably know that American Airlines introduced a new brand identity this week. An identity seemingly created by the same folks who brought you the ill-fated Gap logo and possibly last year’s eBay logo.
My assessment? It looks like someone opened Photoshop and
the correct font didn’t load. The only thing I can give the new American logo
high marks for is kerning.
Did I miss it? Is there an App that does this? You upload a corporate
identity to a mobile device using augmented reality, run it through an algorithm
that strips the humanity out of the brand and boom, it pumps out a logo fit only
for an antiseptic, anesthetized, “Logan’s Run”-esque world.
Aren’t brands supposed to have personality? Isn’t that the
point of branding? Expressing what makes the brand unique? Different? Special?
I find this “blanding” trend baffling in a world where people increasingly embrace heritage brands like Aldon, Belstaff, and Red Wing. Where “authenticity” has been elevated to an almost deity-like level. And where so much scrutiny is placed on food, and the whole locavore, Slow Food movement contunues to change the way we think about what we eat.
I say, bring me the “slow” logo. Show me something thoughtful, crafted, human, and connected. To me, these new logos are the marketing equivalent of this. Blech.
— Bernard Urban
