LogoGala

Kraft - Another Rebrand Bites the Dust

Posted on Feb 21, 2009 By Deron Sizemore in Logo Design | 8

A couple weeks ago I wrote about a rebrand that didn’t go so well and it seems that there’s another company following Blimpie’s lead. Kraft foods recently unveiled it’s new corporate logo and completely missed the mark on this one.

According to the article from Adweek, this logo was conceived after a seven month design process where more than 7,000 employees and consumers worldwide were asked for their feedback. Consumers were asked questions such as: “What do you look for in a food company?” and “How do you engage with food generally?”

My question is this: From questions such as the ones above, how did they arrive at the final concept?

According to Kraft:

the new logo consists of an upward, red smile exploding into an array of seven “flavor bursts,” each of which represents a different division of Kraft’s business.

I spent some time thinking about the new concept before reading the Adweek article and being enlightened as to what the actual concept behind the logo was and I have to say that a smile exploding into flavor bursts never entered my mind. The “smile” reminds me more of someone throwing something, like and egg and as it makes contact with a wall it is bursting. Even now after knowing what the thought process behind the concept, I still don’t get the smile and flavor burst part. If it wasn’t explained, I’m not sure anyone would get it.

Simply Too Many Faults?

I’m just wondering if this logo simply has too many faults to succeed? Nearly every aspect of the concept goes right along with what most logo designers will tell you are no-nos in logo design.

1. Way too busy. From the tagline, to the smile and then the flavor bursts, there’s simply too much going on. I’ve always been a fan of keeping things simple and in my opinion, less is usually more.
2. Tagline too small to be viewed at smaller sizes? It’s on the verge of being too small I think. You can see in the before and after images in this article that the tagline is barely legible.
3. Will it work in grayscale? It definitely won’t carry the same affect in grayscale that is does in color. Of course, that’s assuming you actually got the “flavor bursts” effect in the first place. In grayscale, the flavor bursts just won’t be the same. So, if you didn’t “get it” in color, you’ll be completely lost in grayscale.

What do You Think?

Luckily, the old logo will continue to show up on their store products and the new design will simply be their corporate logo taking the place of the old one as in the past it served as both the product and corporate logo.

What are you thoughts on this rebrand?