January 2019 seems to be a major rebranding month for notable companies. The task management system powerhouse Slack recently revealed a new logo design, and Kate Spade New York also made their iconic spade-shaped logo more versatile. The latest new logo design reveal came from Zara, a global fashion retailer — and contrary to what most people think, we actually like the new look.
The Masterminds Behind Zara’s Logo
The new logo, which launched along with their Spring 2019 collection, was designed by Baron & Baron, an agency founded by Fabien Baron nearly 25 years ago aimed at helping fashion giants improve their branding. Baron and his team were the brains behind the logo designs for companies such as Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Dior, and now Zara.
With the goal to provide high-class fashion to the everyday consumer, the fashion retailer made the right choice in approaching Baron & Baron. They’ve laid out their entire thought process behind the new design on the Baron & Baron website:
It’s high street made high fashion – an opportunity to introduce an artfuol new elevation to this bastion of democratic style. Baron & Baron’s partnership with Zara give rise to an approach that blends elegance with edge – lifting the retailer to the level of luxury contemporaries, in a celebration of art and fashion for all.
An In-Depth The New Zara Logo Design
The new Zara logo deviates slightly in its previous design which was introduced back in 2011. The wordmark (text only) logo still flaunts a serif font style, but the major difference between the old design and new is that the letters are now much more compressed. The “Z” and “R” overlap the “A”s, while the first “A” has a joined leg with the “R”. Baron & Baron made sure to create enough negative space elsewhere in the logo, such as within the top portion of the “Z” and the “R”. The trailing detail on the last “A”‘s leg also allows for more room around the logo’s perimeter.
The major gripe that people have about the new logo is that it feels claustrophobic and confusing due to its overlapping letters. Some even took to Twitter to create the next iteration of the Zara logo.
#ZARA Logo then, now and later. pic.twitter.com/OcCYDTdQv5
— Pankaj Ahuja (@panku_) January 29, 2019
That is the worst piece of type I’ve seen in years. Was this done by one of those new robots that will replace humans?
— erik spiekermann (@espiekermann) January 26, 2019
However, we find the unique wordmark logo to be a breath of fresh air. These days, many fashion retailers and tech giants are opting for a cleaner, minimalist logo style. Zara’s logo deviates from the current logo trends of 2019 in order to have a design that looks classic and timeless, much like high-end fashion designer brands.
According to Fast Company, “Zara’s new look conjures up the heritage and weightiness of [high-end brands] with its heavy, all-caps logo, which perhaps signals something about Zara’s ambitions to carve out a place among these luxury fashion houses.”
The unique black and white logo that Zara has revealed is a much-needed change in the world of logo design. They have found a way to combine the currently trending text-only logo style with a unique and forward thinking typeface. Honestly, we hope to see more of this type of style; a style that finds the line between simple and complex.
