I dislike the new Walmart logo
Fundamentally I understand the need for Walmart to rebrand – it has started to get this big corporate evil empire vibe and has lost touch with its small town USA feel. However, the new brand logo is more synonymous with generic cheapness than anything else. I should note there is a big difference between “low prices” and “cheap”. They went from Wal-Mart to Walmart and from America’s superstore to America’s bargain bin. The brand lacks character, energy, and pride.
The new Walmart logo has a Kmart and Payless visual feel to it; a sense of cheapness. Not the low price type of cheapness; but the sticky floor, strange smell, unkempt employee type of cheapness. Target for a long time has been in the same space as Walmart but far from being a noticeable competitor, in the global sense. But Targets growing popularity is directly due to their focus on the sophisticated shopper; it is not uncommon for it to be called by its faux-French moniker “Tarjay”. Instead of tapping into this growing and popular trend, the new Walmart logo takes a step backwards; from chic to cheap.
The new logo has lost it’s the sense of American style it once had and has been replaced with a generic brand feel. The previous Wal-Mart logo was colored in American blue complimented with the recognizable star. The serif font face gave it grace and style while maintaining that homegrown feel.
I am a web designer first and foremost, my specialty and focus is not on branding; but as a web designer I can see trend ties to the popular “web 2.0” logo style of yesterday. It is as if the branding agency who designed the new Walmart logo decided to go “Web 2.0” – it is as if they were completely under qualified for the task at hand. The sun symbol used within the new Walmart logo reminds me of the loading icon we are used to throughout the web – it is as if I am constantly waiting for a new logo to load!
More on the Walmart logo: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/less_hyphen_more_burst_for_wal.php
- July 1st, 2008
- 17comments
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Ironically MGD and I bumped into each other at Costco last night - a very similar type of store and he brought up this matter as well.
You hit the nail on the head with your last paragraph. This new logo is appealing to current trends and that is first thing you need to avoid when developing a brand.
The previous logo had years of branding established. If you remember the old Christmas Vacation movie with Chevy Chase, you can catch a glimpse of this franchise in it’s early days in the sledding the scene.
My guess is that they’re trying to improve an image that has destroyed itself over the years … and this is an attempt at doing so.
I absolutely despise this store and am okay with them playing with fire and getting burnt.
Well said Nick.
I agree. It looks more like a bargan basement solar company
I’d say doing away with the “big corporate evil empire” positions and actions would be the best way to achieve this, but I guess that’s why I don’t own Walmart.
It feels like they traded bad for bad, generic for generic, or nondescript for nondescript. Take your pick, but my guess most people if asked probably couldn’t describe the old logo if asked and the new one is the same way.
Somebody at corporate had to vote on this and the branding firm was probably pushed until they came up with something the suits liked. It simply shows they lack vision, boldness, style or any number of adjectives you could pull out of a hat.
Reguardless of what you think about Walmart, personally a place to get what I need when I need it cheap but not always cheap in quality but certainly light weight, it has a place in the the merchindising pecking order. Unfortunately it’s still at the bottom!
It will be interesting to see if a single store changes all the logos on price tags, in store signage, boxes etc all at the stroke of midnight or will the two designs coexist until current stock runs out. One saves money but confuses the customer the other is costly.
The transition from the logo is too much of a jump into what they would like to do. While the color has some impact on cheapness (as if it was selected from a color swatch book), the mark is what kills the logo. The mark would convey better brand awareness if it was still a star (or pentagon) shape. But, like all major designs, there is probably a good amount of sketches and early comps. I’d be more interested in seeing those and how they panned out into this new logo.
@Adam, HA HA! They want to look the part, not be the part.
Care to point out those serifs? Grace? It’s just an extra-bold sans-serif, with a funny-looking R. And what’s with this “American blue”? I would think that would refer to the same blue as is on the flag, which falls somewhere between the old and new logo colors.
It’s not confusing. In fact, most companies will pointedly use their old logo with their new logo for a transitional period. Moreover, Walmart was already beginning to use similarly themed signage in their stores for some time now. They just finally decided to change the actual logo to reflect that.
I look at that ’star’ and all I see is a Mac waiting/loading icon…
Think there’s any significance in them switching from a 5-point star to a 6-point star? Not accusing or anything, just curious.
As much as I dislike the logo redesign (shocker), Kirk made a good point. Was that a typo? Definitely not a serif font.
@Kirk Lennon beat me to the punch. WalMart hasn’t had serifs in their logotype for 20 years. I’m also not sure what “American” blue is or how a color “compliments” anything (perhaps the author meant “complements”?).
Yes, you are all correct, Walmart has not had a serif font in their logo since since 1981; I was speaking to the previous version’s’ of the logo — my apologizes for the confusion on my part. I was more trying to speak to the transition the logo has gone through in appealing it self to American culture to what it is now.
As to the “American Blue” comment, I am referring specifically to the Red, White and “Blue” of the American flag. The Walmart logo used prior to the new one had a very similar feel to the “Old Glory Blue” used in the American Flag (PMS281).
@Leonard, I definitely meant to write “complements”, thanks for the correction.
For what it’s worth (and I have some some known issues with colors), I think the old Wal-Mart blue and “Old Glory Blue” are completely different. The Wal-Mart blue looks more like what you’d find on a “vintage” flag. I suppose this would actually support your thesis even better, with a more nostalgic, Americana angle. But I think that’s a bit of a stretch. It just looks dated.
Having said that, the yellow thing on the new logo is destined to look dated in the very near future. I give the new logo ten years, tops.
I dislike this one about as much as I dislike Baskin Robbins new logo. They both seem so…meh.
Hey, you are so right.
Yet, many times company’s solve some of their image problems through redesign branding and fail to fix all the negatives. The talent in fixing all the negatives is always equal to talent of the designer to see all the negatives, communicate the many negatives, ( as you did ) and respond with design that
touches upon goals and objectives.
People will see the asterisk as an asterisk, not a flower, not a 60’s hippie flower, but instead, the public will see it for attempting to make a statement. A joke, waiting for a punch line. The new design lacks confidence, there is still a margin of abstraction which will allow the logo to become decorative and often tricked out. All of which, is what I like best about the mark.
Who was the design firm? What city, state?
Thanks for your comments.
It looks like a you-know-what hole! Hilarious! I would love to see it animated.
I used to work for Walmart in 1983 when it *was* a small chain. The typeface used was similar to a 19th century serif (think Mad Magazine). It had a quaint look consistant with its small town roots. The dash was called “the squiggle” by WM associates. We opened the store every day by spelling out the store name with associates making the letters with their body. The squiggle was the most fun with the associate shaking their backside as it was singled out in the spelling. I imagine those days are gone and forgotten by all but a few. To me, the quaint logo had more brand appeal than the san serif and the squiggle (tilde) was more unique. Once Sam died, many things changed.