New Minimalist Logo

Starbucks is the next company to jump on the minimalist bandwagon. Beginning in March 2011 (coinciding with their 40th anniversary) you will see this new logo at your local Starbucks. They have stripped away almost everything, leaving only the smiling siren in their signature green color. Their new logo has been receiving a lot of praise (unlike Gap, who tried to redesign their logo in 2010, met harsh criticism, and ultimately retracted the change... more).

"The brand is now evolving to a point where coffee association is too confining and restrictive. Starbucks is fundamentally selling an experience, but by no means is coffee the only part of the experience. It is important that they not have a logo that is too confining."

- John Quelch, marketing professor, Harvard Business School

Starbucks has joined the big boys, they no longer need their company name or what they do included in their logo. I like the change, I think it looks updated without going over the top.

Here are some other companies that have done the same thing...some more successful than others...

Ok, I know you guys don't play music on your channel anymore...but did you have to go and chop off the bottom of the logo? Maybe they just put a white rectangle over the words, I guess they didn't care that they cut into the rest of the logo.

The ultimate example of brand identity using no words...just a swoosh.

This one is not so bad either...you don't need to include the word apple, it's obvious.

In my opinion, the before logo is WAY better. The after logo doesn't really read "organic farming"...more like "green space ship, powered by plant material".