It is me or did SMART change their logo?
May 8th, 2008 by noelperlas
SMART Communications Inc. is, arguably, the top mobile network operator in the Philippines boasting of over 25 million subscribers. I have written about the recent rebranding of their competitor Globe. Could this be their answer back? I didn’t hear of any launch party like what Globe did, probably because it didn’t merit one. It seemed like they just slipped this one passed us. I only noticed the change when they had their new campaign for the launch of their SmartBro Prepaid product. (Which incidentally also had a logo redesign, see below) The new SMART logo change will not be very obvious to the untrained eye, and SMART will keep its brand equity.
Now what do I think with the redesign? I actually think that this is an improvement from their previous logo. The typeface change was necessary. It makes the logo feel younger somehow, probably because the old logo really used an outdated typeface. If you would notice the letter “A”, the slant of the inner bridge is no longer facing against the whole type, but now is slanted to the right, making it more unified with the rest. The “rays” illuminating from the letter “M” also saw some improvements, no longer using another color plus reducing its total number.
I’m not sure if the number “rays” mean anything, but I thought they could still drop a couple of them… specially that one under the logo! Oh my, are we back in the 90s? What’s that swoosh doing there? I think that was an unnecessary “ornamentation” on their part, just additional fluff. The base of most of the letters looks like it was taken from the old font, just narrowed down a bit and fixed here and there… although the “S” seems to be out of place. I agree that the old “S” should be changed, but they could’ve used a better one… just feels a little sloppy.
Even with my negative remarks, I think it was a good logo redesign and will not alienate their millions of subscribers. I’m also happy that these big companies are seeing the value of good branding and design.
Posted in Branding, Crit, Design |
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9 Responses to “It is me or did SMART change their logo?”
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J. Says:
May 9th, 2008 at 10:05 amI like the new logo but, like you, I don’t like the line under it. I love your logo/design critiques. Kasi ako duling, di kaya ng powers ko to determine if something is new/looks better/etc. Heehee.
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timtam Says:
May 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pmCool you noticed Smart’s logo revision, but I just thought they made the font bolder.. Didn’t notice the finer details that were changed as you mentioned. Seems that Smart is also streamlining their logos similar to what Globe did last year.
I think these companies can’t let go of the swoosh design to affirm importance/leadership.. perhaps it can be rendered differently…
Over-all i still do think that there is something awkward with the new logo of Smart..the slanting of the letters perhaps?
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noelperlas Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 3:06 amtimtam: I think your opinion is slightly biased! Hahaha.
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Brownspank Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 7:20 pmI agree with the ‘S’ comment, parang sablay. It’s as if a designer worked on refining the ‘A’, ‘R’, and ‘T’, and someone else (apparently a Star Wars fan) tried to reshape the ‘S’.
Seeing how Smart Bro continues to frustrate its customers, I guess the ‘S’ stands for ’sh*tty’. :)
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berger Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 1:01 ammaybe the swoosh is there for emphasis. ok lang sia sa akin.
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berger Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 1:02 amin comparison i think the new globe logo looks too “unilever”
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Niong Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 1:12 amOverall i think it’s better than their old logo, but it isn’t there yet. What is that horrible, horrible swoosh/line/thing at the bottom? The last three letters are definitely an improvement though. And is it just me or does it feel like the logotype can’t make up its mind whether it’s italic or not?
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noelperlas Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 3:11 amBerg: I agree that the new globe logo looks inferior to the smart redesign.
Niong: Thanks for dropping by… ya, come to think of it, the italics isn’t quite italics… hmm..
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Noel Perlas - Perlas Design Studio » Blog Archive » More SMART logo changes Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 3:33 am[…] a week or two after I posted my thoughts on the redesign of SMART Communications’ logo, I saw this huge billboard in EDSA corner Pioneer St. promoting the new SMART Buddy campaign, this […]
