Zara’s new logo has started a new global conflict. The new design has freaked out designers all over the web. Zara has come under close scrutiny, with designers posting their own versions of the logo that is much more digestible to them! Many people believe that Zara is trying out a new brand proposition with the launch of the new logo. But Twitter and Instagram are filled with some different opinions all together.
For those of you who do not know the history of Zara, let’s take you through it. Zara is a Spanish fast-fashion retailer brand founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera in Arteixo (A Coruña), Galicia.
Does the term “fast-fashion” sound a little too weird? Fast-fashion is a term used by brands which bring out apparels that are cheap, chic and trendy and ideated from the latest Fashion Week, to your nearest stores really quick!
Let’s just say that you saw a really bizarre outfit on a fashion-show, but you loved the jacket draped on the shoulders on the model for no particular reason. It’s just there but it got your attention! And one fine day, you step into your nearest Zara, H&M or Forever 21 and find almost the exact same jacket available at an affordable cost—that my friend is fast-fashion!
The Logo: The Old and the New!
The old logo was a clean, equidistant arrangement of letters in Sans Serif font. It was perceived as a high-class, modern brand in 2010. The new logo has been changed to a tightly squeezed, interlocking arrangement that has left many designers fuming with their OCD.
“The old logo was okay and it had a bit of an odd/off character that matched well how Zara sometimes brings in high-fashion flourishes to some of its products. Its loose spacing was perhaps too loose …which is the most distinctive difference with the new logo that has gone tight, tight, tight with a high-contrast Didone”, notes Alex Tass, Logo and Identity Designer.
It is being widely noted as a big marketing strategy. It makes the brand stand a class apart from its high-street fashion competitors which are perceived as classy and expensive. Some marketers believe that Zara is trying to reposition itself as a more approachable and affordable brand. But lettering experts have different opinions.
“That uneven spacing between the letter Z and A because of the weird kerning was odd. The A is also longer than the Z and also the uneven spacing of the slants of Z and A triggered my OCD!”, Bharti Gupta, a logo-designer and artist.
The new logo has been made by the design firm Baron & Baron, whose founder, Fabien Baron, is known for this kind of compressed, overlapping spacing, Baron & Baron has also created visual imagery for Zara’s newly launched marketing campaign. Baron has helped design the typography for a wide range of fashion brands, from Dior to Coach to Bottega Veneta. All of these are regarded as highly-fashionable, modern but also expensive brands.
The redesign has ensured to put across the message that Zara can be brand that’s diverse and a brand for all. The design does have some small intricacies that could have been improved but I am really happy with the overall message that the brand is actually trying to portray to the world.
A new design, a new conflict!
Social Media sites are filled with such hilarious memes and redesign posts. Someone on twitter said that the logo is trying to force them to fit into the brand’s clothes. Here are some other comments posted all over by various people:
This creative studio posted a video on their Twitter handle. They actually reworked the Harper’s Bazaar Logo to create the Zara logo totally mocking Zara’s creativity and redesign. https://twitter.com/i/status/1090563830705315841
But still, Zara’s logo stands out differently from all others. Most of the fashion brands have similar heavy capitalized logos, which makes Zara’s new logo a class apart. No matter what experts say, the new logo has definitely created a buzz that clearly indicates that the brand means business and it is here to stay.
I think that is exactly what Zara intended to do. And it has succeeded flawlessly. How will the customers and people in general react to it is yet to be seen. Till then all we can hope for is for Zara to ACTUALLY become the affordable and approachable brand it aims to be.
Mellifluous Murmurings 