When you think of iconic automobile badges, many will undoubtably spring to mind. Such as Audi’s four interlinking circles; Volkswagen’s ‘V’ over ‘W’ circular emblem; Peugeot’s lion; Ferrari’s prancing horse; and of course, Aston Martin’s unmistakable wings. Yet, like most great brands – the logo has evolved over time. Some are even so far from the original, that you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’re looking at two completely different brands – when you compare its first and last brandmark.

Aston Martin’s logo began life back in 1920. And it, like many, was a million miles away from the newly designed emblem. In fact, it looked more like Volkswagen’s badge – it was an interlinking ‘A’ and ‘M’ inside the shape of a circle.

The iconic ‘wings’ logo has been synonymous with Aston Martin since 1927. And it’s only recently undergone its latest iteration, with the previous being created in 2003. Including the latest wings motif – by prolific designer and art director, Peter Saville – and over the last 100 years, Aston Martin’s wings have seen seven updates.

Simplicity (and subtlety) is a sign of the times.

Like so many brandmarks these days – less is more. Less is cooler. Less is simply more memorable. Think Nike, Apple, Starbucks, Disney, Shell, Amazon, Ikea… even the list is almost end-less. So, it’s no surprise that Aston Martin followed suit. And such a prestigious brand required one of the world’s most sought after brandmark-making designers. Or as Peter Saville, the man himself, humbly describes it:

“Subtle but necessary enhancements not only keep forms fresh, but allow for new technologies, situations and applications to be accommodated in the future.”

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For numerous brands, the way forward is quite simply – making things simpler.

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The Rolls rebrand. A match made at Pentagram.

Rolls Royce. A gleaming example of the very best of British. Established in 1904 they’re synonymous with success. The epitome of having reached the top. Sure, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea – for their price you could afford a Ferrari or even a Lambo. Like Bentleys, Rolls Royce’s are big, grandiose and as about as stylish as you get. They demand respect. And respect is exactly what they got when RR got a much needed brand upgrade from the equally esteemed and perfectly matched Pentagram.

Led by Pentagram’s impeccable key partner, Marina Willer, didn’t want to go at this one all guns blazing though. She had sutler approach in mind. Much of it was old-hat, dated and far from 21st Century cool. The most dramatic change to the logo was the brand’s emblem, the Spirit of Ecstasy. It undeniably stood for ultimate prestige, now more than ever.

The iconic double ‘R’ has always been associated with Rolls Royce. And it seems to have escaped any rebrand. But compared to previous iterations its clearly been simplified. It’s been delicately finessed, as have other typographical details in the new brand identity.

Anyway, more importantly are the changes made to the Spirit of Ecstasy, which I briefly mentioned before. It has a (and rightfully so) more dominant part to play than the two Rs. Especially as it is the cars unique and unmistakable figure that sits majestically on the car bonnet.

There is no doubt that the Spirit of Ecstasy is the focal point in the rebrand. Considerably more time (or it at least looks that way) has been spent on its subtle restyling. The most obvious update is the way the brandmark faces – it’s been flipped to face forwards, as if looking forward to the future. It faces a whole new digital era and lifestyle.

The lack of detail in favour for a less fussy design of the figure feels cleaner, and more contemporary. Perhaps somewhat stranger is the addition of the base the figure stands on, as if mimicking the outlined shape of an actual car? What’s its purpose? Maybe it suggests a full stop – underlining the ‘new look and feel’ of the brand. As if ‘completing’ the design.

Less attention has been given to the Rolls-Royce wordmark. Is there one? Sure I noticed a subtle hint of difference; did I; do I?

Forget it, google will know – as Creative Review clearly explains

“the new wordmark, which now features angled detailing across the L and E to quietly communicate a sense of movement. The adjustments to the wordmark are based on a historic iteration, and while subtle, now looks less John Lewis and more Liberty”

Ehh OK? Let’s just go with the new wordmark is a tad more stylish and upmarket.

So, after eleven iterations, the truly iconic spirit of the RR monogram lives on. Its now aimed at a younger buyer of around 43 they say. And it’s come quite a long way since sculptor, Charles Robinson Sykes, designed the first ever Spirit of Ecstasy. Amazing to think that this female figurine, and logo for that matter, – both a symbol of wealth, superiority and power – will outlive you or I, it will live on forever.

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The best Creative Director I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with didn’t really care for fonts. He was old school – you know the kind of guy that scamped every idea on a pad before executing it on a Mac (but then he started out when Apple Macs didn’t exist). His thinking – if it never worked as a scamp how in hell would Photoshop do it any justice. To this day, I completely agree with him (sorry all you mac-monkeys out there).

To him, the idea was king, and he couldn’t be bothered with laboriously looking through font suitcases (he’d get an artworker to refine those final details). Nope, he stuck with one font and one font only – Swiss. Admittedly it is a beautiful, no-nonsense sans serif typeface that never seems to date. Will it ever? Swiss is a version of Helvetica. Yup, trusty old Helvetica – invented by Max Miedinger in 1957, and still packing a punch.

But this sleek, modernist typeface isn’t still going strong because of its creator. The person who’s really responsible for Helvetica as it is today is the late, legendary typographer, type designer, type consultant and type historian – Mike Parker. Responsible for over 1000 typefaces, Mike P is has been described as ‘the font god’ and his colleagues called him a ‘shepherd of typography’, who helped guide the type landscape towards digital printing.

With so many weights and styles you can’t really go wrong with Helvetica – it’s the go-to typeface for most Art Directors/Designers (or at least it should be). Helvetica has always been a ubiquitous font – like I said, it’ll never date. I could be wrong, when the world goes serif mad. But that’s never going to happen. The great thing about Helvetica is that it’s so versatile – again due to its numerous weights, widths and sizes.

So what big brands use this typeface – unquestionably the most renowned, famous and iconic font of them all. Before we look at the brands’ whose identity was built on Helvetica, let’s not forget that, due to its clarity and neutrality, it’s seen everywhere – your taxes form is set in Helvetica; government publications use Helvetica; it’s preinstalled into all computers; and it was (unsurprisingly) the font used in the original poster for Mad Men.

OK, now for the brands that use Helvetica. I don’t really know how to talk about this without it sounding mundane and list-like. So I’m going quote something I read while researching this post – it’s from the Guardian online, and yes, being from 2014, it’s dated – but it could still apply today. I’m guessing it’s also aimed at an American audience but I don’t think that matters – it still works for a British one.

Here it is: ‘Today the Helvetica font is ubiquitous, used to spell out major brand identities (Nestlé, Lufthansa, Jeep, Panasonic, Toyota, Skype, Harley Davidson), shop names (American Apparel), public signage (the New York subway system was an early adopter), tech companies (Microsoft, Intel, Apple – current iPhones use the fashionably skinny Helvetica Neue) and self-defeatingly ironic T-shirt slogans (“I hate Helvetica”).’ (theguardian.com)

I just love that endline, but wouldn’t buy the t-shirt – irony or not, Helvetica will always have a place in my heart.

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