Today two of the biggest beer companies in the world unveiled a new logo. The new mark for MillerCoors was created by top design studio Pentagram. This isn’t a blow-your-hair-back summer blockbuster of a logo. But that’s never been what Pentagram is about. And, by the way, when’s the last time you saw a summer blockbuster win an Oscar?
If this logo isn’t flashy, what makes it good?
Glad you asked. It’s always easier to appreciate how smart someone’s solutions are if you fully appreciate the problem. I’m not sure what the discussions were like in the strategy meetings, but I have a pretty good idea. On a much smaller scale, we tackled a similar problem. With Andrews, we had a big beer company with hundreds of unique brands that needed a unified identity. In the end, we decided that the company, not the beer, should be the focus. It was the only way the logo could match all the brands it served.
The new MillerCoors logo does this really well. The logo makes them look like a glossy, suit wearing multi-million dollar company. And that’s exactly what they are. This isn’t a logo for consumers, its a logo for stockholders, business partners, and international banks. I like the logo, but I love the strategy.
So what about the Design?
Well, anytime you can take three circles and two colors and make a three dimensional object appear, my hat is off to you. As I said before, it’s not a summer blockbuster, but it is very refined and well crafted. Michael Beirut, one of my favorites, headed up the New York Pentagram team. I’m not crazy about the type, but I recognize that I’m in no position to be critical of a internationally celebrated design firm, much less a senior partner at Pentagram. So I’ll defer judgment to wiser designers than me.
In conclusion:
While I’m not a fan of corporate conglomerates and long for an idealistic Jeffersonian Economy, I recognize that these big mergers are a reality I’m going to have to get used to. Here’s hoping that when they do merge, they have the wisdom and grace to do it with as much class as MillerCoors has done here.
Thanks to Logolounge for the tip.
rynot
Thu, July 3 2008
if anyone but pentagram had done this it would be called out for the mediocre ‘give-it-to-the-intern’ quality. i think peole want to like it just because of the name/firm attached. it’s a half empty glass of flat beer…a perfect synonym for the design.
carmen
Mon, July 7 2008
never heard of Pentagram before, but i found it funny. do they design a pentagram into all the logos, maybe some illuminati triangle action?
and yeah, i bet they got 300K for that intern joke of a logo
Jenny Bean
Mon, July 7 2008
I feel the need to disagree with the last two comments. This logo is very simple and smart for B2B. The animation makes the branding come to life and the simplicity of the custom text draws your eye to the glass of beer. And beer is what they are all about.
Brand New, a great blog discussing Cooperate Branding and identity work, wrote a great post reflecting the logo and interviewing the designer Michael Beirut… maybe it would do good to read it before trashing one of the most well respected design firms existing for the past 30yrs. Here is a link http://tinyurl.com/5bdx7u
Chris Griego
Mon, July 7 2008
I’m a web developer with enough design training to recognize good work, but I’m not engrossed in the design world enough to know lead designer’s names, so I never make judgments by name. I have to have my dedicated designer friends tell me who Pentagram is and why they matter, which they’ve been doing for years now.
It’s not surprising that many web sites dedicated to beer are railing against the new MillerCoors logo because the logo is not for them. The Miller and Coors logos you see when you go to the store or order a bottle in the restaurant isn’t changing. The average person who drinks any of Miller’s or Coor’s various beer brands, like Coors Light, Miller High Life, Blue Moon, or Foster’s, will never see this logo. This logo doesn’t call for pictures of the Rockies, barley, or swooshes. It calls for tasteful execution that works with (and takes a back seat to) their product logos when combined, and on that scale they’ve fully succeeded. If you guys know any interns capable of this caliber of work, I want to hear about them.
With the onslaught of awful logo redesigns such as Walmart, Photoshop, Xerox, Payless, and on, I find the new MillerCoors logo refreshing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this logo became iconic of excellent logo design on the scale of FedEx.
Jenny Bean
Mon, July 7 2008
Nicely put Griego!
Tue, July 8 2008
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Obviously we love to encourage discussion. I would like to say, I agree with Jenny that well informed comments are much more helpful to the overall discussion.
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