Logo design is not easy. At all. You have to distill the entire essence of an organization down into something instantly identifiable, easily reproducible, appealing, eye-catching, everything. It’s far more challenging than I think most people realize. And when it’s not right, everyone can tell, immediately, almost innately. If you don’t believe me, just look at Jaguar’s new logo – and the associated new brand-image campaign – and look at the reactions it’s inspiring, almost none of which are positive. This is feeling like a logo disaster.
Jaguar making a radical and bold change is absolutely a good thing, don’t get me wrong. The brand has been stagnant for some time now, and in desperate need of some sort of reboot. Sure, they have a fantastic history and a legacy of truly iconic cars, but that doesn’t help them sell new cars, which I’m told carmakers enjoy doing. So the idea that Jaguar needs to make a dramatic change is something I absolutely agree with.
I’m just not sure the change should be whatever this is:
Oh boy. There’s a lot there, isn’t there? Let’s just start with the logo:
Now, on some basic design level, I don’t hate this at all; I think the rounded forms are friendly and clean, and the mixing of upper and lower case is playful. It’s approachable and clean, slightly 70s-retro as well. It would be a fantastic logo for, say, a maker of fun budget consumer electronics or perhaps a frozen yogurt brand.
But for a car? For a Jaguar? No.
I mean, I think the old logo was definitely in need of an update; the typography felt stale and dated, and the jaguar itself – the “leaper,” was a bit too complex for an effective logo. It was fine for what it was, but I do agree that an update was in order.
That said, it’s hard to imagine something that feels more wrong than what Jag decided on. As I said, it’s not terrible graphically, but we have to consider what this “device mark” (that’s what Jaguar calls the wordmark logo) feels like and reminds us of, visually, because I hardly think it works as a car brand attempting to compete with Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, and Bentley.
Here are some other logos that feel very visually similar to the new Jag logo:
So, we have Nintendo’s line of little toys that interact with video games, the stylized typography used for a sci-fi movie about gigantic worms and desert-dwelling drug addicts, and the design of the typography on those Bloomingdale’s bags my Aunt Margie used to always have.
None of these feel like “premium vehicle” to me, electric or otherwise.
Plus, where’s the cat? Why would you get rid of the leaping feline from the logo? That’s the best part! To be fair, the new brand identity does have a place for the leaping jag, shown as a “makers mark” on a striped background that they call “strikethrough” and seems to refer to horizontal line design motifs.
That’s a bit better, and could certainly work well on some sort of rectangular grille. Jaguar also is showing a sort of monogram-like makers mark, too:
Again, not a bad design (if you can get past a sort of monogram that’s JaguaR) but it still doesn’t feel very Jaguar, even if Jaguar wants to make a new idea of Jaguar. I know it’s easy to criticize, because I’m doing that right now so I know, but I still think this logo could have been much, much better.
Here, I’m going to take five minutes to just show you roughly what I mean:
That’s a literal five-minute effort, and I’m not saying this is perfect or even good by any means, but I feel like it captures modernity and Jaguar-ness better than the “device mark” Jaguar put out. Using that new more angular leaper would make it better, but I don’t feel like spending another five minutes doing that. You can imagine it, right?
Okay, that’s just the logo. Let’s get into the brand identity stuff shown in that video I embedded up there. You know, the one with this wacky crew:
Okay, so here’s my big problem with all of this: for something that says “copy nothing,” this is some incredibly derivative stuff. This kind of bold, colorful couture, these saturated-color-monochromatic backgrounds, it’s not new or bold, it’s almost the default go-to when some organization wants to prove how bold and edgy and daring they are.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a little experiment to try. Grab a sample image of one of these Gautier-ish-looking models and do a reverse image search. Let’s try one with this vivid friend here:
…and the results:
There are many, many similar earlier examples of this aesthetic, going back about 20 years or so. There have been plenty of looks like this, the ruffles, the color, the fit, the expression, the overall look. This is not new ground that’s being tread, this is the easiest, most worn path to making people think new ground is being tread.
Some of these references go back even further. Take Temu Tilda Swinton here with her sledgehammer:
She’s not breaking any moulds there; she’s snuggling into a mould that was first used to cast a brand identity back in 1984.
And I think that may be the real problem here: this whole identity and campaign wants so desperately to be seen as shocking or new or novel but it just isn’t. It’s pandering and lazy and while I respect that Jaguar wants to shoot for something artier and unexpected, this just isn’t it.
This kind of artful shocking, using striking, unusual-looking models and visuals that arrest and surprise certainly can be done to sell cars. Citroën figured it out decades ago, for example:
Seriously, can you imagine going on a road trip with this guy?:
After about an hour of listening to his atonal music and listening to him complain about every fucking billboard you pass and refusing to play word games with you and eating his smelly mung beans, noisily, you’d want to ditch this scarlet bore at the first Sheetz you stopped at.
The tone isn’t innovative, it’s smug and elitist and while, sure, that’s part of the Jaguar identity, this is stupidly and derivatively smug and elitist. I suppose there will be people who will say that at least we’re talking about Jaguar now, but I’m not sure that’s so great. Because everyone seems to be talking about how they don’t want whatever Jaguars come out of this.
There needs to be a new idea of Jaguar, no question. Whatever this mess is, though, is not it.
Jaguar, if you want a do-over, I think everyone is okay with that.
It’s almost as if someone at the ad agency watched a commercial for a fashion or perfume brand and had their minds blown. Seriously, I cannot remember when was the last time I saw a perfume commercial that made any sense or gave me an idea of what I would be buying.
Exhibit A: What is even going on here? Why is the lady crying gold?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDrCCj2UCaw
Exhibit B: You know what, screw it, let’s do a supercut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIOeQ86Lls
Jaguar, buddy, don’t do this!
If ever there was a group of people that would have nothing to do with me, it’s that group.
Why do I feel like everyone in that picture would be the sort to get really upset about the pronunciation of jaguar?
Nah.
They’d appreciate it if you called it the Euro-Spanish version “hog-wahr”.
Now that’s edgy. Haha
It’s “jag-wire” and will always be “jag-wire”
I suppose it’s easier screwing up branding than screwing up building cars or building cars at all.
When I saw that decades-old idea of shocking artsy stereotypes, paraphrased lyrics from They Might be Giants ran through my head:
Everything that’s old is new again,
Just like in a long, long trailer.
All the cars got broken and the brand kept driving,
And nobody even stopped to save her.
Wake me when it’s over, touch my face,
Tell me every word has been erased.
Don’t you want to know the reason,
the brand is not appealing?
Don’t you get the feeling?
Everything that’s old is new again . . .
They took a year off of producing cars to find themselves… looks like they will find themselves out of business soon.
Originally the car for bad guys… now the car for bad clothes/haircuts?
As a Jag owner, sure I am disappointed. But.. i was priced out of their new cars anyway – Ill just find other stuff to be into.
Did… did Jaguar stop making cars and start making those fizzy drinks that taste a little like fruit, but mostly like TV static?
Oh good, another craptastic impossible to read piece of lettering on the back of impossible to differentiate vehicles.
The United Colors of Benetton are back, baby. I hear the 1980’s are popular again. We’re going to party like it’s 1989.
Jeez we’re old
This is the type of thing that would really bother me if it was a brand I actually cared about.
Instead, I just want to thank Jaaaag for making me smile and laugh today.
And to be clear, Jaguar, I’m not laughing with you.
Darth Scrutable.
Excellent cross-post.
Hoonicus is corrigable.
I resemble that remark!
For upscale cat-based word designs, the Ora Funkycat has a more upscale logo imho.
They literally ripped off Oracle.
First impression, this looks like it will go over about as well as New Coke did back in the day.
I hope that in typical Jaaaaaaaag fashion, Jaguar skips out on paying the marketing bill on this by saying they left their wallet in the car and then simply driving away from the ad office.
*insert Joe Pesci the fuck is this piece of shit gif*
JaGuar is how it should be called from here on out.
When I think of Jaguar, I think of grey tweed sofas, rich tan leather, deep greens, Le Mans, Aluminum, Union Jack, tea.
When I think of JaGuar, I think of Lululemon. Good luck selling a car with that.
And this is why Jaguar is dying.
Kudos for the very subtle WTF in the background of the top image.
I don’t want to join that cult. The typography does NOT scream premium brand to me.
I can see it on a cheap, playful runabout.
I bet they make great soap though.
Congratulations Jaguar. I didn’t think you could possible alienate 100% of the potential car-buying population in one ad. You did it!
Over 60: grandfatherly types wiping their XJ’s paint with a chamois would see this and go into immediate cardiac arrest.
30-60 yrs: would wonder who stole a Depeche Mode video and thought it would sell some warmed-over-priced-sports-luxury-mobility-unit with questionable reliability.
Under 30 yrs: lol, doesn’t even register a smile with this edgey ad or anything remotely entertaining in their 8 seconds of viewing. They immediately assume some grandpa was playing a trick with fake news. Then they go back to staring at phone looking completely nonplussed.
Hi, as a Depeche Mode fan I take offense at your comment. This isn’t Depeche Mode aesthetic (dark, muted, gothic, industrial). This is Katy Perry meets Lizzo or something like that.
Apologies!
It was the first 80’s British Synth-pop band that I could think of in the moment.
It’s more like the B-52’s at the dentist’s office.
Absolutely savage.
You could have told me this is a teaser for a new Hunger Games spinoff movie based in the Capitol, but with a Minimalist spin, and I would have said this nailed it.
Agreed. Looks very halfhearted
I can’t wait for 100-year-old Jason posting this ad on a Cold Open wondering what these strange people were doing in a Jaguar ad.
By the time Jason’s 100 maybe these people won’t be that strange…
One person’s “playful” is another person’s “FFS don’t do that”.
Though I do like that the studio photographer captured Adrian’s stunt double there in the back left.
Jaguar going “Dystopian Fanta Commercial on Planet Purple Rocks” was not what I was expecting. If this is what aspirational luxury cars are all about, I’ll pass.
I lol’ed very heartily at the “delete ordinary” guy. That dude looks like a lunatic handing out cult pamphlets at jam band shows, not a person that moneyed urbanites aspire to be. But hey, I might just be out of touch.
It’s somehow both dystopian and twee. I’m not sure how that even works but here we are.
Horrifying.