If you opened up your copy of USA TODAY on Friday, or visited the paper's site this weekend, you'd no doubt have been struck by the transformation of both, which corresponded with the publication's 30th anniversary. In a release, the publisher stated that, "USA TODAY's new logo — a large circle in colors corresponding to to the sections — will be an infographic that changes with the news, containing a photo or image that represents key stories of the day. The look and functionality of all digital platforms — the website, tablet app, new Facebook app and new mobile apps — also have been overhauled to facilitate bigger images and graphic-driven stories while presenting them in 'a fun, engaging' way."
Well, that explains the huge circle in the new logo, created by brand consultancy Wolff Olins, with involvement that extended to a full redesign of the newspaper, creation of a flexible brand system, content strategy and launch advertising, as well as a new brand story developed with Co:Collective.
According to Maryam Banikarim, the Chief Marketing Officer of Gannett (which owns USA TODAY), “The decision to remake an iconic brand should not be taken lightly. The re-imagination of the USA Today logo is a great signal to the marketplace. It’s a signal of all the changes that are happening here — of our new digital products, our new re-designed paper and a re-imagination of our content across all platforms.” Can't argue with that but after the recent Microsoft, eBay and Domino's redesigns, is this more evidence of a trend for super-simple logos? The old logo leads off the imagery below.
