Recently much has been said and written about the new Airtel Logo. While I don’t think I have the credential of critiquing the logo on the basis of its design and the thought behind this new logo, I would like to dwell a bit on the topic that has been mentioned in few sites, that is its similarity to Vodafone’s own logo.
Some features in the logo are similar to the Vodafone logo:
Before we begin, here is a look at all the three logo, the New Airtel Logo, The Vodafone Logo and the Old Airtel logo.
The Basic Shape:
The old logo had a basic shape of a rectangle, but the new logo sport a shape which is pretty similar to Vodafone, which is a round object with a rectangular base.
The Colour:
The new logo is white and is usually placed in a background which is red, this is again a trademark of the Vodafone logo. The old logo where as had a very distinct black colour as part of its logo.
The Typography
The old logo was in Title Case, but the new logo again like the Vodafone logo is all in lower case. Even the choice of font is pretty similar.
Conclusion
I think Airtel has lost a bit of its distinctive brand image with this new logo. Since most hoardings and Mobile connection outlets might display one of them or both together, Airtel should have come up with a logo which was pretty distinct from Vodafone and not similar to it. Some have argued that it was designed by the same company, I find it hard to believe that a company of that stature cannot come up with something which is different from its competitor.
