qantas has just revamped the all-familar jumping kangaroo logo and font… the previous logo was designed almost 20 years ago so apparently it was time for an update.
frankly speaking, my initial thoughts when i saw the logo was ‘why that font! why italicize it more!?’. i think it just makes the logo look like it was back in the 80s instead. it just doesn’t really fit very well with the stylized kangaroo design - which looked like the jumping roo has gained a bit of weight or something. this logo was designed to suit the newer range of aircraft like the (humongous) A380 so i guess that justify fattening up every bit of the logo… but why italicize so much?? (my friend said it looked like a typhoon came and blew the words one way… which i thought was quite funny)
according to the news, when they decided to revamp the logo, australians were very concerned that the jumping roo would somehow be replaced so much so that the airline had to release some form of an official word to let people know that ‘no we’re not changing the kangaroo!’. i would be VERY concerned if they did take out the kangaroo… you can refer to the history of the jumping roo here.
of course it is still too early to tell whether this new look would work, and what other improvements did qantas make to their brand to bring it to the next 20 years(?). just earlier this year, another of australia’s iconic symbols got a spiffy look but in the case of the opera house, i like the interpretation and the design of the “tagline”… it makes the SOH more lively than your typical staid opera house and very much more ‘aussie’.