Someone at You Tube had a spare five minutes

The new You Tube logo clearly doesn’t suffer from careful crafting and over design. In fact if someone told you that it had only taken five minutes to create, it wouldn’t sound all that unbelievable! But actually I am sure that the new logo will form part of a massive worldwide piece of brand architecture within Google.

Paul Shipley, senior designer, Love, says that the new You Tube logo feels like a step too far. It doesn’t look that far for me. I think that it simply reflects current design thinking and fits in with the ‘new’ crowd.

Originally You Tube had a typical ‘teenager shouty logo’, a youthful and exuberant look and feel that represented its audience.

Maybe You Tube has lost its youthfulness and rebelliousness and is now keen to align itself within the Google Empire.

As a piece of design the new logo is simple, clear, flat, exudes confidence and has App Store influence. Well what did you expect in five minutes. I actually quite like it.

The thing is though. Who knows how long the new You Tube logo will last. In 2010 GAP introduced a new logo. Almost immediately there was a public outcry against it on Facebook and Twitter. GAP quickly assured its LIKES (And WANTS) that all was well and that the new kid on the block had been thrown out.

A very similar thing happened to British Airways when they added their new Newell and Sorrell funky tailfins to each of their aircraft in place of the ‘Speedbird’ logo. Chief Executive Rod Eddington eventually decided that the new design was ‘hurting the image of the carrier’ and introduced his new Union Flag design.

So whatever we think about ‘sans serifs’ and ‘stripped back aesthetics’, it is ultimately the paying customers that will decide whether brands and brand logos are relevant to them or not. So the moral is ‘proceed with a new mark at your peril if you forget to ask your customers whether they identify with it’! And only when you are comfortable with your customer research findings feel confident enough to plaster it all over your airline, store or website. And of course You Tube!

Keith Sammels
Executive Creative Director
www.lawcreative.co.uk