Learn From Your Mistakes (Or Other People’s)

By analyzing and critiquing what has been done in the past we can learn a lot about what we should and should not do in the future. Thankfully there are tons of great lessons to be learned without needing to personally experience them. 

Here’s the deal. I’ve been designing for several years, but quite frankly I’m still young. This can lead to unique perspectives at times, but it also means I’m not as experienced as someone twice my age. 

A major brand redesign, like Taco Bell, I assume has several very experienced people working to create something familiar yet current while appealing to their target market. Taco Bell did a great job of taking their logo and creating something more modern and simple. The old logo was created in 1995 and it feels like it. With all that being said, I think they missed the mark in one key area. They didn’t consider all of its use cases. Primarily, as a giant sign. 

Hear me out.

It’s bold and modern, but it also looks sun-faded when applied in an outdoor setting. The top right section being a more faded purple than the rest of the logo just makes it look old and sun bleached, even when it's brand new. I live in Sacramento where we have several days over 100 degrees during the summer and get a large amount of sun. Signage all over the place, especially vinyl, fades and cracks over just a few short years. As soon as the new Taco Bell logo went up, I thought it looked sun-faded. I assumed it was a mistake or something. Then, lo and behold, I discovered it was intentional. 

It Just Bugs Me

Ultimately, this isn't the biggest issue, but something that bugs me. For this reason, I consider their new logo to be almost great. It's almost there, but I think they should probably have spent a bit more time on it and collected some more feedback. In fact, maybe they did. Maybe tons of people saw the same thing I did and they ignored it or justified it somehow. I don't know what went on in the conversations of their design team, but I think the end result could have been just a tad better. 

How does this all apply to you and your brand? 

Consider your logo's use cases. Will people be printing it out in black and white? How small will it be on your packaging? Is it going to be blown up to 6ft wide and placed on a sign 15ft in the air? Take the time to think about it and adjust your design accordingly. 

If you want to take a trip down memory lane, check out https://1000logos.net/taco-bell-logo/ to see all of Taco Bell’s logos.