{"id":8283,"date":"2020-07-30T14:02:12","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T18:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=8283"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:46:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:46:08","slug":"toyota-nissan-flat-car-logos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/toyota-nissan-flat-car-logos\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Flattening’: Flat Logos Take Over the Auto Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

The Earth isn\u2019t flat, but a couple auto companies have sure made it feel that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toyota became the latest car company to update its brand guidelines with a new, flat logo in the past year, following in the footsteps of three automakers\u2014BMW<\/a>, Volkswagen, and Nissan. The company\u2019s European marketing and communications material will bear the new logo, which is the same as its old one, only without the chrome and 3D-esque shadows. But the company said not to expect changes to its fleet of vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Toyota is the second company to release its new flat logo this month\u2014Nissan became the first, as the company released its own in mid-July. According to Nissan, its new logo is a reimagining of its old one, updated for the digital world\u2014a \u201creimagination of the iconic Nissan brand logo for a new chapter.\u201d A three-year process kickstarted by SVP of global design Alfonso Albaisa and led by deputy GM of the advanced design department Tsutomu Matsuo yielded a new logomark that\u2019s familiar, but thinner and lighter than its predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unlike Toyota, Nissan\u2019s new logo will grace its fleet of vehicles. And it stands out from the rest in that it will be illuminated by 20 LEDs\u2014a reminder, according to the company, of its drive towards an \u201celectrified future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If those logos and that marketing jargon looks and sounds a bit familiar, it might be because Volkswagen made what basically amounts to the same exact change last September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And BMW flattened their old logo in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not everyone is a fan of the shift. Some felt<\/a> that the new designs came off as \u201ccheap.\u201d Jamie Kitman, an automobile writer, theorized that cost might have had something to do with the redesigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wouldn’t be surprised if there was a cost element,\u201d he said over email. \u201cThese flat jobs are likely cheaper and easier to make. When you’re in the business of cutting corners, no way you’re going to leave money on the hood\u2014literally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s behind the flat logo trend and who gets the credit (and\/or the blame) for leading the charge? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with most innovations in the technology world, it seems that the shift can be pinned on Apple and Jony Ive. At its September 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple debuted iOS7, its updated operating system with a completely-redesigned user interface. That included a pivot from shadowed, 3D-esque icon design to a completely flat look for app icons. Reaction to the design change was mixed, but users adopted the new software at rapid speed, and the flat icons have become the new normal for hundreds of millions of Apple product owners.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Left: Apple’s skeuomorphic app icon design from pre-2013.
Right: Apple’s flatting, from 2013’s iOS 7. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over time, since Apple\u2019s shift in 2013, we\u2019ve seen brands flatten their logos for adaptability\u2014on screens and in print, on cars and on app icons. MINI flattened its logo in 2015. Citro\u00ebn updated its logo in 2016. Audi made the shift a year later in 2017.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flat logos aren\u2019t just running rampant in the auto space, either. Pizza Hut, for example, released a new flat logo in 2014. Taco Bell made the switch in 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now, as all these companies are shifting to flat logos, Apple is shifting away from them\u2014back towards its skeuomorphism of the late 2000s. iOS 14, its most recent OS update slated for release in the fall, brings heavier shadows and a little texture back to the app library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These logos draw polarized reactions on both sides of the aisle\u2014some feel that the flat logos are clean and sleek, while some feel their cheaper facsimiles of their more robust predecessors. But the logos are taking over the auto space, and it doesn\u2019t seem like car companies will be adding a third dimension any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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