Last week I was forwarded links by friends, family and colleagues asking what I thought of the newly revealed Imperial College London rebrand. I was also sent a petition to stop the Imperial rebrand, describing the logo as "cartoonish"...but surely it can't be that bad, can it?!
As an Imperial Alumnus, I was excited to dissect the whole rebrand and below I share my thoughts. Let's start with the full brand showreel and then break it down bit by bit...
The Logo
The rebrand was overseen by Pentagram, a world leading design and branding agency. They were also responsible for the beautiful 2023 rebrand of the Natural History Museum, just next door to Imperial in South Kensington, London.
First of all, this logo is not exciting! Whether that's good or bad is up for debate but it's not inspiring at all. It isn't "cartoonish" though and and it's important to establish that a logo is not a brand:
A brand is a person's gut feeling about
a product, service or company
Marty Neumeier
Author, Designer, Branding Expert
The detailed research from Pentagram identified that staff, students and alumni all ranked 'World-leading' and 'Innovative' as attributes they wish to be conveyed by the Imperial brand in the future. Unfortunately, these are not demonstrated in the logo.
The logo is made from a bespoke type (Imperial Sans), which has distinctive features of being tracked wider than usual, sharp angled corners and a cut off descender/'crotch' of the M. Additionally, the capital 'I' has horizontal 'arms' in the logotype but not in the standard type. Overall it feels modern and engineered but does it meet the three primary requirements of a logo?
Is it simple? YES
Is it appropriate? YES
Is it memorable? NO
Perhaps I'm being harsh, but I don't find it particularly memorable. Let's compare to the old logo and see whether some of the rebrand aims have been met...
Imperial have described the new visual and verbal identity as being "rooted in our science heritage, that is modern, confident and expressive". The new logo is certainly more modern, is arguably more confident than the old logo and, whilst this may be an unpopular opinion, I do believe it takes a step in the right direction. That said, by being generic it falls short on differentiating Imperial from global leaders, when it is seen in isolation.
The Visual Identity
Although the new logo isn't exciting, the rest of the visual identity is. Above you can see interesting modifications of the capital 'I' from the logotype and a bold use of colour across various outdoor mockups.
The new visual identity works well on essential staff and student stationary. The hypersaturated blue is striking when used for the text but possibly overwhelming when used as a solid...that said such use can be a great way to identify a brand with colour alone
From the show reel it's clear that colour is implemented in an attractive and expressive way. This allows sub-brands to be identified but weakens the strength of the primary brand colour, of electric blue. They also mention 'calm' and 'bold' aspects of the brand with regard to colour, and whilst a brand can't be all things to all people it creates a very flexible colour system for Imperial.
The unsung hero of the rebrand is the bespoke type, specifically the lower case letters. Notable highlights are the curve where the arm meets the stem of the 't', the large apertures and shape of the double-storey 'a'. There are some features which are reminiscent of fonts used for coding, fitting for an institution that specialises in STEM subjects.
The Verbal Identity
The verbal aspects of the rebrand make valiant attempts to promote inclusivity and sustainability as a pillars of the Imperial brand. In addition to supporting both inclusivity and sustainability, the 'for humanity' tagline is ambitious and confident. Looking over the research from Pentagram again, Imperial seems to be saying all the things it's staff and students want it to.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing the Imperial website appears only partly rebranded with some sections using the 'old' blue. It's therefore difficult to conclude whether updates to the copy and communications have been made. It's unlikely that major changes are needed as most of Imperial's voice will remain scientific and technical. Any changes may be more obvious in future iterations of marketing to international audiences and prospectuses for students.
Is The Rebrand Good and Bad Then?
I have criticised the logo and I stand by that; it's not innovative or memorable and I can empathise with staff and students who have reacted negatively towards the whole rebrand...
...BUUUUUT within the rebrand the logo works very well and the bespoke type is lovely for so many reasons. I believe Imperial will retain all aspects of the rebrand, including the logo, and I anticipate the overall application will meet the desired attributes of being world-changing and innovative. It certainly differentiates Imperial from the branding of other academic institutions.
The rebrand promotes inclusivity and sustainability but ultimately these are demonstrated through action and the lived experiences of people who interact with Imperial.
It's not the first rebrand to have unhappy commentators and it won't be the last. People become emotionally invested in brands and have strong opinions on changes, which they have a right to express openly. Personally, I would prefer it if the logo had been more interesting but I understand that huge organisations use their logo on thousands of digital and physical applications, which can lead to more generic designs. A bit of bravery is needed to choose a logo that stands out and it would be great to see if innovative alternatives were proposed and discussed in the design process.
So yes, it's good and bad...mostly good, just a shame about the logo!
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