Mozilla

For a long time, Mozilla has been indistinguishable from their Firefox browser. I personally can’t say I was familiar with the ‘parent’ brand or any of their other products. Mozilla is an open source software company, so it was apt that the rebranding process – by Johnson Banks – was also conducted openly and each stage was shared in the public. This was notable in that I can’t think of another brand this well-known which has conducted an open source rebranding process.

Following a lot of public feedback, the successful identity, “Protocol” was launched in January 2017 and it incorporates the “://” section of a URL. The surrounding branding has the aesthetic of a collage of images and shapes which to me clearly represents the diversity and character of the internet. “Protocol” was my pick throughout the rebrand, and it’s interesting to feel a sense of ownership and allegiance to it as the new Mozilla brand. Perhaps that’s why it came to mind immediately when it came to compile a shortlist of 2017’s best rebrands!

Moonpig

The previous Moonpig brand was synonymous with that astronaut pig, which from a design perspective wasn’t great, but had unmistakeable character and was in-keeping with the dot-com-boom feel of the business. Although this little piggy was appropriate for a company selling funny birthday cards, it’s a bit too light-hearted alongside flowers and gifts for meaningful occasions.

The rebrand was unveiled in September 2017 and was conducted in-house alongside a team of consultants that included Ian Styles, Simon Smith, Stuart Hammersley, and F37 Foundry. In a design landscape which is overwhelmingly flat and full of sans serifs, it was relieving to see Moonpig refine their brand in an innovative way which doesn’t overly dilute their identity. The slight typographical “wobble” in the new wordmark is enough to keep the unmistakeably cheeky “Moonpig” character alive. Generous use of pink and cleverly cropping the “oo” to create a snout icon makes up for killing off the iconic original pig. All in all, a great identity which adds maturity and longevity to a dot-com-boom business.

Juventus

Like the majority of football club logos, a quick google search will tell you that the Juventus crest had gone largely unchanged since the club’s inception in 1897. Designed by Interbrand (based in Milan), the new identity not only changes this but also challenges the dogmatic aesthetic of football badges.

Juve are synonymous with their black and white stripes, and their new logo marque combines them cleverly with a “J” to make a very subtle shield outline, which nods very softly towards the stereotypical club logo. Everything else about the identity rejects the conventional though, which is why it has been met with mixed reactions, especially from footballing purists. Personally, I love how brave and unique the new brand is, it’s only fitting I actually see a fingerprint somewhere within the marque.