The Box Score: Aldi

1. Memorability

When I draw these sketches I usually take a look at a new logo for a five seconds, go away for a day, then try to recreate it the next morning fresh from my mind. I find it’s the only way to test how memorable the shapes and layout is. My sketch wasn’t perfect, but the general idea was there. I remembered the curves but they were very hard to replicate in a sketch environment, which I find to detract from the ability for a mark to be replicated easily.

2. Originality

Personally, I liked the previous Aldi logo. When it first came into existence in Australia it actually had me thinking that corporate logos were going to start going the way of the early to mid 80’s style logo with its blocked gradient and bold lines. It was certainly memorable (maybe not so much in black and white but it stood alone in supermarket logos.) Whilst there hasn’t been a complete shift away from it, the element which made it original in the current design climate has actually been stripped away from it. Now it looks more like a mid 2000’s logo where every logo design received the photoshop gradient treatment.

3. Clarity/Meaning

Using this logo evolution image thanks to Under Consideration you can see just how the brand has developed over time. You can see that there are no major leaps without referencing the former logo in some way, creating a natural progression. However, whilst the most recent instalment definitely is a move forward, its lost some of it’s signature character in the bold type and simple lines.

4. Versatility

As for application of the new logo, there really isn’t a huge difference in how it’s going to look. It does work really well on signage and as far as colours go (at least in the Australian supermarket industry) it stands out. Digitally the gradients are easily applicable but they’re not going to be able to recreate that on uniforms or other print material. It’s not a big deal as the core of the logo does work in one colour, but should be a consideration.

5. Logomark

The new Aldi logo looks to me as if it was almost certainly designed by committee. The overuse of gradients and the addition of the curves to the ‘A’ suggest to me that there were suggestions to ‘make it look more 3D.’ Whilst its hard to critique the execution, I personally think it lost its retro charm which was on the cusp of becoming modern again anyway. However, I do think the update on the colours really helped to make the logo more bold. I quickly mocked up my own version of the logo, taking my favoured elements of both the new and old. The great thing about design is it’s subjectivity, so when different designers are handed the same task, there will be different results.

6. Typography

I can see how the modernisation of the type was necessary when they decided to add the curves to the mark. Comparing the two, I feel that the new version standing alone has automotive brand feel to it. However, they carried over the custom L and they did allow it to breathe a little with wider kerning.

7. Colour

As I mentioned earlier, the colour palette update is definitely a win. Making the background blue darker allows it to contrast better with the light blue and helps the A to pop and become more memorable. Brightening the framing colours also work better in a digital environment which also makes sense moving forward. A subtle but effective change.

8. Context

As they only went through a minimal brand update, Aldi still stands out against the other supermarket competitors (in my city of Perth here anyway.) Staying away from red seems to be a pretty obvious way to do that, at least from a design point of view. Aldi has only arrived on the scene in the last year in Perth and it’s refreshing to see new colours to break up a ‘vanilla’ market.