New Starbucks Logo, same coffee. . . for now 06 January, 2011

Starbucks will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. To celebrate, while looking to the future, they are introducing a new logo . It's cleaner and even though it doesn't spell out "Starbucks Coffee" anymore it's more iconic--like Audi.

The Starbucks Siren is a fitting mascot for the coffee lovers in this country, not saying that Starbucks has the best coffee, but it serves it's function seducing us into a sweet sweet caffeine addiction. Hopefully, with this new branding they return to their roots as being a specialty coffee shop, and try to offer more coffee options that don't require a Barista to simply push a button. CEO, Howard Schultz, talks about how simply having the siren as the cup's logo allows Starbucks to break free of just coffee. Maybe tea will get some more love? Starbucks beer?

I actually like the new Starbucks logo. The designers aren't breaking any new ground, in fact it's a simple exercise that design company A2591 has demonstrated on a lot of major brands, here are some examples. Not sure it A2591 was involved with the Starbucks redesign, but their examples are very similar to the image above.

 My favorite minimalist redesign is the Nutella jar.