We’ve been seeing a new Mini logo pop up on concept cars, merchandise, and on the brand’s website. The BMW-owned premium brand just made this clean new logo official and it will start appearing on production models starting in 2018. Out with the 3-D-styled black and gray logo, along with a clean, flat, simple black-and-white logo ushering a new era of Mini.
“The new MINI logo draws on the three-dimensional style of depiction that has existed since the relaunch of the brand in 2001, applying this to a form of visual expression known as ‘flat design’ that homes in on the key graphic elements,” according to a surprisingly long press release that’s just about a logo. “The preservation of the fundamental, tradition-steeped motif of a winged wheel with the brand name printed in capital letters at the center ensures the logo will be instantly recognized. The deliberate avoidance of shading and grey tones creates a starkly contrasting black-and-white effect that conveys the authenticity and clarity of the new brand identity, its two-dimensional character also allowing universal application.”
So, it’s new, but still instantly recognizable. Mini already likes to incorporate the iconic shape of its winged logo that started appearing on Mini Coopers in the early 1960s in the design of its cars like on climate control buttons and now we’ll probably see things like that even more with the new, simplified logo. It will also look better on merchandise should Mini decide to do more branding like BMW does with shoes, golf balls, dog dishes, etc.
The press release vaguely talks about a new era for the Mini brand but is light on specifics as to what that means. We know that a Mini EV will join the lineup in 2019 (of which we’ve seen a concept bearing the new logo) and we’ve heard rumors that Mini could become an all-electric brand in the U.S. Mini has been hurting for sales, perhaps the new logo can help generate excitement about the brand to give it the sales boost it needs.